Regeneration development under shelterwoods in a lowland red spruce – balsam fir stand

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pothier ◽  
Marcel Prévost
Keyword(s):  
Light Availability ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Leaf Biomass ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Cutting Intensity ◽  
Final Harvest

The shelterwood system can be used to establish regeneration and to improve the growing conditions of seedlings and, thereby, increase their probability of survival after final harvest. To determine the cutting intensity that best promotes the development of red spruce ( Picea rubens Sarg.) regeneration, an experiment, including four repetitions of five treatments (control; low, moderate, and heavy partial cuttings; and clear-cutting), was established in a lowland stand in Quebec, Canada, dominated by red spruce and balsam fir ( Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.). Regeneration development responses to treatments varied according to cutting intensity, species, and position relative to the skidding trails in the residual stands. Ten years after treatment, red spruce seedlings were well established but were smaller than those of balsam fir and deciduous species. Red spruce seedling height was generally greater in partial-cut skidding trails, as was light availability. However, in clearcuts, the size of red spruce seedlings established in skidding trails seemed to be negatively affected by the considerable quantity of woody debris strewn over them. Among the partial-cut treatments, tree regeneration leaf biomass was the highest where 60% of the initial basal area was removed. Thus, this treatment is an attractive alternative to clear-cutting in such lowland stands where watering-up is anticipated after final harvest.

Long-term outcome of precommercial thinning in northwestern New Brunswick: growth and yield of balsam fir and red spruce

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Pitt ◽  
Len Lanteigne
Keyword(s):  
Block Design ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Long Term Outcome ◽  
Precommercial Thinning ◽  
Minimum Requirement

A study was established between 1959 and 1961 to study the long-term responses of balsam fir ( Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and red spruce ( Picea rubens Sarg.) to precommercial thinning. Three nominal spacings of 4 ft (1.2 m), 6 ft (1.8 m), and 8 ft (2.4 m) were compared with an unthinned control in a randomized complete block design with five replicates. At the time of thinning, natural regeneration averaged 16 years of age, 8 years after harvest. Although thinning had minimal effect on gross total volume production over a 42 to 44 year observation period, actual spacings between 2.1 and 2.5 m produced an average of 360 m3·ha–1gross merchantable volume (GMV), representing a 21% gain over unthinned stands. The same spacings produced quadratic mean diameters of 21 and 23 cm, respectively, compared with 18 cm in the unthinned stands. These size increases translated to individual stem volume gains of 33% and 62%, significantly reducing the age at which thinned stands would meet a specified minimum requirement for merchantability or habitat. The mean annual increment of GMV ranged from 6 m3·ha–1·year–1in unthinned stands, to more than 7 m3·ha·–1·year–1in the thinned stands, and had not yet culminated an average of 50 years postharvest.

CONTACT AND RESIDUAL EFFECT OF LOW-VOLUME DOSAGES OF PHOSPHAMIDON TO CHORISTONEURA FUMIFERANA (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE) ON TWO SPECIES OF CONIFERS

1972 ◽  
Vol 104 (7) ◽  
pp. 1051-1054
Author(s):  
J. F. Stewart ◽  
N. R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Difference ◽  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Residual Effect ◽  
Spruce Budworm ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Fourth Instar ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Low Volume

AbstractA series of low-volume spray treatments were conducted to study the contact and residual effect of two concentrations of the insecticide phosphamidon to fourth instar spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), on balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill, and red spruce, Picea rubens Sarg. Treatment of sprayed larvae on sprayed trees, unsprayed larvae on sprayed trees, and sprayed larvae on unsprayed trees, resulted in two principal conclusions: (a) Higher concentrations of phosphamidon (1% versus 0.5% active) accelerated mortality in all instances and (b) no statistical difference (P = 0.1%) was found in the final mortalities between treatments in which only the foliage was treated and where both larvae and foliage were treated with phosphamidon.

Missing growth rings at the trunk base in suppressed balsam fir saplings

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1776-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Parent ◽  
Hubert Morin ◽  
Christian Messier
Keyword(s):  
Radial Growth ◽  
Adventitious Roots ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Leaf Biomass ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Terminal Bud ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Age Estimates

Numerous researchers have suggested a causal relationship between low leaf biomass in suppressed trees and the lack of radial growth at the base of the trunk. The objective of this study was to verify this relationship with suppressed balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) saplings found growing in an old-growth fir stand. A total of 29 saplings varying in height from 67 to 183 cm were uprooted. All saplings had adventitious roots. All terminal bud scars (TBS) found between the apex of the terminal leader and the trunk base (first adventitious root) as well as those found below ground were localized, and rings were counted between TBS along the aboveground trunk. Various morphological traits and the ratio of photosynthetic tissue dry mass (P, needles) to non-photosynthetic tissue dry mass (nP, aboveground stem) were used as an indicator of tree vigour. Between 3 and 33 rings counted along the aboveground trunk were missing at the trunk base. The number of missing rings at the base of the trunk was correlated with total height (r = 0.41), height growth (r = –0.51), radial growth (r = –0.44), the P/nP ratio (r = –0.73), and the proportion of live crown (r = –0.62). Moreover, from 2 to 35 additional rings, missing at the trunk base, were found in the belowground section of trunk and these missing rings were associated with the adventitious roots phenomenon. In conclusion, suppressed firs had missing rings at the base of the trunk. When all of the missing rings were added to the number of rings counted at the base of the trunk, age estimates provided a different temporal pattern of recruitment compared with that obtained by solely counting rings at the base of the trunk. Stem analysis on the entire trunk is the best aging method for suppressed balsam fir saplings.

