Does frequent burning affect longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) bark thickness?

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1562-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Geoff Wang ◽  
Steve R. Wangen

Bark thickness plays a critical role in protecting a tree’s cambium from damage by fires. Does frequent surface fire stimulate bark production compared with a fire-suppressed control? Based on data from an ongoing, long-term prescribed fire study, we explored differences in bark thickness from 0 to 200 cm above the ground for longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris P. Mill.) trees on burned and control sites. Biennial prescribed fires, applied between 1973 (stand age = 14 years) and 2006 (stand age = 47 years), significantly reduced diameter at breast height. After adjusting for differences in diameter at breast height, we found no difference in bark thickness of trees from the burn and control sites, except for bark thickness measured at 0 cm aboveground where control sites had significantly thicker bark than burned sites. Results suggest that frequent burning did not stimulate bark production in longleaf pine.

Weed Science ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Michael

Twenty years after aerial application of 2.24 kg ae/ha of the butoxy ethanol ester of 2,4,5-T [(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] to release grass stage longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings, stocking was the same for each of three treated and control 4-ha plots. Treated plots, however, had significantly greater tree diameter (10%), taller trees (17%), and more merchantable tree volume/ha (40%). Merchantable tree volume differences 20 yr after treatment represent an 8 yr growth advantage for treated plots.


1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold E. Quicke ◽  
Ralph S. Meldahl

Abstract A table for estimating longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) pole classes in the field is presented. The table was derived by converting the American National Standards Institute's dimensions of southern pine poles from minimum circumference at 6 ft from the butt of the pole to minimum tree diameter breast height outside bark. The conversion is based on tree taper, stump height, length trimmed off the butt of the tree at the pole yard, and bark thickness. The table is compared to a previously published table for determining southern pine pole classes from dbh. South. J. Appl. For. 16(2):79-82.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P McGuire ◽  
John S Kush ◽  
J Morgan Varner ◽  
Dwight K Lauer ◽  
J Ryan Mitchell

Abstract Efforts to restore longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) in the southeastern US require substantial artificial regeneration. Once established, important questions remain about when to introduce fire. We investigated the impact of initial planting density on tree branching and how prescribed fire might interact with tree architecture and survival. A particular focus was on how prescribed fires could “prune” lower branches. Lower density plantings (897 trees ha−1) had more and larger live lower branches than higher density plantings (2,243 trees ha−1). Fire was effective in pruning lower branches regardless of season burned, but fire in the growing season was more effective at pruning. Branches up to a height of 1.5 to 2 m were killed by fire. Fire applied in August caused greater damage with more needles scorched and/or consumed and more stem char. Prescribed fire did not impact longleaf pine tree survival. In general, fire applied to longleaf pine facilitated pruning lower branches that affect long-term wood quality, an additional argument for its utility in restoration and management of these ecosystems.


1980 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-79
Author(s):  
Robert C. Sparks ◽  
Norwin E. Linnartz ◽  
Harold E. Harris

Abstract Pruning and thinning a young natural stand of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) in southwest Louisiana had little influence on height. However, diameter growth was reduced substantially as pruning intensity or stocking rate increased up to 25-percent live crown and 200 stems per acre, respectively. Improved diameter growth at lower stocking rates was not sufficient to equal the total basal area increment of 200 trees per acre.


1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Boyer

Abstract Well-stocked mature longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) stands were cut to five residual basal areas in 1957, namely 9, 18, 27, 36, and 45 ft² per ac, to observe the effect of stand density on seed production and seedling establishment. Seedlings, mainly from the 1955 or 1961seed crops, were established in treated stands. All pines on net 0.9 ac plots were remeasured in 1991 to determine the effect of residual pine density on development of the regeneration. Even the lightest residual overstory converted the structure of 29- to 35- yr-old ingrowth into the reverse-Jdiameter class distribution characteristic of uneven-aged stands. Four or six residual trees, now comprising 7 to 10 ft² basal area (ba)/ac, reduced ingrowth basal area to about half that of same-aged stands released from overstory competition. Merchantable volume of ingrowth under theselow residual densities averaged 40% of that in released stands. Mean annual per ac volume increment of ingrowth averaged 21 to 22 ft³ under the 9 ft² density but did not exceed 7 ft³ under any residual density above this. The potential impact of significant growth reductionsshould be taken into account when considering uneven-aged management methods for longleaf pine. South. J. Appl. For. 17(1):10-15.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 624-635
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Curtin ◽  
Benjamin O. Knapp ◽  
Steven B. Jack ◽  
Lance A. Vickers ◽  
David R. Larsen ◽  
...  

