Listening to Trees: The Overstory’s Dendrography and Sugar Maple Speaks

Green Letters ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Moira Marquis
Keyword(s):  
2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 42-61
Author(s):  
O. G. Lucyshyn ◽  
I. K. Teslenko

The recent ecological situation of Kyiv megalopolis has a special specific of environment technogenic pollution as a chemical features and content of polluting phytotoxicants. During 2007–2012, our observation revealed what the most dangerous factors which have harm impact on the street woody plants are the huge concentration of phytotoxic elements (Na+, Cl-, Pb2+, Cd2+). Nowadays, the technogenic impact on the megalopolyisis surrounding comes to the dangerous, even, catastrophic level. The main reason of total and chloral necrose of leaves, the summer defoliation of crown and major tree's death is the over pollution of the soil and plant's phytomass by phytotoxic elements, the concentration of which by standards evaluation and by trees reactions are critical and exists at the level of adaptation possibility and survival. The main sources of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions are transport outcomes (> 90 % of total technogenic pollution). The increasing of Pb2+ and Cd2+ in the soil is depended from intensivity of transport outcomes, using of ethylated petrol, and location of trees along roads as well as from the trees species. Continuously increasing of number of cars at the city streets is accompanying with similar increasing of ions concentration. Thus, in the soil around root system of street woody plants, depending from their location along roads, the concentration of Pb2+ (moving form) is between 41,7 (I. Kudri str.) and 102,6 mg\kg of soil (Nauki avenue). It exceeds the maximum permissible concentration (MPC), which is 20,8–51,3 mg\kg of soil. Next, for Norway maple (Acer platanoides) the concentration of Pb2+ in the soil varies from 41,7 to 80,5 mg / kg of soil in the area of the root system and it is around 20,8–40,2 MPC. In the leaves of this tree it is 7,83–13,5 mg / kg of dry mass (MPC is 15,8–27,0). For the horse chestnut (Aedculus hippocastanum) at the Nauka avenue, the concentration of plumbum in the root is 13,4 mg / kg (MPC is 26,8), in the cortex – 17,7 mg / kg (MPC is 35,4), in leaves – 8,21 mg / kg (MPC is 16,4), which by the normative evaluation are the critical concentrations. The source of Na+ and Cl-, which is a new factor for Kyiv megalopolis, is irregular load of high concentrations of industrial salt NaCl into the environment, as a way against black ice in winter time, where the Na+ ions ( mobile form) is in the high concentrations in leaves (0,76 % for Norway maple (Acer platanoides) on the I. Kudri str., 1,28 % – small-leaved linden (Tilia cordata) at the 40-richya Zhovtnya ave, 2,0 % – horse chestnut (Aedculus hippocastanum) at the Nauki ave), those are exceeded the concentration of the element comparing to the control test object, respectively, in 10,6, 12,8 and 5,0 times. Na+ ions are an aggressive phytotoxins and the main factor of leaves necrose of tree crown (within 70–100 % necrosis leaves in the crown). Degradation and total reduction of the specific weight of plants in the megalopolis environment are decrease the cleaning role of the street tree plants, which are the main alive filters for soil and air cleaning, as well as the main bioaccumulators and detoxicants of harm substances of anthropogenic pollution. Species adaptive specificity is revealed at the bioaccumulation level and the selective locality of phytotoxic elements (Na+, Cl-, Pb2+, Cd2+, agile form) in technourbanhabitats-pic conditions, there dominated bioaccumulation and localization of Na+ ions by trees assimilative system is caused the adaptive orientation of endogenic and intraspecific variability of phytoindicative morphophysiologic features of plants functional condition under the stressing factors. This also is defined the sensitivity of small-leaved linden (Tilia cordata Mill.), norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) and horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) to the big concentration of potassium as the most danger one for the plant survival. The biggest accumulation of Na+ ions at the roots of Lombardy poplar (Populus pyramidalis Roz.), Bolle's poplar (Populus bolleana Lauche) and sugar maple (Acer saccharinum L.) is lead to a higher resistance of their assimilation system. At the technourbohabitate-pic conditions, the level of realization of ontogenetic and phylogenetic adaptive capacity of the sensitive species of trees is harmfully low (21,3–44,3 %). It is at the level of survival/death of plants. The street Lombardy poplar, Bolle's poplar and sugar maple, despite of more higher level of their adaptation (68,4–87,7 %), still also can't fully adapt to the critical levels of technogenic pollution of megalopolis environment. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-297
Author(s):  
Tara Lee Bal ◽  
Katherine Elizabeth Schneider ◽  
Dana L. Richter

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1479-1484 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Bazzaz ◽  
J. S. Coleman ◽  
S. R. Morse

