Nucleário, cardboard, or manual crowning: which maintenance technique is most cost-effective in tree seedling survival establishment?

Efficiency of Cardboard Crowning on the Suppression of Invasive Alien Grasses

“…In another study, the survival rate and growth of seedlings of 5 -6 a Cerrado native tree species (Dipteryx alata Vog.) did not differ between crowning with cardboard or hoe, but cardboard treatment resulted in better weed control (Benites et al, 2020).…”

“…Silva et al (2018) showed, through photo documentation, that cardboard was effective at controlling Urochloa humidicola growth up to a year after its placement on the ground. Gonçalves et al (2018) succeded in controlling Andropogon bicornis with cardboard crowning in a reforestation in Seropédica, RJ, while Benites et al (2020) also succeded in controlling Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R.D.Webster and Paspalum notatum Flüggé (Poaceae) using the same method in the Cerrado of the Mato Grosso do Sul state. However, in all those studies the weeds were crowned with hoe before placing the cardboard, which involves additional labor costs.…”

“…Cardboard can be also effective in controlling soil temperature affecting plant growth over time (Benites et al, 2020), since many nutrients essential for its development are only released at certain temperature ranges (Gasparin et al, 2005). A strong effect of cardboard mulching on soil temperature was noted on days with high air temperatures, which proved up to 15 °C lower in the 0 to 10 cm deep layer compared to bare soil (hoe crowning) areas (Silva et al, 2018).…”

“…Control of fast-growing exotic grass species is one of the main management practices necessary in the initial stages of reforestation in tropical environments, since these grasses can reduce the growth of the trees and impede forest regeneration (Silva, 2012;Resende & Leles, 2017). Therefore, active control interventions are necessary, usually in the form of mechanical, chemical and/ or bioherbicidal control (Lake & Minteer, 2018;Benites et al, 2020). While these control methods can be effective, they require follow-up applications, and thus, can be exorbitantly expensive (Resende & Leles, 2017;Quirion et al, 2018).…”

“…In this sense, crowning seedlings with cardboard has been proposed as an efficient and low-cost alternative for controlling weed competition in reforestation areas (Martins et al, 2004;Palhares et al, 2011;Gonçalves et al, 2018;Silva et al, 2018;Benites et al, 2020). Cardboard is expected to inhibit seed germination and also lead to the senescence and death of undesirable existing vegetation, in order to control competition.…”