Toppling in British Columbia's Lodgepole Pine Plantations: Significance, Cause and Prevention

1986 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 433-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Burdett ◽  
P. A. F. Martin ◽  
H. Coates ◽  
R. Eremko
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Chemical Method ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Lateral Roots ◽  
Wood Formation ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Reaction Wood ◽  
Pine Seedlings ◽  
Root Morphogenesis ◽  
Primary Lateral

Young trees sometimes lean, or topple by pivoting about a point below the ground. Geotropic curvature in the lower part of the stem restores the leading shoot to the vertical. The resultant stem bowing reduces potential lumber recovery, and is associated with reaction wood formation. Toppling has occurred in lodgepole pine (Pinus conforta Dougl.) plantations throughout British Columbia. Generally the number of trees affected has been small; although in the southern interior of the province the majority of trees in some plantations have toppled. In areas where toppling in planted trees has occurred, naturally established lodgepole pine is relatively stable. Since planted trees are usually of the native provenance, this suggests that toppling in plantations is primarily the result of nursery and planting effects on root morphology. More normal root morphogenesis, and hence greater stability can be achieved by planting young seedlings that retain the capacity to initiate primary lateral roots. Pruning the lateral roots of older stock provides another approach. A chemical method for pruning lateral roots of container-grown lodgepole pine seedlings has been developed and adopted commercially in British Columbia and elsewhere.

Species diversity and forest health in northwest British Columbia

2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 892-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J Woods
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Forest Health ◽  
Root Disease ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Thuja Plicata ◽  
Interior Spruce ◽  
Dothistroma Needle Blight ◽  
Needle Blight

Forest management in the Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) zone of the Kispiox TSA in northwest British Columbia has focused on two tree species. Interior spruce (Picea engelmanni Parry ex Engelm. × Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Dougl. ex Loud.) have dominated plantations, while historically, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), true firs (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt. and (Abies amabilis (Dougl. ex Loud.) Dougl. ex Forbes) and western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don), have dominated the landscape. Tomentosus root disease (Inonotus tomentosus (Fr.) Teng) and Dothistroma needle blight (Mycosphaerella pini Rostr. in Munk) are the principal diseases affecting interior spruce and lodgepole pine plantations, respectively. Tomentosus root disease was found in 92% of spruce-dominated stands 100 years and older in the study area. The annual recruitment of dead interior spruce and lodgepole pine tree volume due to the disease in those stands is 4.29 m3/ha or 51 990 m3. The incidence of Tomentosus root disease in ten randomly selected spruce leading plantations aged 25–30 years ranged from 0.6% to 10.4% and averaged 5.9% of the host trees. Dothistroma needle blight was the most prevalent pest in a survey of 100 randomly selected lodgepole pine plantations and has caused considerable crop tree mortality. The disease has even caused mortality in 55-year-old lodgepole pine trees. Maintaining species diversity is essential to long-term forest health. Intensive planting of interior spruce and lodge-pole pine in this study area appears to have exacerbated disease problems. Key words: forest health, species diversity, interior spruce, lodgepole pine, Tomentosus root disease, Dothistroma needle blight

Compression Wood does not Form in the Roots of Pinus Radiata

IAWA Journal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda C.Y. Hsu ◽  
John C.F. Walker ◽  
Brian G. Butterfield ◽  
Sandra L. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Stress ◽  
Pinus Radiata ◽  
Compression Wood ◽  
Lateral Roots ◽  
Compressive Load ◽  
Radiata Pine ◽  
Wood Formation ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Reaction Wood ◽  
Wood Compression

We investigated the potential for the roots of Pinus radiata D. Don to form compression wood. Compression wood was not observed in either the tap or any lateral roots further than 300 mm from the base of the stem. This suggests that either the roots do not experience the stresses required to induce compression wood formation, or that they lack the ability to form it. Roots artificially subjected to mechanical stress also failed to develop compression wood. It is therefore unlikely that an absence of a compressive load on buried roots can account for the lack of compression wood. Application of auxin to the cambia of lateral roots was similarly ineffective at inducing the formation of compression wood. These observations suggest that the buried roots of radiata pine lack the ability to develop compression wood. We also report the formation of an atypical S3 wall layer in the mechanically-stressed and auxin-treated tracheids and suggest that a reaction wood that is different to compression wood may well form in roots.

Control of root morphogenesis for improved mechanical stability in container-grown lodgepole pine

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Burdett
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Root System ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Lateral Roots ◽  
Growth Inhibitor ◽  
Basic Form ◽  
Latex Paint ◽  
Container Wall ◽  
Root Morphogenesis

Lodgepole pine (Pinuscontorta Dougl.) seedlings were raised in containers (Styroblocks) painted with a root-growth inhibitor (exterior latex paint containing 0.1 kg/ℓ basic cupric carbonate). Contact with this wall coating completely inhibited the elongation of lateral roots, thereby preventing them from growing down or around the container wall. However, when the seedlings were planted, the inhibited lateral roots very quickly resumed growth. Consequently, the trees soon acquired a root system quite similar in basic form to that of a naturally established seedling.

scholarly journals Lodgepole pine and trembling aspen competition: Neighbourhood studies within 22 to 39 year-old pine plantations of northern British Columbia