We examined how elevated CO2 affected the growth of seven co-occurring tree species: American beech (Fagusgrandifolia Ehrh.), paper birch (Betulapapyrifera Marsh.), black cherry (Prunusserotina Ehrh.), white pine (Pinusstrobus L.), red maple (Acerrubrum L.), sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.), and eastern hemlock (Tsugacanadensis (L.) Carr). We also tested whether the degree of shade tolerance of species and the age of seedlings affected plant responses to enhanced CO2 levels. Seedlings that were at least 1 year old, for all species except beech, were removed while dormant from Harvard Forest, Petersham, Massachusetts. Seeds of red maple and paper birch were obtained from parent trees at Harvard Forest, and seeds of American beech were obtained from a population of beeches in Nova Scotia. Seedlings and transplants were grown in one of four plant growth chambers for 60 d (beech, paper birch, red maple, black cherry) or 100 d (white pine, hemlock, sugar maple) under CO2 levels of 400 or 700 μL•L−1. Plants were then harvested for biomass and growth determinations. The results showed that the biomass of beech, paper birch, black cherry, sugar maple, and hemlock significantly increased in elevated CO2, but the biomass of red maple and white pine only marginally increased in these conditions. Furthermore, there were large differences in the magnitude of growth enhancement by increased levels of CO2 between species, so it seems reasonable to predict that one consequence of rising levels of CO2 may be to increase the competitive ability of some species relative to others. Additionally, the three species exhibiting the largest increase in growth with increased CO2 concentrations were the shade-tolerant species (i.e., beech, sugar maple, and hemlock). Thus, elevated CO2 levels may enhance the growth of relatively shade-tolerant forest trees to a greater extent than growth of shade-intolerant trees, at least under the light and nutrient conditions of this experiment. We found no evidence to suggest that the age of tree seedlings greatly affected their response to elevated CO2 concentrations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amritpal S. Singh ◽  
A. Maxwell P. Jones ◽  
Mukund R. Shukla ◽  
Praveen K. Saxena

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Kittredge ◽  
P. Mark S. Ashton

Abstract Browsing preferences by white-tailed deer were evaluated for 6 tree species in northeastern Connecticut. Deer density averaged 23/mile². Deer exhibited no species-specific preferences for seedlings greater than 19 in. For seedlings less than 19 in., hemlock and black birch were preferred. Red maple, sugar maple, and white pine seedlings were avoided. Red oak seedlings were neither preferred nor avoided. A much higher proportion of seedlings greater than 19.7 in. in height was browsed, regardless of species. Browsing preferences for species in the smaller seedling class, combined with a lack of preference for species in the larger class may result in future stands with less diverse tree species composition. Deer densities in excess of 23/mile² may be incompatible with regeneration of diverse forests in southern New England. North. J. Appl. For. 12(3):115-120.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 1875-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally E. Dahir ◽  
Craig G. Lorimer

Trends in gap dynamics among pole, mature, and old-growth northern hardwood stands were investigated on eight sites in the Porcupine Mountains of western upper Michigan. Recent gaps (created between 1981 and 1992) were identified using permanent plot records of tree mortality, while older gaps (1940–1981) were identified using stand reconstruction techniques. Although canopy gaps were somewhat more numerous in pole and mature stands, gaps were <25% as large as those in old-growth stands because of smaller gap-maker size, and the proportion of stand area turned over in gaps was only about half as large. Gap makers in younger stands generally had mean relative diameters (ratio of gap-maker DBH to mean DBH of canopy trees) <1.0 and were disproportionately from minor species such as eastern hophornbeam (Ostryavirginiana (Mill.) K. Koch). Gap makers in old-growth stands had mean relative diameters >1.5 and were predominantly from the dominant canopy species. Even in old-growth forests, most gaps were small (mean 44 m2) and created by single trees. Based on the identity of the tallest gap tree in each gap, nearly all shade-tolerant and midtolerant species have been successful in capturing gaps, but gap capture rates for some species were significantly different from their relative density in the upper canopy. The tallest gap trees of shade-tolerant species were often formerly overtopped trees, averaging more than 60% of the mean canopy height and having mean ages of 65–149 years. Canopy turnover times, based on gap formation rates over a 50-year period, were estimated to average 128 years for old-growth stands dominated by sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.) and 192 years for old-growth stands dominated by hemlock (Tsugacanadensis (L.) Carrière). While these estimates of turnover time are substantially shorter than maximum tree ages observed on these sites, they agree closely with independent data on mean canopy residence time for trees that die at the average gap-maker size of 51 cm DBH. The data support previous hypothetical explanations of the apparent discrepancy between canopy turnover times of <130 years for hardwood species and the frequent occurrence of trees exceeding 250 years of age.


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