Recent interest in continuous cover forest management of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems raises questions of long-term sustainability because of uncertainty in rates of canopy recruitment of longleaf pine trees. We destructively sampled 130 naturally regenerated, midstory longleaf pines across an 11 300 ha, second-growth longleaf pine landscape in southwestern Georgia, United States, to reconstruct individual tree height growth patterns. We tested effects of stand density (using a competition index) and site quality (based on two site classifications: mesic and xeric) on height growth and demographics of midstory trees. We also compared height growth of paired midstory and overstory trees to infer stand regeneration and recruitment dynamics. In low-density stands, midstory trees were younger and grew at greater rates than trees within high-density stands. Midstory trees in low-density stands were mostly from a younger regeneration cohort than their paired overstory trees, whereas midstory–overstory pairs in high-density stands were mostly of the same cohort. Our results highlight the importance of releasing midstory longleaf pine trees from local competition for sustained height growth in partial-harvesting management systems. They also demonstrate patterns of long-term persistence in high-density stands, indicating flexibility in the canopy recruitment process of this shade-intolerant tree species.


2016 ◽  
Vol 364 ◽  
pp. 154-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darcy H. Hammond ◽  
J. Morgan Varner ◽  
Zhaofei Fan ◽  
John S. Kush

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell Karlsson ◽  
Lennart Norell

The probability that an individual tree will remain in even-aged Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands subjected to different thinning programmes was modelled, using data from a thinning experiment established in 25 localities in southern Sweden. A logistic regression approach was used to predict the probability and the Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test to evaluate the fit. Diameter at breast height (DBH), quadratic mean DBH, thinning intensity, thinning quotient, basal area, number of stems per hectare, stand age, number of thinnings, and site index were used as explanatory variables. Separate analyses for stands thinned from below, stands thinned from above, and unthinned stands were performed. The modelled probability graphs for trees not being removed, plotted against their diameter at breast height, had clear S-shapes for both unthinned stands and stands thinned from below. The graph for stands thinned from above was bell-shaped.


1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1108-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.H. Borden ◽  
L.J. Chong ◽  
B.S. Lindgren ◽  
E.J. Begin ◽  
T.M. Ebata ◽  
...  

Seven, split-block experiments throughout British Columbia in 1989 tested the efficacy of binary tree baits containing the pheromones trans-verbenol and exo-brevicomin or ternary baits with the addition of the host tree kairomone myrcene for containing and concentrating infestations of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonusponderosae Hopkins, in stands of lodgepole pine, Pinuscontorta var. latifolia Engelm. Attack densities on baited trees, attack frequencies of baited trees and trees within 10 m of the baited trees, and the ratios of newly attacked, green, trees to previously attacked, red, trees were generally statistically equal between sub-blocks containing binary or ternary baits. Where statistically significant differences occurred for one or more of the above criteria in one experiment, they were generally offset by statistically significant differences in the opposite direction in another experiment. Two individual-tree experiments in 1990 that supported the equality of binary and ternary baits indicated that raising the release rate of trans-verbenol in binary baits tended to reduce their efficacy (possibly because of contamination with the antiaggregation pheromone verbenone) and showed that increasing the release rate of exo-brevicomin tended to counteract this effect. When attack frequencies were subdivided by diameter class of available trees attacked, all baits were effective in inducing attack on available trees <30.0 cm diameter at breast height (1.3 m), but attack on baited and control trees ≥30 cm diameter at breast height was equal. Provided that the trans-verbenol in binary baits does not contain or autoxidize to verbenone, myrcene can be deleted from operational tree baits.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Willis ◽  
Ajay Sharma ◽  
John S. Kush

Emulating natural disturbance has become an increasingly important restoration strategy. In the fire-maintained woodlands of the southeastern United States, contemporary restoration efforts have focused on approximating the historical fire regime by burning at short intervals. Due to concerns over escape and damage to mature trees, most prescribed burning has occurred in the dormant season, which is inconsistent with the historical prevalence of lightning-initiated fire in the region. This discordance between contemporary prescribed burning and what is thought to be the historical fire regime has led some to question whether dormant season burning should remain the most common management practice; however, little is known about the long-term effects of repeated growing season burning on the health and productivity of desirable tree species. To address this question, we report on a long-term experiment comparing the effects of seasonal biennial burning (winter, spring, and summer) and no burning on the final survival status, height, diameter, and volume growth of 892 mature longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) over 23 years in three mature even-aged stands in southern Alabama, United States. Overall, longleaf pine survival across all treatments averaged 81 ± 2% [s.e]. Among seasonal burn treatments, survival was highest in the spring burns (82 ± 4%) but did not vary significantly from any other treatment (summer – 79 ± 4%, winter – 81 ± 4%, unburned – 84 ± 4%). However, survival was statistically influenced by initial diameter at breast height, as survival of trees in the largest size class (30 cm) was 40% higher than trees in the smallest size class (5 cm). Productivity of longleaf pine was not significantly different among treatment averages in terms of volume (38.9–44.1 ± 6.0 m3 ha–1), diameter (6.0–6.7 ± 0.3 cm), and height (2.5–3.4 ± 0.4 m) growth. Collectively, our results demonstrate that burning outside the dormant season will have little impact on mature longleaf pine survival and growth. This finding has important implications for the maintenance of restored southeastern woodlands, as interest in burning outside the dormant season continues to grow.


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