Boreal forest provenance tests used to predict optimal growth and response to climate change. 1. Jack pine

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Thomson ◽  
William H. Parker

Height, diameter, and survival data were obtained from 16 rangewide jack pine provenance trials in eastern Canada and the United States. Climate data for each seed source and test location were used to relate height growth to 72 climate variables. Population response functions based on August minimum and January maximum temperatures were developed to predict climate values maximizing height growth for individual seed sources. Site transfer functions based on March precipitation and December minimum temperature were developed to predict climate values maximizing height growth for test locations. Contour lines representing optimal performance were fitted to current (1971–2000) and future (2041–2070) climate grids. Optimal growth is currently achieved between 46°N and 47°N latitude for most seed sources. Future temperature increases are expected to cause a northward shift of the optimal habitat by approximately 2°. Northern sources are growing at temperatures below optimum and would benefit from warmer environments provided other environmental factors do not become limiting. Central sources are growing at close to optimum and will be negatively affected by increased temperatures in the future. Southern sources performed better in cooler environments, and warmer temperatures may cause significant height growth loss and the potential extirpation of these populations.

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Thomson ◽  
Claire L. Riddell ◽  
William H. Parker

Height, diameter, and survival data were obtained from 20 range-wide black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) provenance trials established from 1973 to 1977. Population response functions based on February minimum temperatures were developed for 23 Ontario and Great Lakes states provenances to predict climate values maximizing height growth for individual seed sources. Site transfer functions based on February maximum temperatures and May maximum temperatures were developed for five test sites to predict climate values maximizing height growth for test locations. Contour lines representing optimal performance were fitted to current (1961–1990) and future (2041–2070) climate grids. For black spruce seed sources from the east of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, optimal height growth was achieved between 45° and 47°N; for the western sources optimal performance moved north between 46° and 48°N. In eastern Ontario, height growth of northern sources may increase with transfer to warmer environments and with future temperature increases. Central sources are currently growing at or close to optimum and will be negatively affected by increased future temperatures. Southern sources may currently benefit from transfer to cooler environments, and the effects of global warming may cause significant height growth loss and the potential extirpation of local populations.


2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willard H. Carmean ◽  
G. Hazenberg ◽  
G. P. Niznowski

Stem-analysis data from dominant and codominant trees were collected from 383 plots located in fully stocked, even-aged, undisturbed mature jack pine stands. Separate site index curves were independently formulated for four regions of northern Ontario using the Newnham constrained nonlinear regression model; these formulations were used for comparing regional site index curves at three levels of site index (10 m, 15 m and 20 m).Comparisons showed that no significant differences existed between the four regional curves as well as with previously published site index curves for the North Central Region. Each of the four regions had similar polymorphic height-growth patterns; therefore, data for the four regions were combined and a single formulation was used to develop a polymorphic set of site index curves for all of northern Ontario. We found that poor sites in each region had almost linear height growth up to 100 years breast-height age, but for each region height growth became more curvilinear with increasing site index. The recommended site index curves for northern Ontario are based on a formulation using only data from plots 100 years and less but this formulation was not significantly different from a formulation using only data from plots 80 years and less, or a formulation that included all data from plots older than 100 years breast-height age.Comparisons were made between our northern Ontario curves and other jack pine site index curves for Ontario as well as curves for other areas of Canada and the United States. These comparisons generally showed considerable older age differences. Reasons for these differences are uncertain but could be due to differences in the amount and kind of data used for these other curves, could be due to differences in analytical methods, or could be due to regional differences in climate, soil and topography. Key words: site quality evaluation, polymorphic height growth, regional site index curves, site index prediction equations, comparisons among site index curves.


Criminologie ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Alain

The professional smuggling of mass consumption products develops when demand for a product is not adequately fulfilled by the legitimate market. The difficulties encountered in supplying are, in most contemporary cases, caused by real rarity of the desired product. For other cases, however, the rarity is largely virtual in that government taxes aimed at the product in question lead to increasing the product's price to a prohibitive end. This was the case with cigarettes in Canada between 1985 and 1994. Before both, the federal and provincial, governments decided to drastically decrease cigarette taxes in February 1994, the price for a pack of cigarettes was five to six times higher than the same product in the United States. This article begins with a brief review of the contribution made by economists in regard to contemporary smuggling. Focus will be aimed at common characteristics of the smuggling phenomenon across the world. Elements which are more particular to the Canadian smuggling situation will be identified as well. While the difference in the price of cigarettes between Canada and the United States would seem to be the undeniable driving force behind the development of smuggling activities at the countries ' border, one key question remains unexplained. Why was the volume of contraband unequally distributed across Canada even though the price of cigarettes remained largely consistent throughout all provinces? The level of organization of smuggling networks was much higher in Eastern Canada, and particularly in Quebec, than it was in the western provinces. It is argued that the reasons for this are not only due to price, but to a series of political, historical, and geographical factors which allowed cigarette smugglers to function better in Quebec than in the rest of the country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi87-vi88
Author(s):  
Jennifer Murillo ◽  
Elizabeth Anyanda ◽  
Jason Huang

