Overlaying compacted or uncompacted construction fill has no negative impact on white oak and sweetgum growth and physiology

Raising the soil grade, frequently required during building construction, is thought to damage trees and is of concern to foresters responsible for tree protection on such sites. We investigated the effects of applying fill over the roots of 22-year-old white oaks (Quercus alba L.) and 13-year-old sweetgums (Liquidambar styraciflua L.). Treatments included a control (no fill), fill (sandy loam C horizon soil spread 20 cm deep), and compacted fill (same as fill but compacted). Trees with fill had soil held away from trunks or not. After 3 years, there was no consistent treatment effect on growth, chlorophyll fluorescence, or soil respiration in either species. Fill disrupted normal soil moisture patterns. White oak plots with fills had lower soil water contents than controls. In sweetgum plots, soil underlying fill was typically drier than fill layers, whereas control plot soil moisture tended to increase with depth. Fills did not affect overall root density for either species. White oak grew roots well into fill soils, but sweetgum did not, although sweetgum root distribution shifted upwards under fills. Other factors associated with raising the grade, such as soil trafficking and root severance, may be responsible for much of the tree decline attributed to fill.