INDIAN HEAD, Sask. – Millions of trees have been distributed from the federal nursery at Indian Head since it opened 110 years ago.
Now known as the Agroforestry Development Centre, the former Shelterbelt Centre continues to develop new trees and examine their importance in prairie agriculture.
Researchers highlighted some of their current work at an open house held earlier this month to celebrate the anniversary.
John Kort told visitors to the centre that there are still questions to be answered about the design and impact of windbreaks because their porosity changes with the seasons and the species.
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“If you know what a windbreak is doing, then you could design it to do what you want,” Kort said as he stood beside a shelterbelt that included tall green ash and shorter dogwoods, which allows for dense barriers low to the ground and higher up with a space in the middle.
Yiwen Mao, a masters’ student from the University of Alberta, is taking detailed measurements from a nearby shelterbelt: how the wind moves over and through the windbreak, the resulting turbulence and the effect on dust particles.
The idea is to better understand how shelterbelts manage road dust.
“Where it’s open the wind will come through, swirl around, and you get turbulence,” Kort said.
A 3-D sonic anemometer measures wind speed vertically and horizontally through six tiny sensors 10 times per second.
A rotorod tower catches dust particles at different heights, which Mao will also analyze. In theory, heavier dust particles should be caught at lower levels.
Kort said other projects are looking at odour drift and whether conifers, which cover more surface area and break up wind year-round, are better choices than the traditional deciduous windbreaks.
Gary Bank is researching the importance of shelterbelts as habitat, particularly for bees, beetles and birds.
“In the United States, $1 billion worth of crop production is due to the wild bee population,” he said. “Can we get those kinds of bees to do the work?”
Different tree species and windbreak designs will determine which bee species choose which shelterbelts.
Bank said there are 10 species of wild bumblebees. Twenty percent are ground nesters, but 80 percent nest in dead wood or hollow-stem species such as red elder. As a result, even old windbreaks play a significant role in bee habitat.
The centre has developed hybrid poplars as a way to improve the tree species.
Bill Schroeder said 38 million poplars have been planted on the Prairies since the early 1900s. Many of them were of Russian stock, brought as cuttings by homesteaders.
An improvement program was started in the 1940s, which continues today as researchers look for faster-growing and hardier species that can better tolerate drought and disease.
Schroeder said 13 clones have been released to farmers, who receive different poplar mixes depending on their location. Farmers in west-central Manitoba receive different trees than those in northwestern Saskatchewan or the Peace region.
A new variety, ADC Sundance, is available only through commercial nurseries. The centre receives 25 cents from each tree sold.
Other research
• Jaconette Mirck is looking at how species collected in Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island perform outside their home provinces. Data is just being collected.
• Mirck is comparing pussywillow and heartleaf willow for growth rate and water uptake to determine their role in biomass production.
