If Sakhalin spruce or Sakhalin fir die in windbreaks on seasonally frozen soils, what species can be recommended?

Abstract

Soil of the Tokachi plain of eastern Hokkaido freezes during the winter due to low temperatures and light snowfall. Deciduous and fast-growing Japanese larch, Larix kaempferi, is often planted in arable land windbreaks to prevent wind damage to cultivation plants. Japanese larch is more resistant to winter desiccation than evergreen trees. However,windbreaks made of Japanese larch are disliked by many farmers because they shed a lot of branches and branchlets every year; if not completely removed from cultivation fields, branches and branchlets may damage agricultural tractors. Therefore, some farmers favor planting evergreen trees like Sakhalin spruce, Picea glehnii, or Sakhalin fir, Abies sachalinensis, both indigenous to Hokkaido. However, the disadvantage of these evergreen trees is that they are susceptible to winter desiccation. In settings where spruce and fir do not survive winter desiccation,planting of the evergreen Korean nut pine, Pinus koraiensis, is recommended. Although not native to Hokkaido, this species is less likely to suffer damage from winter desiccation than the other two evergreen species.