Influence of Site Factors on Incidence of Vole and Lemming Feeding Damage to Forest Plantations

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan ◽  
Wayne L. Martin

Abstract The incidence of meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and brown lemming (Lemmus sibiricus) feeding damage to young plantations of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and interior spruce (Picea glauca × Picea engelmannii) was studied in west-central British Columbia. Fifty-eight plantations were surveyed for seedling survival and stocking, and an additional 21 older plantations of lodgepole pine were surveyed for tree damage. Average survival of pine (47.7%) was significantly lower than that of spruce (56.0%). Because of mortality from vole feeding, 24 of the 58 plantations were not satisfactorily restocked. Planted trees were attacked significantly more than natural regeneration. Severely attacked plantations occurred in the spruce-subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forest type at elevations > 800 m on N to NE aspects. Susceptible plantations generally had mechanical or no site preparation with complex post-harvest debris and limited vegetation cover. West. J. Appl. For. 6(3):64-67.


2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Waterhouse ◽  
E. C. Wallich ◽  
N. M. Daintith ◽  
H. M. Armleder

Mature lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests were harvested using group selection (GS) (0.02-ha openings) and irregular group shelterwood (IGS) (0.05-ha openings) systems to maintain arboreal and terrestrial lichens in the winter range of northern woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Ten years after planting, lodgepole pine showed excellent survival, but were smaller in the partial cut openings compared to the clearcuts. Pine grew less in the Sub-Boreal Pine–Spruce biogeoclimatic subzone (SBPSxc) than in the Montane Spruce subzone (MSxv), and trees were smaller in the GS versus IGS treatment within the MSxv subzone. Interior spruce (Picea glauca × engelmannii) grew best in the MSxv and partial cut treatments, but was significantly affected by summer frost in the clearcuts. In an operational-scale Adaptive Management trial, openings were enlarged to 0.15 ha, and both pine and spruce showed excellent survival, minimal frost damage, and 10-year size similar to clearcut conditions. This study suggests that lodgepole pine and interior spruce can be successfully regenerated in partial cut openings with acceptable growth in gaps of 0.15 ha. Key words: caribou, group selection, interior spruce, irregular group shelterwood, light level, lodgepole pine, Montane Spruce zone, partial harvest, soil moisture, soil temperature, Sub-Boreal Pine Spruce zone, summer frost



2014 ◽  
Vol 203 (2) ◽  
pp. 578-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Yeaman ◽  
Kathryn A. Hodgins ◽  
Haktan Suren ◽  
Kristin A. Nurkowski ◽  
Loren H. Rieseberg ◽  
...  


1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1989-1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon D Nigh ◽  
Bobby A Love

The best estimates of site index, an indicator of site productivity, are obtained from site trees. Undamaged site trees should be sampled to obtain unbiased estimates of site index. Two juvenile height growth modelling projects provided us with sufficient data to assess our ability to select undamaged lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Dougl.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) site trees. The sample trees were split open to measure height growth from the terminal bud scars. Splitting the stems also revealed damage that was not visible from the outside of the tree. Over 50% of the lodgepole pine trees and 75% of the white spruce trees had damage, which was much higher than expected. Possible causes of damage are frost and insects. The damage does not significantly reduce the height of the spruce trees, but there is evidence that the heights of the lodgepole pine trees are reduced.



1981 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Nijholt ◽  
L. H. McMullen ◽  
L. Safranyik

AbstractPine oil, a by-product of sulphate wood pulping, protected pheromone-baited, living Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.), and spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss - P. engelmannii Parry hybrids) from attack by Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk.), mountain pine beetle (D. ponderosa Hopk.), and spruce beetle (D. rufipennis (Kirby)), respectively. Pine oil also protected surrounding trees and reduced attack incidence on Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, and spruce within at least a 10 m radius. α-Terpineol, one of the constituents of the pine oil mixture, was less effective.



2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 138-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodie Krakowski ◽  
Y. A. El-Kassaby

Abstract The effects of seed pre-treatment (stratification/prechilling) and simulated aging on germination parameters (germination capacity, speed and value and peak value) were evaluated for several seedlots originating from seed orchard clones of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia DOUGL. ex LOUD.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (MOENCH) VOSS). Region of origin and stratification had little effect on white spruce, while stratification enhanced germination speed and completeness of lodgepole pine. Broad-sense heritability for germination parameters ranged from 70 to 97% (unstratified) and from 81 to 96% (stratified) for pine, and from 95 to 97% (unstratified) and from 93 to 97% (stratified) for spruce. Simulated aging (short-term storage at high temperature and relative humidity, approximating the physiological effects of long-term storage) resulted in rapid deterioration of white spruce, with very little germination after six days of aging. Lodgepole pine germination increased during the first several aging treatments relative to the control, but germination capacity decreased following twelve days of aging, and was very low after 18 days. White spruce was nondormant and responded primarily to moisture conditions, whereas pine was strongly influenced by maternal effects. These results can be incorporated for more efficacious nursery production practices for commercial reforestation seedling production as well as ex-situ gene conservation strategies.



