scholarly journals Root endophyte and mycorrhizosphere fungi of black spruce, Picea mariana, in a boreal forest habitat: influence of site factors on fungal distributions

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 121-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Summerbell
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Site Factors ◽  
Forest Habitat ◽  
Root Endophyte

Residual-tree growth responses to partial stand harvest in the black spruce (Picea mariana) boreal forestThis article is one of a selection of papers published in the Special Forum IUFRO 1.05 Uneven-Aged Silvicultural Research Group Conference on Natural Disturbance-Based Silviculture: Managing for Complexity.

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1563-1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. Thorpe ◽  
S. C. Thomas ◽  
J. P. Caspersen
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Growth Response ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Partial Harvest ◽  
Partial Harvesting

Variants of partial harvesting are gaining favour as means to balance ecosystem management and timber production objectives on managed boreal forest landscapes. Understanding how residual trees respond to these alternative silvicultural treatments is a critical step towards evaluating their potential from either a conservation or a wood supply perspective. We used dendroecological techniques combined with a chronosequence approach to quantify the temporal radial growth response pattern of residual black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) trees to partial harvest in northeastern Ontario. At its peak, 8–9 years after harvest, radial growth of residual trees had doubled. The growth pattern was characterized by a 2-year phase of no response, a subsequent period of increase 3–9 years after harvest, and a stage of declining rates 10–12 years after harvest. The magnitude of tree growth response depended strongly on tree age: peak postharvest growth was substantially higher for young trees, while old trees displayed only modest growth increases. Both the large magnitude and the time delay in postharvest growth responses have important implications for the development of more accurate quantitative tools to project future yields and, more generally, for determining whether partial harvesting is a viable management option for the boreal forest.

Structure, composition, and diversity of old-growth black spruce boreal forest of the Clay Belt region in Quebec and Ontario

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (S1) ◽  
pp. S79-S98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Harper ◽  
Catherine Boudreault ◽  
Louis DeGrandpré ◽  
Pierre Drapeau ◽  
Sylvie Gauthier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Structural Development ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Forest Stands ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Old Growth Forests

Old-growth black spruce (Picea mariana) boreal forest in the Clay Belt region of Ontario and Quebec is an open forest with a low canopy, quite different from what many consider to be "old growth". Here, we provide an overview of the characteristics of old-growth black spruce forest for three different site types on organic, clay, and coarse deposits. Our objectives were (1) to identify the extent of older forests; (2) to describe the structure, composition, and diversity in different age classes; and (3) to identify key processes in old-growth black spruce forest. We sampled canopy composition, deadwood abundance, understorey composition, and nonvascular plant species in 91 forest stands along a chronosequence that extended from 20 to more than 250 years after fire. We used a peak in tree basal area, which occurred at 100 years on clay and coarse sites and at 200 years on organic sites, as a process-based means of defining the start of old-growth forest. Old-growth forests are extensive in the Clay Belt, covering 30–50% of the forested landscape. Black spruce was dominant on all organic sites, and in all older stands. Although there were fewer understorey species and none exclusive to old-growth, these forests were structurally diverse and had greater abundance of Sphagnum, epiphytic lichens, and ericaceous species. Paludification, a process characteristic of old-growth forest stands on clay deposits in this region, causes decreases in tree and deadwood abundance. Old-growth black spruce forests, therefore, lack the large trees and snags that are characteristic of other old-growth forests. Small-scale disturbances such as spruce budworm and windthrow are common, creating numerous gaps. Landscape and stand level management strategies could minimize structural changes caused by harvesting, but unmanaged forest in all stages of development must be preserved in order to conserve all the attributes of old-growth black spruce forest. Key words: boreal forest, old growth, paludification, Picea mariana, structural development, succession.

Causes of variation in wood-boring beetle damage in fire-killed black spruce (Picea mariana) forests in the central boreal forest of Quebec

Ecoscience ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Gervais ◽  
David F. Greene ◽  
Timothy T. Work
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Beetle Damage ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Wood Boring

Croissance et statut nutritif de marcottes, de semis naturels et de plants d'épinette noire à la suite du scarifiage : résultats de 10 ans

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 2097-2107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Prévost ◽  
Daniel Dumais
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Artificial Regeneration

Careful logging around advance growth (CLAAG) and tree planting following site preparation or not (fill planting) are widely used to regenerate black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands in the boreal forest of Quebec, Canada. However, few mid-term studies have compared these different regeneration modes. In this study, we examined height growth and nutrient status of black spruce layers, natural seedlings, and planted seedlings over a 10-year period, in an experimental design combining CLAAG, natural seeding, planting, and two types of scarification (cones and disks). Without scarification, growth of planted seedlings (5.8 cm·year–1) was slightly greater than that of layers (4.4 cm·year–1) and natural seedlings (4.1 cm·year–1). Scarification improved growth of the three types of regeneration, but the treatment was more beneficial for planted seedlings (+7.1 cm·year–1) than for natural seedlings (+1.6 cm·year–1) and layers (+1,0 cm·year–1). Five years after treatment, scarification had increased the current-year needle N concentration of the three types of regeneration, but this beneficial effect on N was still detectable only in foliage of layers after 10 years. The effect of the treatment was variable for P and K contents, for which natural regeneration seems to have taken advantage more than plants. Our results indicate that scarification can improve the initial growth and nutrient status of both natural and artificial regeneration of black spruce and thus accelerate site recovery after cutting in the boreal forest. Furthermore, fill planting without site preparation appeared to be clearly less efficient than planting combined with scarification.

Spatial analysis of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) radial growth response to climate in northern Québec – Labrador Peninsula, Canada

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Nicault ◽  
E. Boucher ◽  
D. Tapsoba ◽  
D. Arseneault ◽  
F. Berninger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Tree Rings ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Large Spatial Scale

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) growth and climate at a large spatial scale in North America’s northeastern boreal forest. The study area (approximately 700 000 km2) is located in the taiga zone of the Quebec – Labrador Peninsula. A network of tree-ring chronologies from 93 black spruce populations was developed. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to analyze tree-ring series affinities, and response functions were calculated to analyze relationships between tree rings and climate. The cluster analysis results showed well-marked spatial affinities among the tree-ring series. These affinities were strongly linked with the spatial variability of the relationships between tree rings and climate. The interannual growth variations were governed mainly by the temperature variables that preceded the growing season (November (negative influence), December–January (positive influence), and April (positive influence)). The growing-season temperature (July temperature) mainly influenced the northernmost populations. Relationships between tree rings and climate in the northeastern boreal forest varied at a large spatial scale. This variability was expressed by a north–south contrast, which appears to be related to a temperature gradient, and an east–west contrast linked to a humidity gradient, which favors winter snow cover.

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