Glyphosate Herbicide: An Assessment of Forestry Potential

1978 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy F. Sutton

Environmentally safe, yet potent in controlling herbs, grasses, and woody species, with possibilities for selective use, glyphosate (Roundup®) has great potential usefulness in forestry.In the small study reported here, twelve.01 ha plots were established in August, 1973 in dense 6-year-old shrub and hardwood post-fire regrowth near Chapleau, Ontario. In each plot, 16 rising 3 + 0 white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) were planted centrally at.9 m ×.9 m spacing. Six treatments with two replications were applied at random the next day: 1, control; 2, all woody vegetation cut off at ground level; 3, all woody vegetation cut off in central planted area of plot; 4, sprayed with 60 mL glyphosate in 1.892 L of water; 5, sprayed with double strength glyphosate; 6, sprayed with sextuple strength glyphosate. Eight trees in each plot were shielded during the spraying. Browsing affected 16% of the spruce after 2 weeks, 96% by spring. Half of each plot was replanted with eight white spruce (four of them caged against browsing) in May, 1974.The objectives were to observe the effect of glyphosate on hardwood and shrub competition, to assay this effect by white spruce outplantings, and to evaluate the resistance to glyphosate of newly planted white spruce. Glyphosate was highly effective in killing trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta Marsh.): pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L. f.) resprouted with moderate vigor. White spruce responded significantly (P.01) to first-year non-herbicide (i.e., immediate) weed control, but second-year height increment was significantly (P.001) less than that of the first year: second-year height increment in the glyphosate treatments was significantly (P.001) greater than in the non-herbicide treatments. Growth and survival were both affected by non-treatment disturbances, but shielding during spraying improved second-year survival significantly (P.001).

1967 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1671-1682 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Sutton

Three-year-old seedlings of Picea glauca and P. abies were outplanted in a fertile silt loam soil at Ithaca, New York, in a split-plot randomized block experiment involving large- and small-size classes of stock and four root-pruning treatments: control; laterals pruned to 5 cm; all roots pruned at 10 cm measured from the root collar; and all laterals pruned flush with the tap or main root.Survival was good except in the last treatment. First- and second-year height increments within each species were unaffected by root-pruning treatments, even the most extreme. This suggests that either water stress is not aggravated by root pruning or that root pruning has compensating advantages. In the second year, height increment of P. glauca was significantly inferior to that of the first year. Height increment of P. abies was significantly greater in the second than in the first year.Root systems of 20 P. glauca were excavated in the second year. Percentage increases of total root length (of all roots 1 cm or more long) in root-pruned trees were twice those of control trees. Highest values (> 1000%) were for vigorous trees in the moderate root-pruning treatments.


2009 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison D Lennie ◽  
Simon M Landhäusser ◽  
Victor J Lieffers ◽  
Derek Sidders

Trembling aspen regeneration was studied in 2 types of partial harvest systems designed to harvest mature aspen but protect immature spruce and encourage natural aspen regeneration. Two partial harvest systems, where the residual aspen was either left in strips or was dispersed uniformly, were compared to traditional clearcuts. After the first and second year since harvest, aspen sucker density and growth was similar between the 2 partial harvests, but was much lower than in the clearcuts. However, in the partial cuts the regeneration density was very much dependent on the location relative to residual trees. The density of regeneration was inversely related to the basal area of residual aspen; however, sucker height was inversely related to the basal area of the residual spruce. Although there were adequate numbers of suckers after partial harvest, their viability and contribution to the long-term productivity of these mixedwood stands is not clear. Key words: silvicultural systems, forest management, residual canopy, white spruce, Populus tremuloides, Picea glauca, traffic


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 2331-2340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Brais ◽  
David Paré ◽  
Cédric Lierman

To assess nutrient dynamics in decomposing logs of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), we monitored mass losses and changes in N and P contents in dead boles from a chronosequence of sites following stand-replacing disturbances. To assess the importance of wood decomposition to nutrient cycling, we compared net estimates of nutrient release from logs with net nutrient immobilization in live-tree biomass of stands as a function of time since disturbance. Mineralization rates were 0.060, 0.053, 0.038, and 0.020·year–1 for trembling aspen, white birch, white spruce, and jack pine logs, respectively. Trembling aspen boles released large quantities of N and P during the first year of decomposition (51 kg·ha–1 of N and 7 kg·ha–1 of P, assuming a bole volume of 150 m3·ha–1). White birch boles acted initially as a nutrient sink and delayed the release of immobilized nutrients until a period when the stand's net nutrient immobilization rates were highest. Jack pine boles appeared to be intermediate in terms of their contribution as a sink or a source of nutrients but, in mature stands, provided up to 40% of N and 26% of P immobilized annually in tree biomass. As pure stands of white spruce are rare in boreal Quebec, information on nutrient accumulation in white spruce stands was not available.


1966 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eis

Survival and development of outplanted 2-0 and 2-1 white spruce nursery stock, transplanted 3-0 and 4-0 wildlings and 3-0 and 4-0 undisturbed wildlings are compared. Mortality was negligible in all groups. Planting check caused a 47% reduction in height increment during the first year and 15% during the second year after planting. The height increment was best related to the height growth during the previous year and total height of the planting stock. Insignificant differences were found between plants on undisturbed soil surface and those on exposed mineral soil.


