Comparison of growth–climate relationships between northern red oak and white oak across eastern North America

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 1936-1947 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. LeBlanc ◽  
Mark A. Terrell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
White Oak

The objective of this study was to evaluate growth–climate associations for northern red oak ( Quercus rubra L.) across much of its geographic range in eastern North America and to compare these associations with those of white oak ( Quercus alba L.). Tree-ring and climate data were obtained for a total of 82 sites, including 51 sites where both oak species were sampled. Northern red oak radial growth was most strongly and spatially consistently correlated with site water balance variables for the early growing season (May through July). Correlations with prior year autumn and winter precipitation were also identified at a smaller number of sites. The phenology of growth–climate correlations was virtually identical between northern red oak and white oak, although there was modest evidence that correlations were stronger for white oak. These results support the hypothesis that species with similar wood anatomy, geographic distribution, and habitat preferences may have similar growth–climate relationships. This suggests that functional groups of tree species may be defined a priori based on existing knowledge of their wood anatomy and ecology.

scholarly journals Oak (Acorn)–Weevil Interactions across an Extensive Latitudinal Gradient in Eastern North America

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Michael A. Steele ◽  
Harmony J. Dalgleish ◽  
Shealyn Marino ◽  
Andrew W. Bartlow ◽  
Rachel Curtis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Quercus Rubra ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Chemical Gradients ◽  
Latitudinal Transect

Recent studies have explored how nut weevils (Curculio and Conotrachelus spp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) prey on the fruits (acorns) of oak (Quercus spp.). However, few, if any, have examined these interactions over both an extensive geographic area and over several years. Here, we observed patterns of infestation in acorns of both red oak (Quercus rubra) and white oak (Quercus alba) over an eight-year period along a latitudinal transect, extending as far as 900km, across much of the shared range of these two oak species. Although weevil prevalence did not differ significantly between the two oak species, in red oak, infestation prevalence increased significantly with latitude. In contrast, an opposite pattern was evident in white oak, with the highest infestation prevalence occurring at lower latitudes. One controlled measure of cotyledon damage was significantly lower in acorns of red oak than those of white oak, which may in part be due to larger acorn size at the lower latitudes. Future investigations in this system should focus on the distribution of weevil species (with DNA barcoding) across this range and geographic variation in chemical gradients that likely determine patterns of weevil damage in individual acorns.

scholarly journals Nut Selection by Captive Blue Jays: Importance of Availability and Implications for Seed Dispersal

The Condor ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Moore ◽  
Robert K. Swihart
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Discrete Choice Models ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Large White ◽  
Shagbark Hickory ◽  
Black Oak ◽  
Blue Jays

Abstract We assessed dietary preference of 14 captive Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) for different food types under different conditions of availability. In four separate feeding trials, we provisioned jays with the following: Trial 1, two nuts each of white oak (Quercus alba), pin oak (Q. palustris), black oak (Q. velutina), northern red oak (Q. rubra), and shagbark hickory (Carya ovata); Trial 2, two small and two large red oak acorns; Trial 3, two germinating and two nongerminating white oak acorns; and Trial 4, one large red oak acorn, one large white oak acorn, and one shagbark hickory nut. We used discrete choice models to describe selection under conditions of changing choice sets. Blue Jays displayed a clear preference for pin oak and strong avoidance of red oak acorns when alternative foods were available. White oak and black oak acorns were selected intermediately. Shagbark hickory nuts were never used. Correlation coefficients suggested that preference was inversely related to seed size and the proportion of seed consisting of hard seed coat. In the absence of alternative food items, small red oak acorns were readily taken, whereas large red oak acorns were mostly avoided but still used by some birds. These results highlight the importance of considering food availability when making conclusions about preference, and lend support to the hypothesis that Blue Jays can be important dispersers of even less-preferred oak species. We discuss the potential as well as the limitations for Blue Jays to act as seed dispersers, with respect to postglacial range expansion of fagaceous tree species, and in the context of present-day dispersal in regions where forests are highly fragmented.

FOLIAGE CONSUMPTION BY THE VARIABLE OAK LEAF CATERPILLAR, HETEROCAMPA MANTEO (LEPIDOPTERA: NOTODONTIDAE), ITS USE IN DEFOLIATION PREDICTIONS

1978 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Surgeoner ◽  
W. E. Wallner
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Quercus Rubra ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Consumption Data ◽  
Significant Difference

AbstractTotal foliage consumption per larva of Heterocampa manteo (Doubleday) was 334 ± 49.3 cm2 of leaf area. Approximately 85% of the consumption occurred during the fifth larval stadium. There was no significant difference in consumption by H. manteo when fed northern red oak, Quercus rubra L., or white oak, Quercus alba L. Foliage consumption at 27 °C, 24 °C, and 21 °C did not differ significantly; but larvae reared at 15.5 °C consumed 42.6% less foliage. Larvae parasitized by Diradops bethunei (Cresson) consumed 61.3% less foliage than non-parasitized larvae reared at the same temperature. Two methods of predicting defoliation are discussed based upon larval foliage consumption data.