1963 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Bruce Wagg

Cage feeding of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, and red-backed mice, Clethrionomys gapperi, showed a daily maximum seed consumption of lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia, of about 1,000 seeds and of white spruce, Picea glauca, of 2,000 seeds. There was no difference in the amount of seed consumed by the two species of mice. Lodgepole pine seed was preferred over white spruce.Meadow voles, Microtus spp., readily ate lodgepole pine and white spruce seedlings following germination. Red-backed mice also ate seedlings but not to the same degree as the meadow voles. The deer mouse was not tested.



1979 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Blackmore ◽  
Wm. G. Corns

Perennial herbaceous vegetation, mainly marsh reed grass, (Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx) Beauv.), was sprayed with glyphosate on the day before planting one-year-old plugs of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) on cutover forest land north of Edson, Alberta. Spraying at 4.5 kg ai/ha, included spot and strip applications in June 1976, compared with unsprayed scalps and controls. At the same time, all treatments were repeated plus a 9 g, 22-8-2 fertilizer tablet for each seedling. Another experiment at the same site, begun on August 1, 1976, compared scalp, unfertilized control and glyphosate strip treatments, followed by planting of pine seedlings the day after spraying 4.5 kg ai/ha glyphosate. An adjacent experiment, also commenced on August 1, included dosages of 1.1 to 5.6 kg ai/ha with planting of pine seedlings in 4.5 kg/ha and in control plots in May 1977. August application of 2.2 kg/ha provided excellent initial vegetation control, as effective as the larger amounts applied at that time, and was superior during the first 12 months to 4.5 kg/ha applied in June. Twenty-six months after the spring planting new shoot growth of fertilized pine in the glyphosate strips was statistically significantly greater than that for all other treatments and growth in fertilized scalps was also very good. At the same time leader growth of spruce in fertilized scalps was significantly greater than that for other treatments but growth in glyphosate strips did not exceed that of unfertilized controls. Contrary to results of spring planting, there was marked injury and mortality of pine planted in August in glyphosate plots which had been sprayed on the preceding day. Seedlings planted in glyphosate-treated strips nine months after the August spraying exceeded the growth of control plants but not until the year after they were planted.



2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Claveau ◽  
Christian Messier ◽  
Philip G Comeau ◽  
K Dave Coates

The effects of gradients in light levels and tree height on growth and crown attributes of six conifer species were studied in eastern and western Canada. Three conifers were studied in British Columbia (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt., Picea glauca (Moench) Voss × Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm., and Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.), and three in Quebec (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., Picea glauca, and Pinus banksiana Lamb.). For several growth and morphological parameters, conifers reacted strongly to both an increase in light and tree height. Significant or nearly significant interactions between light classes and height were found for height and diameter growth of most species as well as for many crown attributes for both Abies and Picea. These interactions usually indicated that growth or morphological changes occurred with increasing height from a certain light level. Within a single genus, both eastern and western tree species showed the same overall acclimation to light and height. As generally reported, Pinus species showed less variation in growth and morphological responses to light than Abies and Picea species.



2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 593-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily K. Heyerdahl ◽  
Rachel A. Loehman ◽  
Donald A. Falk

In parts of central Oregon, coarse-textured pumice substrates limit forest composition to low-density lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson) with scattered ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson) and a shrub understory dominated by antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata (Pursh) DC.). We reconstructed the historical fire regime from tree rings and simulated fire behavior over 783 ha of this forest type. For centuries (1650–1900), extensive mixed-severity fires occurred every 26 to 82 years, creating a multi-aged forest and shrub mosaic. Simulation modeling suggests that the historical mix of surface and passive crown fire were primarily driven by shrub biomass and wind speed. However, a century of fire exclusion has reduced the potential for the high-severity patches of fire that were common historically, likely by reducing bitterbrush cover, the primary ladder fuel. This reduced shrub cover is likely to persist until fire or insects create new canopy gaps. Crown fire potential may increase even with current fuel loadings if the climate predicted for midcentury lowers fuel moistures, but only under rare extreme winds. This study expands our emerging understanding of complexity in the disturbance dynamics of lodgepole pine across its broad North American range.



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