1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1002-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Groot

Overstory manipulation and vegetation control treatments were applied at three experimental locations in northern Ontario, Canada, to examine shelter and competition effects on planted white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). Overstories were nearly pure trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) or aspen-conifer mixedwoods. Overstory treatments included clear-cutting, uniform shelterwood (40% canopy removal), strip shelterwood (widths from 0.5 to 1.0H, where H is the height of dominants), patch shelterwood (diameter about 1.0H), narrow strips (width 0.25H), and intact overstory. Vegetation-control treatments included herbicide and no-herbicide treatments. Second-year seedling growth was poorest under intact overstories and in 0.25H strips, and vegetation control had little effect on growth in this situation. Vegetation control in clearcuts increased seedling diameter but not height growth. In shelterwood treatments, however, vegetation control often increased both diameter and height growth. Greatest diameter tended to occur in clearcuts with vegetation control, whereas greatest height growth tended to occur in shelterwoods with vegetation control. These differing responses likely occur because diameter growth is influenced primarily by light availability, but height growth is additionally affected by other environmental factors. Combining early vegetation control along with shelterwood treatments appears to provide the optimum environment for establishing white spruce.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Martin-DeMoor ◽  
Victor J. Lieffers ◽  
S. Ellen Macdonald

In some boreal forests sites, there are considerable amounts of natural regeneration of white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) after logging, even without silvicultural treatments to encourage establishment. We assessed the factors controlling the amount of this regeneration 8–15 years postharvest on previously aspen-dominated ( Populus tremuloides Michx.) boreal mixedwood sites. We surveyed 162 transects across 81 cutovers, exploring the effects of mast years, season of harvest, distribution of seed trees, weather conditions around the time of harvest, and abundance of grass or woody vegetation on white spruce regeneration. Substantial amounts of naturally regenerated white spruce were found; however, sites with no seed trees had virtually no spruce regeneration. Average stocking was 7% (percentage of 9 m2 plots along a transect across a cutover that had at least one seedling), ranging from 0% to 62%. Stocking levels were higher in cutblocks that had been harvested in the summer, prior to seedfall of a mast year, and where there was a seed source within 60 m. Stocking was lower when conditions were cool and wet the year before and 2 years after harvest and when the site contained extensive cover of grass or woody vegetation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Klos ◽  
G. Geoff Wang ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang ◽  
Ed W. East

Abstract Kozak's variable exponent taper equation was fitted for balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.), trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss), black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.), and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) in Manitoba. Stem taper variability between two ecozones (i.e., Boreal Shield and Boreal Plains) were tested using the F-test. Regional differences were observed for trembling aspen, white spruce, and jack pine, and for those species, separate ecozone-specific taper equations were developed. However, the gross total volume estimates using the ecozone-specific equations were different from those of the provincial equations by only 2 percent. Although the regional difference in stem form was marginal within a province, a difference of approximately 7 percent of gross total volume estimation was found when our provincial taper equations were compared with those developed in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These results suggest that stem form variation increases with spatial scale and that a single taper equation for each species may be sufficient for each province.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek F. Sattler ◽  
Philip G. Comeau ◽  
Alexis Achim

Radial patterns of modulus of elasticity (MOE) were examined for white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuoides Michx.) from 19 mature, uneven-aged stands in the boreal mixedwood region of northern Alberta, Canada. The main objectives were to (1) evaluate the relationship between pith-to-bark changes in MOE and cambial age or distance from pith; (2) develop species-specific models to predict pith-to-bark changes in MOE; and (3) to test the influences of radial growth, relative vertical height, and tree slenderness (tree height/DBH) on MOE. For both species, cambial age was selected as the best explanatory variable with which to build pith-to-bark models of MOE. For white spruce and trembling aspen, the final nonlinear mixed-effect models indicated that an augmented rate of increase in MOE occurred with increasing vertical position within the tree. For white spruce trees, radial growth and slenderness were found to positively influence maximum estimated MOE. For trembling aspen, there was no apparent effect of vertical position or radial growth on maximum MOE. The results shed light on potential drivers of radial patterns of MOE and will be useful in guiding silvicultural prescriptions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Victor J. Lieffers

In boreal mixedwood forests, aspen (Populus tremuloides) and white spruce (Picea glauca) commonly grow in mixture. These species may avoid competition through differential shade tolerance, physical separation of canopies, phenological differences, successional separation, and differences in soil resource utilization. Aspen may also be able to positively affect the growth of white spruce by improving litter decomposition and nutrient cycling rates, controlling grass and shrub competition, ameliorating environmental extremes, and reducing pest attack. These positive relationships likely make mixed-species stands more productive than pure stands of the same species. The evidence regarding the productivity of pure versus mixed aspen/white spruce stands in natural unmanaged forests is examined in this paper. Key words: Tree mixture; productivity; boreal mixedwoods; aspen; white spruce


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