Terminal leader failure in white spruce plantations in northern Minnesota

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 648-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bruce Harding
Keyword(s):  
White Spruce ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Size Class ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Growth Reduction ◽  
Seed Sources ◽  
Terminal Bud ◽  
Replacement Process

Terminal leader failure from bud mortality occurred in 46% of plantation white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) trees, 19–43 years old. Frost damage was identified as the causal factor of bud mortality, with all plantations being established from seed sources of local origin. Large differences in terminal bud failure rates were noted between year of observation, tree size class, and stand age-class. Dominant trees, 33–43 years old, had a 3 year failure rate ranging from 16 to 51 %. For dominant trees, an 18% (9 cm) height growth reduction per year of incidence was noted. The lateral replacement process could account for greater than a 2 m height reduction for dominants at age 50 years, confounding estimates of potential site quality. The height growth of overtopped trees responded differently to frost damage than dominants, with replacement laterals averaging 38% (8 cm) greater height growth than apical terminals of undamaged trees.

Height growth pattern of white spruce in relation to site quality

1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 137-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.G. Wang ◽  
P.L. Marshall ◽  
K. Klinka
Keyword(s):  
Growth Pattern ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Site Quality

How well can we select undamaged site trees for estimating site index?

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1989-1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon D Nigh ◽  
Bobby A Love
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Sufficient Data ◽  
Terminal Bud ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Unbiased Estimates

The best estimates of site index, an indicator of site productivity, are obtained from site trees. Undamaged site trees should be sampled to obtain unbiased estimates of site index. Two juvenile height growth modelling projects provided us with sufficient data to assess our ability to select undamaged lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Dougl.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) site trees. The sample trees were split open to measure height growth from the terminal bud scars. Splitting the stems also revealed damage that was not visible from the outside of the tree. Over 50% of the lodgepole pine trees and 75% of the white spruce trees had damage, which was much higher than expected. Possible causes of damage are frost and insects. The damage does not significantly reduce the height of the spruce trees, but there is evidence that the heights of the lodgepole pine trees are reduced.

scholarly journals IS HEIGHT/AGE A RELIABLE INDEX OF SITE?

1961 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Stand Density ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Reliable Index ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Total Height ◽  
Growth Intercept

Uses of the total-height/total-age relationship and the growth-intercept method in defining site quality are discussed briefly. Factors affecting height growth of the trees such as animal, insect, and frost damage, along with stand density and initial suppression, are discussed. Attention is drawn to their influences on the height-age relationship. It is suggested that the growth-intercept method of obtaining site quality may be useful in some circumstances.

Effects of artificial warming during quiescence on budbreak and growth of white spruce, Picea glauca

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1538-1545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn C. Pike ◽  
James C. Warren ◽  
Rebecca A. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Spring Frost ◽  
Range Edge ◽  
Seed Sources ◽  
Winter Temperatures ◽  
Infrared Lamps ◽  
Intermittent Warming

Climate change is expected to increase winter temperatures in boreal climates. White spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) is vulnerable to spring frost damage due to its habit of early budbreak, which may be exacerbated or lessened with increasingly warm winters at its southern range edge. We tested the effects of episodic warming during the quiescent stage on budbreak time and growth of seven seed sources grown in a common garden setting in Minnesota, USA. Treatment plots were warmed with infrared lamps for 4 days each in February, March, or February and March to simulate a midwinter thaw. Control plots for each treatment and an overall control were included for comparison. Trees warmed in February experienced a slight delay in spring budbreak, but differences in budbreak time were generally not significant. Terminal growth was significantly and negatively correlated with time of budbreak but not with time to growth cessation. Our results suggest that white spruce is relatively resilient to the effects of intermittent warming but that warming early in the season may delay budbreak time, which is expected to reduce terminal growth.

Control of height growth components in seedlings of California red and white fir by seed source and water stress

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 521-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Hallgren ◽  
John A. Helms
Keyword(s):  
Growing Season ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Current Season ◽  
Seed Sources ◽  
White Fir ◽  
Terminal Bud ◽  
Bud Growth ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Needle Primordia

Terminal bud growth in 2nd-year seedlings and subsequent elongation of the overwintering bud in the 3rd year were studied in California red fir (Abiesmagnifica A. Murr.) and two elevational sources of white fir (A. concolor (Gord. and Glend.) Lindl.). During each growing season the seedlings were either watered or left unwatered to provide 2nd and 3rd year treatments of wet–wet, dry–wet, wet–dry, and dry–dry seasons. Harvests were done biweekly during the second growing season and once at the end of the third growing season. Rate and duration of primordium production were negatively related and there were no differences among seed sources for the number of primordia produced in the 2nd year. Watering more than doubled the number of primordia, mainly through increasing the rate of production. Internode number and length were negatively related on a genetic and environmental basis. Changes in internode length tended to compensate for environmentally induced changes in internode number which resulted in a year to year stability in height growth. Height growth was more buffered against changes in internode number in red fir than in white fir. Watering induced a summer shoot in 80% of low-elevation white fir seedlings and 40% of red fir and high-elevation white fir seedlings. Summer shoots doubled the height increment for the current season and increased the number of needle primordia in the winter bud by 26%. The larger buds were the result of a prolonged period of primordium production.

scholarly journals PERIODICITY OF HEIGHT GROWTH IN WHITE SPRUCE REPRODUCTION

1967 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-371
Author(s):  
A. K. Hellum
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variability ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Seedling Height ◽  
Growing Period ◽  
Terminal Bud ◽  
Bud Size ◽  
One Year

A one-year phenological study with white spruce seedlings in central Alberta has shown that seasonal height growth is positively correlated with length of growing period, size of terminal bud, and length of terminal. Bud size is closely related to seedling height but is also affected by factors of the environment and genetic variability among seedlings.

