Expected decrease in diameter growth of even-aged red spruce

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Anthony Federer ◽  
James W. Hornbeck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New England ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Radial Increment ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
Stand Basal Area

Weibull functions provide close least square fits to tables for stand basal area and density versus age in even-aged, second-growth red spruce as reported by W. H. Meyer (USDA Tech. Bull. No. 142. 1929). The annual mean radial and basal area increments of the trees can be calculated from the two Weibull functions. For a stand following Meyer's tables and reaching breast height in 1915, mean tree basal area increment increases steadily to a maximum in the early 1960's and then declines; mean radial increment is constant from 1925 to 1955 and then declines rapidly. This behavior matches very closely the results from 3001 red spruce increment cores in New England and New York, which suggests that forest aging is an important cause of decreasing red spruce diameter growth.

scholarly journals Stand basal-area and tree-diameter growth in red spruce-fir forests in Maine, 1960-80

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Zarnoch ◽  
D.A. Gansner ◽  
D.S. Powell ◽  
T.A. Birch ◽  
T.A. Birch
Keyword(s):  
Basal Area ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Tree Diameter ◽  
Stand Basal Area

Effects of winter injury on basal area and height growth of 30-year-old red spruce from 12 provenances growing in northern New Hampshire

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1616-1622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Introgressive Hybridization ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Basal Area Increment ◽  
Repeated Injury

Basal-area increment and height growth of 30-year-old red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) from 12 rangewide provenances growing in a plantation in northern New Hampshire were measured for a 3-year period (1986 through 1988) in which severe and (or) frequent winter damage to needles occurred. Growth of uninjured trees and injured trees were compared. Basal-area increments were successively smaller for groups of trees arranged in increasing order of average needle damage as a portion of the upper crown and number of years that the trees were injured. A similar pattern was observed for height growth, but the effect of winter damage was not as great on height growth as on basal-area increment. Growth losses following winter injury, especially height growth, were much greater for trees in provenances classed as pure red spruce than for trees in provenances where introgressive hybridization with black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) has been demonstrated. For pure red spruce populations, repeated injury in 3 successive years or a sustained average of 30% or more needle damage resulted in losses in basal-area increment and height growth of up to 59 and 30%, respectively. Basal-area growth of the most severely injured trees in New England - New York provenances was 63% less than that of uninjured trees. These results support the contention of others that winter injury could be an initiating or perpetuating factor in red spruce decline.

Relationships between breast-height and whole-stem growth indices for red spruce on Whiteface Mountain, New York

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1399-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. LeBlanc
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Stem Growth ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Growth Indices ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Volume Increment ◽  
Annual Volume ◽  
Whiteface Mountain

This paper describes relationships between tree growth indices based on ring width measurements at 1.4 m aboveground and indices derived from whole-stem analysis for red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) in a high-elevation spruce-fir forest on Whiteface Mountain, New York. Coefficients of determination for linear regressions between mean, standardized chronologies for breast-height ring width versus whole-stem ring width and basal area increment versus annual volume increment are 0.89 and 0.93, respectively. However, substantial variability is apparent in breast-height versus whole-stem relationships for individual trees, particularly for unstandardized growth indices. Also, relationships between unstandardized growth indices exhibit temporal instability associated with individual tree maturation and stand dynamics. Nonetheless, strong relationships between mean standardized chronologies of breast-height and whole-stem growth indices validate the use of breast-height growth indices to represent year-to-year variation in mean growth performance of red spruce. A volume-equation-based procedure is described that provides better dendrochronological estimates of annual volume increment than estimates based on basal area increment alone.

Testing for stand dynamics effects on red spruce growth trends

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 1487-1495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Van Deusen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Stand Dynamics ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Growth Reduction ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Usda Forest Service ◽  
Increment Core ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
Insect Activity

Increment-core data for old-growth red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) were collected for dendrochonological purposes and compared with second-growth data obtained from USDA Forest Service inventory plots in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. The research objective was to test the hypothesis suggested by J. W. Hornbeck and R. B. Smith (1985, Can. J. For. Res. 15: 1199–1201) that red spruce show reduced growth in the Northeastern United States due to stand dynamics resulting from past logging and insect activity. A graphical approach and a modeling approach based on the Kalman filter were employed. The results indicate that the growth reduction is greater in second-growth stands and that the second-growth stands are converging to an old-growth condition. This supports the stand dynamics hypothesis for second-growth stands.

scholarly journals Relative effects of dendrometers on the estimation of diameter at breast height, stand basal area and stand volume in uneven-aged northern hardwoods

2009 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Guillemette ◽  
Marie-Claude Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Basal Area ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Minor Axis ◽  
Northern Hardwoods ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Stand Volume ◽  
Diameter At Breast Height ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Stand Basal Area

