STUDIES IN FOREST PATHOLOGY: VIII. DECAY OF WESTERN HEMLOCK ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS, BRITISH COLUMBIA

1951 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 479-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Foster ◽  
A. T. Foster

An investigation of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) on the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, has shown that decay losses in old-growth stands are appreciable, amounting to 13.9, 8.0, and 10.7% of the gross volume of Grades 1, 2, and 3 logs respectively. Total loss, including dead trees, amounted to 25.5% of the gross volume. Twenty-seven decay-producing fungi have been isolated. The most important of these are Fomes pinicola (Sw.) Cke., F. pini (Thore) Lloyd, F. annosus (Fr.) Cke., and Polyporus sulphureus Bull. ex Fr. Echinodontium tinctorium E. & E. apparently does not occur in the region. Scars provided the most frequent, and roots the most important, avenue of entrance for decay. The logs of 2318 western hemlock were analyzed in detail. Decay was found to increase progressively with diameter, age, and decreasing site quality. Maximum net periodic increment was reached between 350 and 400 years of age and between 35 and 40 in. in diameter. Color of bark was found to provide an added indication of tree maturity. Understory trees were found to give a substantial yield of sound wood.

1949 ◽  
Vol 27c (6) ◽  
pp. 312-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Buckland ◽  
R. E. Foster ◽  
V. J. Nordin

An investigation of decay in western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) and fir (mainly Abies amabilis (Loud.) Forb.) in the Juan de Fuca forest region of British Columbia has shown that the major organisms causing root and butt rots are the same in both species. These are Poria subacida (Peck) Sacc., Fomes annosus (Fr.) Cke., Armillaria mellea Vahl ex Fr., Polyporus sulphureus Bull. ex Fr., and P. circinatus Fr. Those organisms causing trunk rots of western hemlock, in decreasing order of importance, are Fomes pinicola (Sw.) Cke., F. Pini (Thore) Lloyd, Stereum abietinum Pers., Fomes Hartigii (Allesch.) Sacc. and Trav., and Hydnum sp. (H. abietis). These same organisms causing trunk rots of fir, in decreasing order of importance, are Fomes pinicola, Stereum abietinum, Hydnum sp. (H. abietis), Fomes Pini, and Fomes Hartigii. The logs of 963 western hemlock were analyzed in detail. Maximum periodic volume increment was reached between 225 and 275 years of age. Maximum periodic volume increment was reached between 275 and 325 years of age in the 719 fir that were analyzed. Scars were the most frequent avenue of entrance for infection. In 59% of the cases of infection studied the fungus had entered through wounds.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1983-1989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J Woods ◽  
Stefan Zeglen

American porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum L.) feed on the cambial tissues of several tree species. This study assessed feeding by porcupine over a 15-year period on midrotation age western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) dominated stands on the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. Although four coniferous hosts were available, hemlock was, by far, the most preferred and most seriously impacted. Of 398 hemlock studied, 260 were wounded by porcupine feeding and 86 died by 2000. Porcupine attacked two-thirds of the dead trees, over 82% of which were dominant or codominant, while almost all unattacked dead trees were intermediate or suppressed. This loss resulted in a 14.6% reduction in the proportion of volume per hectare represented by hemlock and an increase in the representation by other species, all of which suffered little or no feeding damage. Results indicate that the final merchantable volume of hemlock expected at rotation age will be lower than projected and will consist mainly of damaged trees of poor form and quality due to decay fungi, such as Stereum sanguinolentum (A. & S. ex Fr.), entering through feeding wounds. Porcupine activity has led to a shift in species composition and volume from a condition where a single species, western hemlock, dominates to a mixed forest consisting of amabilis fir (Abies amabilis (Dougl. ex Loud.) Dougl. ex J. Forbes), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carrière), and western hemlock.


1960 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 401-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. T. Silver

The history of the black-headed budworm, Acleris variana (Fern.), in the western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) forests of coastal British Columbia is one of recurring cycles of outbreaks. The latest cycle occurred from 1952 to 1957 and was represented by three main outbreaks in the Portland Canal area from Prince Rupert to Stewart, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and on northern Vancouver Island. Previous to this, groups of West Coast outbreaks were recorded from 1940 to 1945, and from 1927 to 1931 (Prebble and Graham, 1945a).


1987 ◽  
Vol 119 (12) ◽  
pp. 1109-1115
Author(s):  
W.P.L. Osborn ◽  
J.H. Borden

AbstractTo mitigate the effects of mosquitoes, settlers in the Revelstoke area of British Columbia reportedly burned the sporophores of the Indian paint fungus, Echinodontium tinctorium (Ell. & Ev.) Ell. & Ev., a pathogen of western hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., and true firs, Abies spp. Larval and adult yellowfever mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti (L.), were exposed to aqueous extracts of smoke (smoke-waters) from E. tinctorium sporophores, and from western hemlock sapwood and heartwood. Smoke-waters were of approximately equal toxicity to larvae. Fungus smoke-water, but not sapwood or heartwood smoke-waters, lost 50% of its potency in 5 months. Vapors from fungus smoke-water were significantly more toxic to adult mosquitoes than those from sapwood or heartwood. Thus smoke from E. tinctorium sporophores and T. heterophylla wood apparently contain different water-soluble combustion products toxic to A. aegypti.


