A method is described for accelerating growth of sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.) seedlings for early progeny and provenance evaluation and plantation establishment. Outdoor nursery production methods produced relatively small seedlings, few seed-lot differences, and no provenance differences in seedlings 4 and 16 months of age. In contrast, accelerated seedlings exhibited pronounced seed-lot and provenance differences at both ages and had a 29 and 80% height superiority at 4 and 16 months, respectively. Provenance differences in height, budbreak, nodes, and growth flushes revealed by the accelerated treatment and supplemented by seed characteristics indicate existence of Upper and Lower Peninsula races in Michigan. Accelerated growth techniques may have considerable potential for reducing the time required for genotypic evaluation of sugar maple and possibly other tree species, but results must be substantiated by subsequent field observations.
Resting Site Characteristics of American Marten in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan
