Radial Growth Trends of Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) in an Allegheny Northern Hardwood Forest Affected by Beech Bark Disease

1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina M. DiGregorio ◽  
Marianne E. Krasny ◽  
Timothy J. Fahey
Keyword(s):  
Acer Saccharum ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Beech Bark Disease ◽  
Growth Trends ◽  
Northern Hardwood

Effects of an intense ice storm on the structure of a northern hardwood forest

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1763-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne G Rhoads ◽  
Steven P Hamburg ◽  
Timothy J Fahey ◽  
Thomas G Siccama ◽  
Elizabeth N Hane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Forest Damage ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Ice Storm ◽  
Beech Bark Disease ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Advance Regeneration

A major ice storm in January 1998 provided an opportunity to study the effects of a rare, intense disturbance on the structure of the northern hardwood forest canopy. Canopy damage was assessed using visual damage classes within watersheds of different ages at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) and changes in leaf area index in two of these watersheds. Ice thickness was measured, and ice loads of trees were estimated using regression equations. In the 60- to 120-year-old forests (mean basal area 26 m2·ha–1), damage was greatest in trees >30 cm diameter at breast height and at elevations above 600 m. Of the dominant tree species, beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) was the most damaged, sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) was the most resistant, and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) was intermediate. Trees with advanced beech bark disease experienced heavier ice damage. Little damage occurred in the 14-year-old forest, while the 24- to 28-year-old forest experienced intense damage. In the young stands of this forest, damage was greatest between 600 and 750 m, in trees on steep slopes and near streams, and among pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.). Recovery of the canopy was tracked over three growing seasons, and root growth was monitored 1 year after the storm. Because of the high density of advance regeneration from beech bark disease and root sprouting potential in ice-damaged beech, HBEF will likely see an increase in beech abundance in older forests as a result of the storm. There will also be a more rapid change from pioneer species to mature northern hardwoods in the younger forests. These predictions illustrate the ability of rare disturbances to increase heterogeneity of forest structure and composition in this ecosystem, especially through interactions with other disturbances.

Litter layers (Oie) as a calcium source of sugar maple seedlings in a northern hardwood forest

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 898-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Fahey ◽  
Joel D. Blum
Keyword(s):  
Acer Saccharum ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Molar Ratio ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Native Soil ◽  
Calcium Source ◽  
Calcium Supply ◽  
Internal Transport

The role of the Oie horizon in calcium supply of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) seedlings was evaluated. Forest floor Oie horizon was reciprocally transplanted on 1 m2 quadrats between a Ca-treated (W1) and a reference (W3) watershed, and sugar maple seeds were planted on the quadrats. The Oie horizon in W1 exhibited a greatly increased Ca:Sr molar ratio compared with the reference W3 (550 vs. 220), allowing distinction of this Ca source in seedling tissues. Foliage and fine roots of maple seedlings growing on quadrats in W3 with Oie transplanted from W1 exhibited Ca:Sr ratios intermediate between the Oie and underlying native soil horizons, demonstrating the role of Oie in seedling Ca nutrition. However, apparently strong and temporally changing discrimination of Ca and Sr in seedling uptake and internal transport confounded quantitative evaluation.

Calcium and magnesium in wood of northern hardwood forest species: relations to site characteristics

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Arthur ◽  
T G Siccama ◽  
R D Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
White Birch ◽  
Yellow Birch ◽  
Northern Hardwood

Improving estimates of the nutrient content of boles in forest ecosystems requires more information on how the chemistry of wood varies with characteristics of the tree and site. We examined Ca and Mg concentrations in wood at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Species examined were the dominant tree species of the northern hardwood forest and the spruce-fir forest. The concentrations of Ca and Mg, respectively, in lightwood of these species, mass weighted by elevation, were 661 and 145 µg/g for sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), 664 and 140 µg/g for American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), 515 and 93 µg/g for yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.), 525 and 70 µg/g for red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.), 555 and 118 µg/g for balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), and 393 and 101 µg/g for white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.). There were significant patterns in Ca and Mg concentrations with wood age. The size of the tree was not an important source of variation. Beech showed significantly greater concentrations of both Ca (30%) and Mg (33%) in trees growing in moist sites relative to drier sites; sugar maple and yellow birch were less sensitive to mesotopography. In addition to species differences in lightwood chemistry, Ca and Mg concentrations in wood decreased with increasing elevation, coinciding with a pattern of decreasing Ca and Mg in the forest floor. Differences in Ca and Mg concentration in lightwood accounted for by elevation ranged from 12 to 23% for Ca and 16 to 30% for Mg for the three northern hardwood species. At the ecosystem scale, the magnitude of the elevational effect on lightwood chemistry, weighted by species, amounts to 18% of lightwood Ca in the watershed and 24% of lightwood Mg but only 2% of aboveground biomass Ca and 7% of aboveground Mg.