2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda E Winter ◽  
Linda B Brubaker ◽  
Jerry F Franklin ◽  
Eric A Miller ◽  
Donald Q DeWitt

The history of canopy disturbances over the lifetime of an old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stand in the western Cascade Range of southern Washington was reconstructed using tree-ring records of cross-dated samples from a 3.3-ha mapped plot. The reconstruction detected pulses in which many western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) synchronously experienced abrupt and sustained increases in ringwidth, i.e., "growth-increases", and focused on medium-sized or larger ([Formula: see text]0.8 ha) events. The results show that the stand experienced at least three canopy disturbances that each thinned, but did not clear, the canopy over areas [Formula: see text]0.8 ha, occurring approximately in the late 1500s, the 1760s, and the 1930s. None of these promoted regeneration of the shade-intolerant Douglas-fir, all of which established 1500–1521. The disturbances may have promoted regeneration of western hemlock, but their strongest effect on tree dynamics was to elicit western hemlock growth-increases. Canopy disturbances are known to create patchiness, or horizontal heterogeneity, an important characteristic of old-growth forests. This reconstructed history provides one model for restoration strategies to create horizontal heterogeneity in young Douglas-fir stands, for example, by suggesting sizes of areas to thin in variable-density thinnings.


1954 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Foster ◽  
H. M. Craig ◽  
G. W. Wallis

An investigation of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) in the Upper Columbia region has shown that decay losses are excessive, amounting to 52 and 74% in terms of cubic and board foot computations respectively. The logs of 833 hemlock on 36 sample plots located in mature timber were analyzed in detail. Twenty-six decay-producing fungi have been isolated. Sixty-two per cent of the total decay was attributed to Echinodontium tinctorium Ell. & Ever. and 25% to Fomes pini (Thore) Lloyd. Considerable variation in the fungi responsible for decay was encountered intraregionally. Stand defect losses varied from 38 to 71%. Some of this variation could be predicted on the basis of the site index determinations of hemlock. Relative to the total incidence and importance of decay, Echinodontium tinctorium decreased and Fomes pini increased in significance with increasing site quality. Sporophores, scars, dead tops, large rotten branches, swollen knots, frost cracks, forked trees, and trunk infections of mistletoe were classed as indicators of significance in relation to hidden defect. Living trees, classed as Suspect or Residual depending on the presence or absence of one or more reliable indicators of defect, were found to differ appreciably in average defect. Within each of the preceding classes decay increased progressively with increasing diameter and decreasing site quality. Immature hemlock was found to be susceptible to appreciable decay and mature stands reached an advanced stage of deterioration at 250 years. Multiple correlation analyses between percentage of decay, site, age, and the relative percentage of Residual trees weighted by volume permitted an estimate of total stand defect within ± 7%.


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
M. D. Meagher

Abstract Unopened western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) cones from coastal British Columbia were tested for the relationship between total filled seeds per cone and the number of sound seeds exposed by slicing through the center of the cone's long axis, and with cone length. Predictive linear relationships of total number of filled seeds per cone (TFS), based on number of filled seeds cut on the face through the cone's long axis (CC), were found in a cone sample bulked from a number of trees. The regression based on CC explained about 63% of the variation in TFS. More accurate estimates of TFS were found where cone length, and exponential factors of CC and cone length, were included in the analysis. Analyses of cones from seven parents did not find statistically significant trends of TFS on CC in all cases, and differed in slope in most cases. Sample sizes (cones) to estimate TFS to a predetermined level of precision were much larger than cones needed to accept or reject a tree for study. West. J. Appl. For. (11)2:44-49.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1196-1199 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Funk

Sageria tsugae gen. et sp. nov. (Helotiales) is described from western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) in British Columbia, Canada. The imperfect state is Ascoconidium tsugae Funk.


1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 873-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda E. Heusser

Varved, black clayey silts deposited in the marine waters of Saanich Inlet yield unusually abundant and diverse pollen assemblages derived from the coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) forests of southwestern British Columbia. The 12 000 year palynological record chronicles the development of vegetation since ice left Saanich Inlet: the succession of pine (Pinus contorta) and alder (Alnus rubra) woodlands by forests characterized by Douglas-fir and oak (Quercus) and later by western hemlock and red cedar (Thuja plicata). Rapid deposition of annual layers of pollen, charcoal, and other terrigenous particles provides detailed evidence of changes in land use during the past few hundred years: settlement, logging, farming, and urbanization. Vegetational and climatic changes inferred from pollen spectra in the marine sediments of Saanich Inlet compare favorably with changes inferred from correlative pollen assemblages previously described from adjacent parts of Vancouver Island and the Fraser River valley.


1954 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 630-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. Thomas ◽  
R. W. Thomas

An investigation of Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Poir.) Britton, in coastal British Columbia has shown that decay losses in old-growth stands are low, amounting to 2.6 and 7.3% of the gross volume of living and combined living and dead trees respectively. Twenty-five decay-producing fungi were isolated from living trees and 29 from dead trees. The most important of these were Fomes pini (Thore) Lloyd, Polyporus schweinitzii Fries, and Fomes pinicola (Sw.) Cke. Certain irregularities in the occurrence of decay-producing fungi and the amounts of decay associated with them were traced to the influences of site, tree age or size, latitude, and stand history. Root infections were the most frequent but branch-stub infections caused the greatest average amount of decay. An examination of tree abnormalities showed that a select group of them, sporophores and swollen knots of Fomes pini in particular, are useful indicators of hidden decay. A separate analysis of dead trees has shown that they occasion ally form a high proportion of Douglas fir stands and that much of the wood in such trees is sound.


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