White-Tailed Deer and Balsam Woolly Adelgid Effects on Balsam Fir in Canaan Valley

AbstractWe collected midcrown branches of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (Pinaceae), at six different sites located in five different plant-hardiness zones, along a north–south transect in New Brunswick, Canada, to evaluate the effect of plant-hardiness zone, crown class (overstory versus understory), and shoot length during the previous 10 years on the annual incidence of gouting by the balsam woolly adelgid, Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg) (Homoptera: Adelgidae). Site, crown class, and their interaction, along with the square of shoot length, explained 78% of the variation in gouting. Variations in gouting attributed to plant-hardiness zone were probably primarily due to variation in mean January temperature: at each site, the mean January temperature was positively and closely related to the mean level of gouting. The level of gouting was consistently higher on trees in the understory than on those in the overstory. Shoot length was parabolically related to the proportion of shoots with gout. The parabolic relationship between shoot size and the level of gouting is similar to that previously reported for galling adelgids, and suggests that gouting by A. piceae may be greatest on trees with an intermediate growth rate.

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Impact of Deer Browsing on Regeneration of Balsam Fir in Canaan Valley, West Virginia

Northern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/njaf/9.3.89 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 89-90 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Edwin D. Michael

Keyword(s):

West Virginia ◽

Tree Species ◽

Red Spruce ◽

Balsam Fir ◽

Deer Browsing ◽

Apparent Correlation ◽

Canaan Valley

Abstract I determined composition and regeneration of balsam fir stands during June 1991 at four sites in Canaan Valley, West Virginia. White-tailed deer had heavily browsed balsam fir, and regeneration did not appear adequate to replace the stands. There was an apparent correlation between relative deer abundance, as measured by numbers of pellet groups, and balsam fir regeneration. The site with the most deer had the fewest balsam fir seedlings (5/ac), and the site with the fewest deer had the most balsam fir seedlings (1040/ac). Balsam fir will probably be replaced by red spruce, one of the few tree species not commonly browsed by deer. North. J. Appl. For. 9(3):89-90.

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Artificial inoculation with Armillaria ostoyae in established conifers stressed by defoliation, planting, and thinning in Newfoundland

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x00-105 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 30 (11) ◽

pp. 1758-1765 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M D Piercey-Normore ◽

J A Bérubé

Keyword(s):

Black Spruce ◽

Abies Balsamea ◽

Balsam Fir ◽

Root Infection ◽

Armillaria Ostoyae ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Balsam Woolly Adelgid ◽

Pathogenicity Tests ◽

Mill Stand ◽

Hemlock Looper

Armillaria ostoyae (Romagnesi) Herink causes root disease in conifers of the northern hemisphere. Pathogenicity tests of established conifer trees with A. ostoyae, has never been done in the boreal forest. Seven forest plots were selected in Newfoundland; a black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) plantation, a naturally regenerated black spruce stand, a balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) stand with hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria (Guen.)) defoliation, two balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae (Ratz.)) infested balsam fir stands (thinned and unthinned sites), a balsam fir sawfly (Neodiprion abietis Harris) defoliated balsam fir stand, and an artificially defoliated black spruce stand. Roots of fir and spruce trees were inoculated with two isolates of A. ostoyae and re-examined after 2 years. The purpose of this study was to compare differences in root infection within plots for different types of host stress to examine the response of trees to controlled inoculations of A. ostoyae. There was a statistically significant difference in number of infected roots between the two isolates used as inoculum. There was significantly more root response with severity of infection within all sites except both adelgid plots. A marginally significant relationship between tree health and root infection was present in the balsam fir sawfly plot. There was a significantly larger number of infected roots associated with rhizomorphs in the naturally regenerated black spruce stand and the artificially defoliated balsam fir stand. These results suggest that stress prediposes the host tree to root infection by A. ostoyae.

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Temperature and plant hardiness zone influence distribution of balsam woolly adelgid damage in Atlantic Canada

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc84558-4 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 84 (4) ◽

pp. 558-562 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dan Quiring ◽

Don Ostaff ◽

Lester Hartling ◽

Dan Lavigne ◽

Keith Moore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pest Management ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Balsam Fir ◽

Atlantic Canada ◽

Rating Systems ◽

Eastern Canada ◽

Balsam Woolly Adelgid ◽

Adelges Piceae ◽

Plant Hardiness

Management of balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz.) and of trees damaged by this pest may pose one of the biggest challenges to forest management in Atlantic Canada during the next decade. Feeding by the balsam woolly adelgid is restricted to Abies species in which it causes gouting, branch and upper crown death. Approximately 100 years after its introduction into eastern Canada, symptoms of feeding by the balsam woolly adelgid on balsam fir are found throughout all of Nova Scotia, most of Newfoundland and in southern and eastern New Brunswick. The distribution of symptomatic balsam fir trees coincides with areas where mean January temperatures are below -11°C and where plant hardiness zones are higher than 4a. The presence of balsam fir trees with obvious symptoms of BWA damage throughout much of Atlantic Canada emphasizes the ubiquitous presence of this pest in these provinces and highlights the need to develop hazard rating systems to establish pest management programs to diminish its impact. Key words: global warming, Adelges piceae Ratz., forest insect pest management, abiotic factors

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