scholarly journals White Oak and Northern Red Oak Leaf Injury from Exposure to Chloroacetanilide Herbicides

HortScience ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 696-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayesh B. Samtani ◽  
John B. Masiunas ◽  
James E. Appleby
Keyword(s):  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Leaf Injury ◽  
Leaf Unfolding ◽  
Red Oaks ◽  
Chloroacetanilide Herbicides ◽  
Leaf Tissues ◽  
Tree Injury

Previous research by the authors found simulated acetochlor (with atrazine) and s-metolachlor drift to white oak at the leaf unfolding stage caused loss of interveinal tissues (leaf tatters). Reports of leaf tatters in the landscape and nursery settings are more common on white oak (Quercus alba L.) than on northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.). Our objectives were to determine if white and northern red oak differed in susceptibility to chloroacetanilide herbicides, if injury varied between chloroacetanilide herbicides, and if adding atrazine increased leaf injury. Two-year-old seedlings at the leaf unfolding stage were treated with acetochlor, s-metolachlor, and dimethenamid-P alone or combined with atrazine at 1%, 10%, and 25% of the standard field use rate. Within 6 days, all chloroacetanilides at 10% and 25% field use rates, alone or combined with atrazine, caused leaf tatter injury in both species. Acetochlor, s-metolachlor, and dimethenamid-P caused a similar type of leaf injury. Atrazine did not cause loss of leaf tissues or increase injury from chloroacetanilides. At 1% field use rate, only acetochlor, acetochlor + atrazine, and dimethenamid-P caused leaf injury to northern red oaks. The white oaks were not injured by all of the chloroacetanilide treatments at 1% field use rate. The northern red oaks were slightly more susceptible to chloroacetanilides compared with the white oaks. A second study found acetochlor only injured northern red oak when applied at the leaf unfolding stage and only at 25% of field use rate. Acetochlor at 1% field use rate did not injure red oak. Research is needed to explain the greater frequency of leaf tatters on white oaks than on northern red oaks in the landscape and to develop strategies to avoid tree injury.

Radial growth response of white oak to climate in eastern North America

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2180-2192 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. LeBlanc ◽  
Mark A. Terrell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Range Limit ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Climate Gradients ◽  
Site Water ◽  
Dormant Season

Predicting forest responses to climate change requires an understanding of the cause–effect relationships linking climate to tree growth. Dendroecological analyses across sites that span climate gradients provide one means of characterizing such relationships. Dendroecological analyses for white oak ( Quercus alba L.) at 149 sites spanning the species range in eastern North America identified spatially replicated growth–climate associations. Early growing season site water balance variables for the year of annual ring formation had the strongest, most spatially replicated associations with growth. There was little evidence of phenological variation of these associations related to the latitudinal temperature gradient. Most spatial variation in growth–climate associations was along an east-to-west precipitation gradient. Radial growth was most strongly correlated with site water balance at sites in the northwest quadrant of the range, characterized by continental climate and high interannual variability in precipitation. There was little evidence that dormant season temperature affects white oak growth, even at the northern range limit. Correlations with dormant season precipitation were common in the northwest part of the range, where winter soil water recharge may be more variable. Spatial replication was a useful criterion for distinguishing growth–climate correlations that reflect cause–effect relationships.

scholarly journals Heterogeneity and Spatial Autocorrelation for Chloroplast Haplotypes in Three Old Growth Populations of Northern Red Oak

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 212-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Feng ◽  
W. Sun ◽  
J. Romero-Severson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Haplotype Diversity ◽  
Pollen Deposition ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
Biogeographical Distribution ◽  
Haplotype Frequencies

Abstract In eastern North America, evidence for cryptic northern refugia could contribute to resolving Reid’s Paradox, the disparity between the rate of oak recolonization indicated by pollen deposition and the rate indicated by contemporary seed dispersal studies. Severe anthropogenic disturbance of oak-dominated forests throughout eastern North America followed by regeneration from isolated patches and deliberate planting in some regions could obscure the signal of discontinuity expected from small, cryptic refugia. In this study of northern red oak, Quercus rubra L., the dominant representative of Quercus section Lobatae in the eastern United States, we address the question of appropriate sample size for accurate detection of the biogeographical distribution of chloroplast haplotype diversity in Q. rubra. We examined chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation in all Q. rubra over 17 cm in diameter (310 trees) in three forest fragments with documented histories of minimal disturbance for the last 100-190 years. cpDNA polymorphisms in three intergenic regions revealed different haplotype frequencies between the two local fragments located within 1 km of each other and complete discontinuity for the predominant haplotype between these two sites and a site 207 km distant. Haplotypes displayed positive spatial autocorrelation over 10-40 meter distances. Sample sizes of 10 or fewer taken at 50 meter intervals along a linear transect yielded poor estimates of haplotype frequencies and did not accurately detect haplotype richness.

