Conifer-seed preferences of small mammals

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (9) ◽  
pp. 773-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lobo ◽  
M. Duong ◽  
J. S. Millar
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Deer Mouse ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Seed Selection ◽  
Subalpine Fir ◽  
Phenacomys Intermedius

The preferences of the deer mouse ( Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)), southern red-backed vole ( Myodes gapperi (Vigors, 1830)), heather vole ( Phenacomys intermedius Merriam, 1889), long-tailed vole ( Microtus longicaudus (Merriam, 1888)), and meadow vole ( Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1851)) for lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.), white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss), and subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) seeds were investigated using cafeteria-style feeding experiments. Seed selection by P. maniculatus and M. gapperi in the field was also studied. Peromyscus maniculatus, M. gapperi, M. longicaudus, and M. pennsylvanicus showed a distinct preference for lodgepole pine seeds and avoidance of subalpine fir seeds, and consumed the different species of seeds in similar relative proportions. Phenacomys intermedius behaved very differently from the other rodent species in that it did not show a preference among seed species, and consumed very few seeds in total. Findings from the field seed selection trials were consistent with laboratory results. We suggest that postdispersal seed predation by small mammals could limit the recruitment success of lodgepole pine and white spruce, but would not be a major problem in the regeneration of subalpine fir stands. This could provide an advantage for subalpine fir over neighbouring competitive species.

scholarly journals NOTES ON FOOD HABITS OF SMALL MAMMALS OF THE WHITE SPRUCE FOREST

1963 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Bruce Wagg
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Deer Mouse ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Microtus Spp

Cage feeding of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, and red-backed mice, Clethrionomys gapperi, showed a daily maximum seed consumption of lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia, of about 1,000 seeds and of white spruce, Picea glauca, of 2,000 seeds. There was no difference in the amount of seed consumed by the two species of mice. Lodgepole pine seed was preferred over white spruce.Meadow voles, Microtus spp., readily ate lodgepole pine and white spruce seedlings following germination. Red-backed mice also ate seedlings but not to the same degree as the meadow voles. The deer mouse was not tested.

scholarly journals Cold hardiness of white spruce, black spruce, jack pine, and lodgepole pine needles during dehardening

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1116-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Pengxin Lu ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Visual Assessment ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Pine Needles ◽  
Late Winter

Conifer winter damage results primarily from loss of cold hardiness during unseasonably warm days in late winter and early spring, and such damage may increase in frequency and severity under a warming climate. In this study, the dehardening dynamics of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex. Loud), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) were examined in relation to thermal accumulation during artificial dehardening in winter (December) and spring (March) using relative electrolyte leakage and visual assessment of pine needles and spruce shoots. Results indicated that all four species dehardened at a similar rate and to a similar extent, despite considerably different thermal accumulation requirements. Spring dehardening was comparatively faster, with black spruce slightly hardier than the other conifers at the late stage of spring dehardening. The difference, however, was relatively small and did not afford black spruce significant protection during seedling freezing tests prior to budbreak in late March and early May. The dehardening curves and models developed in this study may serve as a tool to predict cold hardiness by temperature and to understand the potential risks of conifer cold injury during warming–freezing events prior to budbreak.

Influence of Site Factors on Incidence of Vole and Lemming Feeding Damage to Forest Plantations

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan ◽  
Wayne L. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Seedling Survival ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Abies Lasiocarpa ◽  
Feeding Damage ◽  
Site Factors ◽  
Average Survival

Abstract The incidence of meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and brown lemming (Lemmus sibiricus) feeding damage to young plantations of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and interior spruce (Picea glauca × Picea engelmannii) was studied in west-central British Columbia. Fifty-eight plantations were surveyed for seedling survival and stocking, and an additional 21 older plantations of lodgepole pine were surveyed for tree damage. Average survival of pine (47.7%) was significantly lower than that of spruce (56.0%). Because of mortality from vole feeding, 24 of the 58 plantations were not satisfactorily restocked. Planted trees were attacked significantly more than natural regeneration. Severely attacked plantations occurred in the spruce-subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forest type at elevations > 800 m on N to NE aspects. Susceptible plantations generally had mechanical or no site preparation with complex post-harvest debris and limited vegetation cover. West. J. Appl. For. 6(3):64-67.