2017 ◽  
Vol 93 (03) ◽  
pp. 226-240
Author(s):  
by George Harper
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Nonlinear Models ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Competition Intensity ◽  
Stand Productivity ◽  
Nearest Neighbours ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Linear And Nonlinear ◽  
Competition Indices

Six lodgepole pine plantations located within the Sub Boreal Spruce (SBS) biogeoclimatic zone of the northern interior of British Columbia were chosen to study the impacts of neighbourhood aspen competition on the growth of planted lodgepole pine (22–39 years old). At each site, 30 pine trees (CP) were selected as plot centres across the observed range of aspen competition. Information on the six nearest neighbours (NN) and a variety of competition indices were evaluated using linear and nonlinear models. Competition indices based on diameter or height relative to size were found as the best overall predictors of CP growth. Proximity of NN to the CP was found to be inconsistent as a predictor of growth. Individual pine and aspen NN modelling suggested aspen competition had the greatest influence on CP growth restriction. The results do not support aspen thresholds for optimizing the growth of free growing pine plantations. It is recommended that performance-based standards be developed that account for aspen competition intensity and provide guidance for the management of pine stand productivity.

scholarly journals Spore Dispersal by Dothistroma septosporum in Northwest British Columbia

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kennedy Boateng ◽  
Kathy J. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Spore Dispersal ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Inoculum Sources ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Dothistroma Septosporum ◽  
Needle Blight

We studied spore dispersal by Dothistroma septosporum, causal agent of a serious outbreak of red band needle blight in lodgepole pine plantations in northwest British Columbia. Spore abundance was assessed at different distances and heights from inoculum sources and microclimatic factors were recorded during two consecutive years. Conidia were observed on spore traps from June to September during periods of rainfall. It was rare to detect spores more than 2 m away from inoculum sources. The timing and number of conidia dispersed were strongly tied to the climatic variables, particularly rainfall and leaf wetness. Should the trend toward increased spring and summer precipitation in the study area continue, the results suggest that disease spread and intensification will also increase. Increasing the planting distances between lodgepole pine trees through mixed species plantations and overall reduction in use of lodgepole pine for regeneration in wet areas are the best strategies to reduce the spread of the disease and enhance future productivity of plantations in the study area.

scholarly journals Identifying and Characterizing Important Trembling Aspen Competitors with Juvenile Lodgepole Pine in Three South-Central British Columbia Ecosystems

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Teresa A. Newsome ◽  
Jean L. Heineman ◽  
Amanda F. Linnell Nemec
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Relative Height ◽  
Trembling Aspen ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Height Ratio ◽  
Critical Height ◽  
South Central

Critical height ratios for predicting competition between trembling aspen and lodgepole pine were identified in six juvenile stands in three south-central British Columbia ecosystems. We used a series of regression analyses predicting pine stem diameter from the density of neighbouring aspen in successively shorter relative height classes to identify the aspen-pine height ratio that maximizedR2. Critical height ratios varied widely among sites when stands were 8–12 years old but, by age 14–19, had converged at 1.25–1.5. MaximumR2values at age 14–19 ranged from 13.4% to 69.8%, demonstrating that the importance of aspen competition varied widely across a relatively small geographic range. Logistic regression also indicated that the risk of poor pine vigour in the presence of aspen varied between sites. Generally, the degree of competition, risk to pine vigour, and size of individual aspen contributing to the models declined along a gradient of decreasing ecosystem productivity.

Early growth of lodgepole pine after establishment of alsike clover–Rhizobium nitrogen-fixing symbiosis

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1089-1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Trowbridge ◽  
F.B. Holl
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Foliar Nitrogen ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Pine Seedlings ◽  
Needle Mass

An overdense lodgepole pine (Pinuscontorta Dougl. ex Loud.) stand was knocked down and the site was prepared by broadcast burn, windrow burn, or mechanical forest floor removal. Inoculated alsike clover (Trifoliumhybridum L.) was seeded at 0, 10, 20, and 30 kg/ha for the three different site preparation treatments to determine the effects of (i) site preparation on infection and effectiveness of the clover–Rhizobium symbiosis and clover percent cover and (ii) the clover–Rhizobium N2-fixing symbiosis on survival, early growth, and foliar nitrogen concentration of lodgepole pine seedlings. The N2-fixing symbiosis established well in all treatments. Clover percent cover increased with increasing rate of seeding, although by relatively few percent in the clover seeded plots. Broadcast burning, windrow burning, and mechanical forest floor removal did not affect the establishment of the N2-fixing symbiosis or clover percent cover. Lodgepole pine survival was not affected by the seeding treatments in any year, nor were height measurements during the first three growing seasons. Seedling height was slightly less in clover-seeded plots compared with controls in the fourth growing season. Lodgepole pine seedlings on clover-seeded plots had decreased diameter growth compared with controls during the first three growing seasons, but incremental diameter growth no longer showed this effect by the fourth growing season. Needle mass (g/100 needles) was less in clover-seeded plots at the end of the second growing season, but this effect was reversed by the fourth growing season, when both needle mass and foliar nitrogen concentration in lodgepole pine foliage were greater in clover-seeded plots.

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