scholarly journals Northern Red Oak, White Oak, and Black Walnut Diameter Growth for the First 3 Years after Thinning in a Mixed Planting

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin-Michel Gauthier ◽  
Douglass F. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Basal Area ◽  
Black Walnut ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Area Reduction ◽  
Area Increase ◽  
Area Expansion

Abstract We established a study to investigate short-term morphological responses of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.), white oak (Quercus alba L.), and black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) to a 43% basal area reduction in a mixed planting. Although the effect was not statistically confirmed, thinned northern red oak showed a 23% gain in relative diameter growth and a 25% gain in relative crown surface area expansion compared with nonthinned trees; white oak showed gains of 15 and 10%, respectively. Similar trends were found in percentage of basal area increase for northern red oak (45%) and white oak (37%). Black walnut did not appear to respond to thinning and may have been under less competition from first-tier neighbors than the oaks were. Both northern red oak and white oak were in intermediate and suppressed crown classes, whereas black walnut was in a codominant position. Trends from this study suggest that northern red oak and white oak may respond favorably to thinning when found in lower crown classes where the amount of competition from neighboring trees is high.

scholarly journals Changes in Forest Structure Associated with Oak Decline in Severely Impacted Areas of Northern Arkansas

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Heitzman ◽  
Adrian Grell ◽  
Martin Spetich ◽  
Dale Starkey
Keyword(s):  
Acer Rubrum ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Oak Decline ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Flowering Dogwood ◽  
Advance Regeneration

Abstract Four mature northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.)–white oak (Quercus alba L.) stands in the Boston Mountains of northern Arkansas were studied to describe the vegetation dynamics of forests heavily impacted by oak decline. Northern red oak was the species most susceptible to decline. Across the four stands, 51–75% of red oak density (trees/ha) was dead or dying, as was 40–70% of the red oak basal area. Red oak damage occurred across a range of tree sizes. Healthy red oak had low populations of red oak borer (Enaphalodes rufulus Haldeman), and dead/dying red oak supported large numbers of borers. Impacts on white oak were less severe and generally limited to smaller trees. Decline had changed what once were red oak-dominated stands to more mixed forests of white oak, hickory (Carya spp.), red oak, blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.), and red maple (Acer rubrum L.). Understory trees and seedlings were predominantly blackgum, red maple, hickory, black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum [Nutt.] Nees). However, well-developed red and white oak advance regeneration was present in all stands. It is unclear if the death of overstory trees will favor the regeneration of nonoaks, or whether oak regeneration will successfully recruit within canopy gaps created by this disturbance.

scholarly journals Planting Oaks in Group Selection Openings on Upland Sites: Two Case Studies from Arkansas

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Eric Heitzman ◽  
Adrian Grell
Keyword(s):  
Group Selection ◽  
Quercus Rubra ◽  
Red Oak ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
Northern Red Oak ◽  
Height Increment ◽  
Ozark Mountains ◽  
White Oak ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Oak Seedlings

Abstract Two upland sites in Arkansas were studied to test the performance of 1-0 northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and white oak (Quercus alba L.) seedlings planted in group selection openings. Both red and white oak seedlings were planted at one location in the Ozark Mountains,and only red oak seedlings were planted at a second site along Crowleys Ridge. Holes were dug with power augers and seedlings were planted by hand. At the time of planting, the mean height of red oak and white oak seedlings at the Ozark site were 3.4 and 1.9 ft, respectively. Red oak seedlingsat Crowleys Ridge averaged 3.0 ft tall when planted. After 4 years at the Ozark site, 77% of red oak and 86% of white oak were alive. After 3 years at Crowleys Ridge, red oak survival was 80%. Seedlings at both sites grew slowly. Mean 4-year height increment at the Ozarksite was 2.1 ft for red oak and 2.5 ft for white oak, and mean 3-year height increment for red oak at Crowleys Ridge was 1.6 ft. Three years after planting in the Ozark Mountains and 2 years after planting at Crowleys Ridge, naturally regenerating competition had suppressed over one-thirdof the red oak and about one-half of the white oak. This necessitated a release treatment around planted seedlings at both sites. Oaks that decreased in total height over a given growing season were common. Most seedlings that decreased in height had been pulled over or crushed by other vegetationor exhibited top dieback. South. J. Appl.For. 30(3):142–146.

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