2.1 | Experimental site
The study was carried out in a mature ~100 year-old
Scots pine forest (Pinus sylvestris L.) at Rosinedal, near
Vindeln in northern Sweden (64°10’ N, 19°45’ E) in 2012 and 2013. The
site was an even-aged and mono-specific stand, located on sandy soil.
Two 15-ha plots were studied; a fertilised plot (F) and a reference plot
(R). In both plots, the sparse understory was dominated by Ericaceous
shrubs, esp. Vaccinium myrtillus (L.) and Vaccinium
vitis-idaea , (L.) mosses (Pleurozium schreberi (Bird.) Mitt.),Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) Shimp, and lichens (Cladonia
spp.) (Hasselquist, Metcalfe, & Hödgberg, 2012; Hasselquist, Metcalfe,
Marshall, Lucas, & Högberg, 2016). From 2006 through 2011 fertiliser
was applied annually in mid-June to the fertilised plot (F) at a rate of
10 g N m-2 yr-1, but reduced to 5 g
N m-2 yr-1 in 2012 and thereafter,
using Skog-Can fertiliser (Yara, Sweden), containing NH4(13.5%), NO3 (13.5%), Ca (5%), Mg (2.4%), and B
(0.2%) (Lim et al. 2015).