Riparian forest strips as habitat for snowshoe hare in a boreal balsam fir forest

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1494-1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Darveau ◽  
Jean Huot ◽  
Louis Bélanger
Keyword(s):  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Timber Harvesting ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Snowshoe Hare ◽  
Buffer Effect ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Local Perturbations ◽  
Open Question

Riparian forest strips are usually protected from logging for their buffer effect on aquatic habitats. However, their value to terrestrial wildlife species such as snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus Erxleben) is unknown. From 1990 to 1996, we compared habitat characteristics (shrubs and saplings 0.25-2.25 m high), hare browsing, and hare pellet densities in five types of experimental riparian forest strips (20, 40, 60, and >300 m wide intact strips, and 20 m wide thinned strips), in a humid boreal balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) landscape managed primarily for timber harvesting in Quebec. Based on coniferous and deciduous shrub densities, all riparian forest strips and adjacent clearcuts remained low-quality habitats for hare over 6 years following clear-cutting. Only 103 shrubs were browsed in a 1500-m2 area sampled over 3 years, of which only 33 had >20% of browsed stems. Nevertheless, pellet data revealed a low but sustained use of all strips each summer and winter, and there were no changes over 6 years (mean 280 pellets/ha per month; P > 0.05). Whether hare populations are cyclic or not in our region remains an open question. However, they show some fluctuations and timber harvesting coincided with "high" hare populations in our study area. Sampling in "low" years might show that fewer hares occupy the forest strips. Further work is required to determine the influence of regional and local perturbations on the use of riparian forest strips by snowshoe hares.

A study of fungal endophytes of needles of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and red spruce (Picea rubens) in New Brunswick, Canada, using culture and electron microscope techniques

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 3513-3516 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Johnson ◽  
Norman J. Whitney
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Fungal Endophytes ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Parenchyma Cells ◽  
Spruce Needles ◽  
Petiole Segment

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the interiors of surface-sterilized needles of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and red spruce (Picea rubens) in New Brunswick, Canada. Four different fungi were isolated frequently. One species, designated X-W, was isolated exlusively from the petiole segment of red spruce needles. There was no difference in the variety of species isolated from fir needles from two sites, but a difference in frequency of species did exist. Micrographs of the interior of balsam fir needles showed hyphae occupying intercellular spaces and adhering to the outer walls of parenchyma cells. No penetration of cells by either fungus was observed.

scholarly journals Mortality Patterns Following Spruce Budworm Infestation in Unprotected Spruce-Fir Forests in Maine

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 148-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale S. Solomon ◽  
Lianjun Zhang ◽  
Thomas B. Brann ◽  
David S. Larrick
Keyword(s):  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Growth Function ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Cumulative Mortality ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Composition Classes ◽  
Annual Mortality

Abstract Cumulative and annual mortality of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and balsam fir [Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.] were examined over a 10 yr period to follow the mortality patterns in unprotected spruce-fir forests in northern Maine. Different mortality patterns were determined based on stand composition classes and merchantability classes. In general, balsam fir was more vulnerable to budworm attack, and reached 92–100% basal area mortality and 84–97% stem density mortality 12 yr after the start of the outbreak. Red spruce, in contrast, had approximately 32–59% basal area mortality and 30–66% stem density mortality during the same time period. Balsam fir mortality started 1 to 2 yr before spruce, while spruce mortality continued 2 to 3 yr after fir mortality was completed. Higher mortality was found in smaller trees than sawtimber-sized trees. Stands with hardwood components (30–70% in basal area) had the lowest mortality rate for both species. Furthermore, Schnute growth function (Schnute 1981) was used to characterize the cumulative mortality trajectories after the defoliation of spruce and fir by stand composition classes. The models estimated the time when annual mortality achieved maximum, the cumulative mortality at that time, and the asymptotic mortality over a long time period after the start of the attack. The information can provide guidelines for predicting protection strategies and scheduling salvage harvests.