Abstract Gliomas are the most common primary malignant brain tumor in the United States with previous studies showing the incidence varied by age, sex, and race or ethnicity. Survival after diagnosis has also been shown to vary by these factors. Also, socioeconomic status and its association with various cancers have also been studied at length over time. PURPOSE: The purpose of our research was to quantify the differences in incidence and survival rates of gliomas in 15 years and older by income level. METHODS: This population-based study obtained incidence and survival data from the Incidence-SEER Research Database the general population. Average age incidence were generated by glioma groups and grouped by income levels. Survival rates were generated by overall glioma diagnosis grouped by observed survival at 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months and by again by income levels. The analysis included 94,207 patients with glioma diagnosed in those aged 15 years or older. RESULTS: Overall, 94, 207 patients diagnosed with glioma were analyzed. Of these, 1,089 (1.16%) fell into the < $35k group, 1,684 (1.79%) in the $35k-$40k group, 3,473 (3.69%) in the $40k-$45k group, 5,647 (5.99%) in the $45k-$50k group, 7,138 (7.58%) in the $50k-$55k group, 6,468 (6.87%) in the $55k-$60k group, 15,348 (16.29%) in the $60k-$65k group, 13,216 (14.03%) in the $65k-$70k group, 9,035 (9.59%) in the $70k-$75k group, and 31,109 (33.02%) fell in > $75k group. The data was also broken further down into survivability showing average survival. CONCLUSION: Incidence of glioma and 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 month survival rates after diagnosis vary significantly by income level with higher income level greater than $75,000+ having higher incidence and higher survival rates compared with lower income levels. Further research is needed to help determine risk factors and barriers to care to help reveal health disparities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. eaat4343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Ortiz-Bobea ◽  
Erwin Knippenberg ◽  
Robert G. Chambers

A pressing question for climate change adaptation is whether ongoing transformations of the agricultural sector affect its ability to cope with climatic variations. We examine this question in the United States, where major increases in productivity have fueled most of agricultural production growth over the past half-century. To quantify the evolving climate sensitivity of the sector and identify its sources, we combine state-level measures of agricultural productivity with detailed climate data for 1960–2004. We find that agriculture is growing more sensitive to climate in Midwestern states for two distinct but compounding reasons: a rising climatic sensitivity of nonirrigated cereal and oilseed crops and a growing specialization in crop production. In contrast, other regions specialize in less climate-sensitive production such as irrigated specialty crops or livestock. Results suggest that reducing vulnerability to climate change should consider the role of policies in inducing regional specialization.


Plant Disease ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 95 (7) ◽  
pp. 873-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Kawchuk ◽  
R. J. Howard ◽  
R. D. Peters ◽  
K. I. Al-Mughrabi

Late blight is caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary and is one of the most devastating diseases of potato and tomato. Late blight occurs in all major potato- and tomato-growing regions of Canada. Its incidence in North America increased during 2009 and 2010 (2). Foliar disease symptoms appeared earlier than usual (June rather than July) and coincided with the identification of several new P. infestans genotypes in the United States, each with unique characteristics. Prior to 2007, isolates collected from potato and tomato crops were mainly US8 or US11 genotypes (1). However, P. infestans populations in the United States have recently experienced a major genetic evolution, producing isolates with unique genotypes and epidemiological characteristics in Florida and throughout the northeastern states (2). Recent discoveries of tomato transplants with late blight for sale at Canadian retail outlets prompted an examination of the genotypes inadvertently being distributed and causing disease in commercial production areas in Canada. Analysis of isolates of P. infestans from across Canada in 2010 identified the US23 genotype for the first time from each of the four western provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia) but not from eastern Canada. Allozyme banding patterns at the glucose phosphate isomerase (Gpi) locus indicated a 100/100 profile consistent with US6 and US23 genotypes (4). Mating type assays confirmed the isolates to be A1 and in vivo metalaxyl sensitivity was observed. Restriction fragment length polymorphic analysis of 50 isolates from western Canada with the multilocus RG57 sequence and EcoRI produced the DNA pattern 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 24, 24a, 25 that was indicative of US23 (3). The recently described P. infestans genotype US23 appears to be more aggressive on tomato, and although isolates were recovered from both tomato and potato, disease symptoms were often more severe on tomato. Results indicate that movement and evolution of new P. infestans genotypes have contributed to the increased incidence of late blight and that movement of the pathogen on retail plantlets nationally and internationally may provide an additional early season source of inoculum. A major concern is that the introduced new A1 populations in western Canada have established a dichotomy with the endogenous A2 populations in eastern Canada, increasing the potential for sexual recombination producing oospores and additional genotypes should these populations merge. References: (1) Q. Chen et al. Am. J. Potato Res. 80:9, 2003. (2) K. Deahl. (Abstr.) Phytopathology 100(suppl.):S161, 2010. (3) S. B. Goodwin et al. Curr. Genet. 22:107, 1992. (4) S. B. Goodwin et al. Phytopathology 88:939, 2004.