Four methods of estimating diameter at breast height (DBH) were used on 558 northern hardwood stems, located in 6, 0.25-ha plots, to compare their effects. The first method was a diameter tape reading and the second was a systematic reading, along a predefined axis, taken with a calliper. The last 2 methods were both obtained from the arithmetic mean of 2 different pairs of calliper readings taken at right angles. The first pair was directed along the major bole axis and the other pair along the minor axis. The 4 methods were compared in terms of mean tree diameter, plot basal area and plot volume. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in parameter estimates among methods, and the differences varied according to species (Acer saccharum Marsh. and Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) and tree size class. Differences among methods were more evident for larger DBH classes, which contribute most to the significant differences observed for both the plot and stand basal area and volume. Overall, tree DBH, plot basal area and plot volume provided by these 4 methods ranked in this ascending order: mean calliper reading directed along the minor axis, systematic calliper reading, mean calliper reading directed along the major axis, and diameter tape. The difference in stand basal area or volume between the estimates obtained with a systematic calliper reading and a diameter tape was 1.1 m2/ha with a mean basal area of about 21 m2/ha, or 10.5 m3/ha with a mean stand volume of 169 m3/ha. Because of the magnitude of these differences, it is recommended the method of DBH estimation be specified in studies, to be careful when crossing databases or models using different methods of DBH estimation, and to always maintain the same method of DBH estimation when remeasuring a plot. Key words: northern hardwoods, dendrometer, diameter tape, calliper, caliper, DBH measurement, basal area, volume

KORSCHELTELLUS GRACILIS (GROTE): A PEST OF RED SPRUCE AND BALSAM FIR ROOTS (LEPIDOPTERA: HEPIALIDAE)

1991 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Wagner ◽  
Donald R. Tobi ◽  
William E. Wallner ◽  
Bruce L. Parker
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Plant Tissues ◽  
Larval Feeding ◽  
Mature Trees ◽  
Below Ground

AbstractKorscheltellus gracilis (Grote) is a pest of red spruce and balsam fir roots in the forests of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The larvae feed below ground on woody and non-woody plant tissues for 2 years before maturing. It was found at 18 localities across New England and Nova Scotia during the summers of 1987 and 1988. On Whiteface Mt., New York, and Mt. Moosilauke, New Hampshire, larvae were absent to uncommon at low (500 m) and high (1300 m) altitudes, but common to abundant in red spruce – balsam fir associations at 700, 900, and 1100 m. During September 1987, larval populations were estimated at 56 000 and 312 000 per hectare in soils at 900 m on Whiteface and Moosilauke, respectively. Dense populations occurred locally, e.g. 27 larvae were recovered from a single 0.25-m2 soil pit at 900 m on Moosilauke. By June 1988, larval numbers on Whiteface and Moosilauke had declined by 51% and 72%, respectively. Seedlings and mature trees of both spruce and fir were damaged by larval feeding on bark and cambium. Seedlings were girdled; mature trees had wounds paralleling the root axes.

Assessment of weather-associated causes of red spruce winter injury and consequences to aboveground carbon sequestration

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Schaberg ◽  
Brynne E. Lazarus ◽  
Gary J. Hawley ◽  
Joshua M. Halman ◽  
Catherine H. Borer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New England ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Event Analysis ◽  
Severe Winter ◽  
Injury Event ◽  
Northern New England ◽  
Using Data

Despite considerable study, it remains uncertain what environmental factors contribute to red spruce ( Picea rubens Sarg.) foliar winter injury and how much this injury influences tree C stores. We used a long-term record of winter injury in a plantation in New Hampshire and conducted stepwise linear regression analyses with local weather and regional pollution data to determine which parameters helped account for observed injury. Two types of weather phenomena were consistently associated with elevated injury: (i) measures of low-temperature stress that incite injury and (ii) factors that reduced the length of the growing season and predisposed trees to injury. At this plantation, there was a significant linear relationship between winter injury and growth reductions for 2 years after a severe winter injury event. Analysis using data from three New England states indicated that plantation data reflected a regional response. Using regional data, we estimated a reduction of 394 000 metric tons of C sequestered in living red spruce stems ≥20 cm in diameter growing in New York and northern New England during the 2 years following a severe winter injury event. This is a conservative estimate of reduced C sequestration because injury-induced mortality and other factors were not evaluated.

SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN RADIAL GROWTH AT BREAST HEIGHT OF SOME WESTERN HEMLOCK AND DOUGLAS FIR TREES, 1953-57

1960 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Braham G. Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Average Length ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Average Diameter ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Western Hemlock ◽  
Radial Increment ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Total Growth

Radial increment was recorded at weekly intervals for 68 Douglas fir and 14 western hemlock trees throughout the growing season for the years 1953-57 inclusive. The average diameter, inside bark at breast height, was 13.9 inches for the Douglas firs and 11.9 inches for the western hemlock. Growth for both species generally commenced during the first week of May. The average length of the growing season for Douglas fir was 146 days and for western hemlock 156 days. Douglas fir completed a greater percentage of its total growth earlier in the season than did western hemlock, accounting for an average of 83 per cent of its basal area growth by July 31 compared to 68 per cent for western hemlock. Growth in both 1956 and 1957 was considerably below that of each of the preceding three years. This was attributed partly to the severe frost damage to the trees in November 1955.

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