Canopy and emergent white spruce in “pure” broadleaf stands: frequency, predictive models, and ecological importance

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1997-2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Cumming ◽  
Mariana Trindade ◽  
David Greene ◽  
S. Ellen Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Large White ◽  
Forest Management Planning ◽  
Mixedwood Forests ◽  
Seed Sources ◽  
Ecological Importance

In mixedwood boreal forests of western Canada, stands classified as “pure deciduous” by forest inventories sometimes contain a few large white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) trees among or emerging from the canopy. These trees are important as regeneration seed sources and for habitat structure. Neither their abundance nor the characteristics of stands in which they occur have previously been quantified. Of 275 “pure aspen” stands in northeastern Alberta, 19.6% contained at least one such spruce detectable in an aerial photograph. These trees were found in stands across the range of sampled canopy heights, densities, age classes, and stand sizes and were often present in the interior of stands, not just on the perimeter. The frequency of 3 ha cells containing at least one spruce was related to (i) stand shape and size, (ii) amount of mature white spruce in adjacent forest, (iii) canopy height, (iv) stand age, and (v) stand density. We conclude that such trees are relatively abundant and widely distributed within the boreal mixedwood forests of Alberta. There is presently no provision to maintain this landscape element within managed forests. More information is needed to determine if or how they should be considered in forest management planning.

Analyses of a Forest Drainage Experiment in Northern Ontario. I: Growth Analysis

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bijan Payandeh
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Growth Analysis ◽  
Volume Growth ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Northern Ontario ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Forest Drainage

This paper presents a growth analysis of a forest drainage experiment carried out over 40 years in northern Ontario. It is based on remeasurement data obtained in 1969 from 38 growth plots established following drainage in 1929 and from increment cores and sectioned trees.Results indicate that both annual tree diameter and height growth increased significantly after draining; that tree growth before draining was related to site quality only, while after draining it was related also to tree vigor and distance of water flow from the nearest ditch; that both stand diameter and height growth were related to site index, stand age, and initial stocking; and that stand basal area and volume growth were, in addition, related to a product sine function of distance of water flow from the ditch, peat moisture, decomposition, and depth.Both individual tree and stand growth responded well to draining, with younger and more vigorous trees that were growing on better-quality sites showing the greatest response. For a given site, growth response was not greatest for trees and stands nearest the ditch, but for those some distance away.

Root rot damage in naturally regenerated stands of spruce and balsam fir in Ontario

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Whitney
Keyword(s):  
Root Rot ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Root Decay ◽  
Forest Region

In an 11-year study in northern Ontario, root rot damage was heaviest in balsam fir, intermediate in black spruce, and least in white spruce. As a result of root rot, 16, 11, and 6%, respectively, of dominant or codominant trees of the three species were killed or experienced premature windfall. Butt rot, which resulted from the upward extension of root rot into the boles of living trees, led to a scaled cull of 17, 12, and 10%, respectively, of gross merchantable volume of the remaining living trees in the three species. The total volume of wood lost to rot was, therefore, 33, 23, and 16%, respectively. Of 1108 living dominant and codominant balsam fir, 1243 black spruce, and 501 white spruce in 165 stands, 87, 68, and 63%, respectively, exhibited some degree of advanced root decay. Losses resulting from root rot increased with tree age. Significant amounts of root decay and stain (>30% of root volume) first occurred at 60 years of age in balsam fir and 80 years in black spruce and white spruce. For the three species together, the proportion of trees that were dead and windfallen as a result of root rot increased from an average of 3% at 41–50 years to 13% at 71–80 years and 26% at 101–110 years. The root rot index, based on the number of dead and windfallen trees and estimated loss of merchantable volume, also increased, from an average of 17 at 41–50 years to 40 at 71–80 years and 53 at 101–110 years. Death and windfall of balsam fir and black spruce were more common in northwestern Ontario than in northeastern Ontario. Damage to balsam fir was greater in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Forest region than in the Boreal Forest region. In all three tree species, the degree of root rot (decay and stain) was highly correlated with the number of dead and windfallen trees, stand age, and root decay at ground level (as a percentage of basal area) for a 10-tree sample.

Impact of tephra deposition on growth in conifers: the year of the eruption

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 731-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Hinckley ◽  
Hiromi Imoto ◽  
Katharine Lee ◽  
Susan Lacker ◽  
Yasushi Morikawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fine Root ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Growth Reduction ◽  
Root Mortality ◽  
Foliar Damage ◽  
Associated Species ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Total Tree ◽  
Mount St Helens

Seven sites ranging from 15 to 135 km from Mount St. Helens were selected to study the impact of air-fall tephra on the growth of Abiesamabilis (Dougl.) Forbes, A. procera Rehd., Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco, Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., and T. mertensiana (Bong.) Carr. As tephra depth increased, there was a corresponding increase in visible foliar damage and associated decreases in diameter and height growth. Reduction in diameter growth was greater than reduction in height growth. The reduction in diameter growth approached 50% in both trees and saplings of A. amabilis. Growth reduction in true firs was greater than in associated species. This difference was related to their greater capacity for interception and retention of air-fall tephra. Damage to trees, and resulting growth reductions, were due to tephra coverage of both the foliage and the soil. Coverage of the foliage resulted in foliar damage, foliage abscission and reduction of total tree foliar area, and increased fine root mortality. Tephra coverage of the soil had the potential to restrict oxygen diffusion into the soil. However, soil oxygen concentrations less than 10% were measured only once over a 2-year period.

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