1976 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 283-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Yeatman

A program of provenance testing, seed production and genetic improvement of jack pine was developed in the Baskatong region of western Quebec through sustained collaboration among government forest services and forest industry. Research plantations demonstrated, within a period of 10 years from establishment, the superiority in growth, cold hardiness and disease resistance of regionally adapted local seed sources. Critical differences were evident between provenances from the Boreal Forest Region and those from the adjacent Sections of the Great Lakes — St. Lawrence Forest Region.A 300-acre (120 ha) seed production area was created within a genetically superior jack pine population of natural origin in the Côte Jaune area west of Lake Baskatong. Within this population, 325 plus trees were selected, marked and recorded over two years by student crews employed in the summer. Seed harvested from the felled plus trees will be used to create a seedling seed orchard and to establish progeny tests. The plus trees are to be grafted for controlled breeding among selected progeny-tested clones at a later date. This cooperative program of tree improvement will ensure the future supply of high quality seed that will maintain and enhance the value of the forest resource.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 970-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.H. Weng ◽  
P. Lu ◽  
Q.F. Meng ◽  
M. Krasowski

Developing resistance to western gall rust (WGR) is important for maintaining healthy and productive jack pine plantations. In this study, we estimated genetic parameters of resistance to WGR and its relationship with tree height growth, based on data collected from three second-generation full-sib progeny testing series of jack pine planted in New Brunswick, Canada. Results indicated that (i) resistance to WGR in jack pine was controlled by both additive and dominance gene effects, with the latter playing a greater role; (ii) narrow-sense heritability estimates for resistance to WGR were low (mean = 0.05; series range = 0.00∼0.09), and broad-sense heritability estimates were moderate on an individual-tree basis (mean = 0.53) and considerably higher on the full-sib family mean basis (mean = 0.87); (iii) additive genetic correlation between tree height growth and WGR incidence was low (≤0.06) in two series and only slightly higher and favorable (–0.19) in one series, suggesting that selection on growth traits would not negatively affect WGR resistance; and (iv) mid-parental additive genetic and dominance effects on WGR were empirically correlated (>0.65), indicating that incorporating breeding for WGR resistance into current jack pine tree improvement programs with a seed orchard approach could partly capture the benefit from dominance effects. Although genetic gains in WGR resistance could be realized through various breeding and deployment schemes, it appeared that rapid improvement could be achieved through backward selection on full-sib family means.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Bolrão ◽  
Co Tran ◽  
Miguel Lima ◽  
Sheroze Sheriffdeen ◽  
Diogo Rodrigues ◽  
...  

<p>The most pervasive seismic signal recorded on our planet – microseismic ambient noise -results from the coupling of energy between atmosphere, oceans and solid Earth. Because it carries information on ocean waves (source), the microseismic wavefield can be advantageously used to image ocean storms. This imaging is of interest both to climate studies – by extending the record of oceanic activity back into the early instrumental seismic record – and to real-time monitoring – where real-time seismic data can potentially be used to complement the spatially dense but temporally sparse satellite meteorological data.<br>In our work, we develop empirical transfer functions between seismic observations and ocean activity observations, in particular, significant wave height. We employ three different approaches: 1) The approach of Ferretti et al (2013), who compute a seismic significant wave height and invert only for the empirical conversion parameters between oceanic and seismic significant wave heights; 2) The classical approach of Bromirski et al (1999), who computed an empirical transfer function between ground-motion recorded at a coastal seismic station and significant wave height measured at a nearby ocean buoy; and 3) A novel recurrent neural-network (RNN) approach to infer significant wave height from seismic data. <br>We apply the three approaches to seismic and ocean buoy data recorded in the east coast of the United States. All three approaches are able to successfully predict ocean significant wave height from the seismic data. We compare the three approaches in terms of accuracy, computational effort and robustness. In addition, we investigate the regimes where each approach works best.  The results show that the RNN approach is able to predict well the significant wave height recorded at the buoy. The prediction is improved if several nearby seismic stations are used rather than just one. <br>This work is supported by FCT through projects UIDB/50019/2020 – IDL and UTAP-EXPL/EAC/0056/2017 - STORM.</p>


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