Species enrichment in a transitional landscape, northern lower Michigan

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel M. Scheiner ◽  
Conrad A. Istock
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
The South ◽  
White Pine ◽  
Forest Diversity ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Group I

The hemlock – white pine – northern hardwood forest region of North America is a transition between the deciduous forests to the south and the boreal forests to the north. In a survey of vascular plant communities in northern lower Michigan we examined species diversity and landscape pattern. Surveying 47 sites we found 483 vascular plant species: 37 tree species, 67 shrub species, 4 vine species, and 375 herbaceous species; there was a mean of 74.3 ± 4.2 species per site. Mean Jaccard similarity among sites was 0.22 ± 0.01 and mosaic diversity, a measure of landscape complexity, was 3.01 ± 0.03. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, two distinct groups of communities were differentiated: group I consisted of communities on mesic upland to wet lowland sites dominated by sugar maple, beech, hemlock, cedar, tamarack, and spruce; group II consisted of communities on xeric to dry-mesic upland moraines and level plains dominated by pines, red oak, birch, and aspen. Each group encompassed a separate south to north transition. Contrary to continental trends, species richness was greatest in sites with the greatest percentage of northern species. The region is more species-rich than adjacent regions to the south and north. We present four hypotheses to explain this species enrichment. Key words: boreal forest, deciduous forest, diversity, hemlock – white pine – northern hardwood forest, transition zone.

scholarly journals Validation and refinement of allometric equations for roots of northern hardwoods

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1777-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur ◽  
Steven P. Hamburg ◽  
Ruth D. Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Lateral Roots ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Mean Error

The allometric equations developed by Whittaker et al. (1974. Ecol. Monogr. 44: 233–252) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest have been used to estimate biomass and productivity in northern hardwood forest systems for over three decades. Few other species-specific allometric estimates of belowground biomass are available because of the difficulty in collecting the data, and such equations are rarely validated. Using previously unpublished data from Whittaker’s sampling effort, we extended the equations to predict the root crown and lateral root components for the three dominant species of the northern hardwood forest: American beech ( Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis Britt), and sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.). We also refined the allometric models by eliminating the use of very small trees for which the original data were unreliable. We validated these new models of the relationship of tree diameter to the mass of root crowns and lateral roots using root mass data collected from 12 northern hardwood stands of varying age in central New Hampshire. These models provide accurate estimates of lateral roots (<10 cm diameter) in northern hardwood stands >20 years old (mean error 24%–32%). For the younger stands that we studied, allometric equations substantially underestimated observed root biomass (mean error >60%), presumably due to remnant mature root systems from harvested trees supporting young root-sprouted trees.

Determinants of survival over 7 years for a natural cohort of sugar maple seedlings in a northern hardwood forest

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1112-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie L. Cleavitt ◽  
John J. Battles ◽  
Timothy J. Fahey ◽  
Joel D. Blum
Keyword(s):  
Acer Saccharum ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Mechanical Damage ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Regeneration Ecology ◽  
Causes Of Mortality

The regeneration ecology of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) has been impacted by acid rain leaching of base cations from the soils throughout much of its range. We tracked the survival and causes of death for a natural cohort of sugar maple seedlings across 22 sites in the Hubbard Brook Valley in New Hampshire, USA, where soil acidification has been documented. Survival over 7 years averaged 3.4%; however, significant differences in survival were observed among sites, which were classified into three main groups based on the shape of their survival curves. These site groups differed in position on the landscape, seedling nutrition and leaf size, and the prevalence of damage agents, but not in soil Ca. First-season mortality was high (71%), and the main damage agents were fungal infection (Rhizoctonia spp.) and caterpillar herbivory (Geometridae). Other principal causes of mortality in order of importance were winter injury, mechanical damage, and rodent (Myodes gapperi Vigors, 1830) tunneling, and all damage agents varied significantly in severity between years. This study highlights the importance of landscape-level variation in biotic factors for predicting sugar maple regeneration success. Predictions of sugar maple regeneration will require a better understanding of controls on initial seedling growth and the suite of biotic agents that damages seedlings.

Ecological Aspects of Forest Management Planning: A Northern Hardwood Forest Case Study

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise M. Tritton ◽  
Paul E. Sendak
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Timber Production ◽  
Forest Management Planning ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Crown Dieback

Abstract In a stand managed for timber production, increased crown dieback and mortality of trees generally signal a need for reevaluating site conditions, management objectives, and harvesting practices. In this paper, we describe a case study of a northern hardwood forest stand intended for timber production but showing crown dieback and mortality. Plans for a diameter-limit cut were confounded by the presence of diseased and poor quality trees (especially sugar maples), a history of high-grading, and fair to poor site characteristics for sugar maple growth over much of the area. After evaluating the site, we suggested a revised management plan including a shelterwood cut favoring regeneration of both yellow birch and sugar maple. Forest management decisions based on ecological and economic considerations can promote both the long-term health and productivity of forest stands. However, management for long-term health and productivity are not likely to be accomplished under current market conditions in much of New England. North. J. Appl. For. 12(3):121-126.

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