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 Lodgepole Pine and White Spruce Germination: Effects of Stratification and Simulated Aging

2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 138-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodie Krakowski ◽  
Y. A. El-Kassaby
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Seed Orchard ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Germination Capacity ◽  
Term Storage ◽  
Germination Parameters

Abstract The effects of seed pre-treatment (stratification/prechilling) and simulated aging on germination parameters (germination capacity, speed and value and peak value) were evaluated for several seedlots originating from seed orchard clones of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia DOUGL. ex LOUD.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (MOENCH) VOSS). Region of origin and stratification had little effect on white spruce, while stratification enhanced germination speed and completeness of lodgepole pine. Broad-sense heritability for germination parameters ranged from 70 to 97% (unstratified) and from 81 to 96% (stratified) for pine, and from 95 to 97% (unstratified) and from 93 to 97% (stratified) for spruce. Simulated aging (short-term storage at high temperature and relative humidity, approximating the physiological effects of long-term storage) resulted in rapid deterioration of white spruce, with very little germination after six days of aging. Lodgepole pine germination increased during the first several aging treatments relative to the control, but germination capacity decreased following twelve days of aging, and was very low after 18 days. White spruce was nondormant and responded primarily to moisture conditions, whereas pine was strongly influenced by maternal effects. These results can be incorporated for more efficacious nursery production practices for commercial reforestation seedling production as well as ex-situ gene conservation strategies.

scholarly journals Lodgepole Pine and White Spruce Establishment After Glyphosate and Fertilizer Treatments of Grassy Cutover Forest Land.

1979 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Blackmore ◽  
Wm. G. Corns
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Vegetation Control ◽  
Calamagrostis Canadensis ◽  
Pine Seedlings ◽  
One Year ◽  
Spring Planting

Perennial herbaceous vegetation, mainly marsh reed grass, (Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx) Beauv.), was sprayed with glyphosate on the day before planting one-year-old plugs of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) on cutover forest land north of Edson, Alberta. Spraying at 4.5 kg ai/ha, included spot and strip applications in June 1976, compared with unsprayed scalps and controls. At the same time, all treatments were repeated plus a 9 g, 22-8-2 fertilizer tablet for each seedling. Another experiment at the same site, begun on August 1, 1976, compared scalp, unfertilized control and glyphosate strip treatments, followed by planting of pine seedlings the day after spraying 4.5 kg ai/ha glyphosate. An adjacent experiment, also commenced on August 1, included dosages of 1.1 to 5.6 kg ai/ha with planting of pine seedlings in 4.5 kg/ha and in control plots in May 1977. August application of 2.2 kg/ha provided excellent initial vegetation control, as effective as the larger amounts applied at that time, and was superior during the first 12 months to 4.5 kg/ha applied in June. Twenty-six months after the spring planting new shoot growth of fertilized pine in the glyphosate strips was statistically significantly greater than that for all other treatments and growth in fertilized scalps was also very good. At the same time leader growth of spruce in fertilized scalps was significantly greater than that for other treatments but growth in glyphosate strips did not exceed that of unfertilized controls. Contrary to results of spring planting, there was marked injury and mortality of pine planted in August in glyphosate plots which had been sprayed on the preceding day. Seedlings planted in glyphosate-treated strips nine months after the August spraying exceeded the growth of control plants but not until the year after they were planted.

scholarly journals Effects of winter warming on cold hardiness and spring budbreak of four boreal conifers

Botany ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Steve Colombo ◽  
Pengxin Lu ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Experimental Warming ◽  
Freezing Damage

Compared with the effects of spring frosts on opening buds or newly flushed tissues, winter freezing damage to conifers, owing to temperature fluctuations prior to budbreak, is rare and less known. In this study, changes in cold hardiness (measured based on electrolyte leakage and needle damage) and spring budbreak were assessed to examine the responses of four boreal conifer species — black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), white spruce (Picea glauca) (Moench) Voss), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex. Loud.) — to different durations of experimental warming (16 °C day to –2 °C night with a 10 h photoperiod, except for night temperatures during November warming (+2 °C)). Seedlings showed increased responses to warming from November to March, while the capacity to regain the cold hardiness lost to warming decreased during the same period. This suggests an increasing vulnerability of conifers to temperature fluctuations and freezing damage with the progress of chilling and dormancy release from fall to spring. Both lodgepole pine and jack pine initiated spring growth earlier and had greater responses to experimental warming in bud phenology than black spruce and white spruce, suggesting a greater potential risk of frost/freezing damage to pine trees in the spring.

Effects of cold temperatures on breakage of lodgepole pine and white spruce twigs

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1650-1653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M Lieffers ◽  
Victor J Lieffers ◽  
U Silins ◽  
L Bach
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Bending Test ◽  
Bending Angle ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Compression Damage

Twigs from lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) trees were bent at a range of temperatures below 0°C using a two-point bending test. This was done to determine how cold temperatures might affect twig breakage and potential shoot and foliage loss in maturing conifer stands. The bending angle necessary to cause 50% twig breakage decreased linearly with decreasing temperatures for both species. No difference in the relationship between temperature and twig breakage was evident among species. Below –13°C, all breakage was on the tension side; at warmer temperatures there was compression damage to many twigs.

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