Chlorophyll fluorescence response of red spruce and balsam fir to a watershed calcium fertilization experiment in New Hampshire

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 1518-1522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Boyce
Keyword(s):  
Chlorophyll Fluorescence ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Physiological Effect ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Fluorescence Measurements

Decreases in soil exchangeable calcium (Ca) due to acid deposition have been linked with declines of forest species in the northeastern United States, particularly red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.). In 2005, chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were taken on red spruce and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) trees growing on two watersheds at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in New Hampshire. One watershed had been fertilized with CaSiO3 in 1999 to replace the soil Ca losses of the past 50 years, and the other was a reference watershed. In March, there were no differences in any chlorophyll fluorescence parameter between sites or species. In August, however, dark-adapted ratios of variable fluorescence to maximum fluorescence (Fv/Fm) were significantly greater (p = 0.05) in the Ca-treated watershed for both spruce and fir, and spruce values were significantly greater than fir. No differences were found in the light-adapted fluorescence parameters. These results suggest that both spruce and fir respond to increases in Ca availability, even though fir does not exhibit the decline symptoms seen in spruce. It is unclear what physiological effect is responsible for the observed differences in Fv/Fm. The Fv/Fm values appear to respond to differences in Ca availability in forest tree species; thus, the ratio has the potential to be used in these two watersheds at HBEF to determine if other forest species are also responding to Ca additions.

scholarly journals Étude rétrospective de l'accroissement en diamètre du sapin baumier (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) et de l'épinette rouge (Picea rubens Sarg.) en peuplements mixtes après une coupe a diamètre limite

2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 791-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Fortin
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Model ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Harvesting Time

Diameter growth at breast height of 341 balsam fir and red spruce stems has been reproduced over a time lapse of 50 years following a diameter limit cutting. The available information has been analyzed with a statistical model in which the effects of time, species (two levels), ecological type (three levels) and diameter at harvesting have been tested. Results indicate that balsam fir saplings have higher diameter growths than red spruce saplings, but only in the case of better ecological types. The differences between both species are smaller for stems having a merchantable diameter (dbh > 9.0 cm) at harvesting time. On poor ecological station, red spruce diameter growth is more important than for balsam fir and this, whatever the diameter at harvesting time. On the other hand, as indicated by this analysis, stem diameter at the time of silvicultural treatment constitutes a significant variable in the prediction of diameter growth for red spruce stems, while the effect of this variable is less identifiable for balsam fir. Even if significant, the growth differences between the two species are small. The competition created by the balsam fir regeneration on red spruce saplings is definitely not the cause of the depletion of red spruce in second growth stands.. Key words: red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.), balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), diameter growth, partial cut, mixed stands, linear model, mixed model

Biomass and nutrient removals by conventional and whole-tree clear-cutting of a red spruce – balsam fir stand in central Nova Scotia

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Freedman ◽  
R. Morash ◽  
A. J. Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Biomass Yield ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Soil Horizons ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Total Pool ◽  
Whole Tree

Data are presented of biomass and nutrient removals by conventional and whole-tree clear-cutting of 0.5-ha blocks of an all-aged Picearubens – Abiesbalsamea stand in central Nova Scotia. The biomass yield from the conventional clear-cut plot was 105 200 kg dry weight•ha−1, and the removals of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg were 98.2, 16.3, 91.7, 180.9, and 17.0 kg•ha−1 respectively. Biomass removals from the whole-tree clear-cut plot were 152 500 kg dry weight•ha−1, and the removals of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg were 239.1, 35.2, 132.6, 336.5, and 36.9 kg•ha−1, respectively. These removals of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg from the whole-tree harvested plot, expressed as percentages of the quantities of these nutrients in the "total" pool within the exploitable soil horizons, were 5.0, 2.8, 1.0, 5.9, and 2.1%, respectively. However, when these removals were expressed relative to the quantities in the "available" soil pools, they were much larger, i.e., 500, 34, 184, 306, and 95% for N, P, K, Ca, and Mg, respectively.

Effects of cutting intensity, deer browsing, and liming on Allegheny hardwood tree regeneration

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-368
Author(s):  
J. R. McClenahen ◽  
R. J. Hutnik
Keyword(s):  
Height Growth ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Hardwood Tree ◽  
Cutting Intensity ◽  
Nonsignificant Effect ◽  
Growth Of Seedlings ◽  
Survival Of Seedlings

Survival, height growth, and abundance of Prunusserotina Ehrh. and other species of tree reproduction were studied during two growing seasons after the trees were cut to residual basal areas of 0 (clear-cut), 16 (partial cut), and 28 (uncut) m2/ha. Portions of each cutting treatment were fenced to exclude deer and (or) amended with 0.91 t/ha of dolomitic limestone. Survival of advance P. serotina seedlings was best among initially older, taller stems. Mortality among 1st-year P. serotina seedlings was higher on clear-cut and uncut plots than on partially cut plots, but cutting had no effect on survival of seedlings older than 2 years. Acersaccharum Marsh, survival was poorest on clear-cuttings. The intermediate level of cutting initially favored a greater abundance of more species than either clear-cutting or no cutting. Rates of height growth of dominant P. serotina seedlings were greatest on clear-cuttings, less on partially cut plots, and lowest in uncut plots. Browsing by deer had a large but statistically nonsignificant effect on height of dominant reproduction after 6 years. Slash generally reduced abundance but enhanced height growth of seedlings. Overall, partial (shelterwood) cutting appeared to be a viable alternative to clear-cutting as a means for regenerating even-aged Allegheny hardwood stands.

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