Ice storm damage to eastern Ontario forests: 1998–2001

2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Hopkin ◽  
Tim Williams ◽  
Robert Sajan ◽  
John Pedlar ◽  
Cathy Nielsen

Following the 1998 ice storm, tree mortality and crown damage were monitored on permanent plots across eastern Ontario from 1998 until 2001. Conifer species were less damaged than hardwoods. Hardwood tree species showing the greatest crown damage included aspen, (Populus tremuloides), basswood (Tilia americana), and white birch (Betula papyrifera); major species showing the least damage included sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red oak (Quercus rubra) and hickory (Carya spp.). Generally, smaller diameter trees showed less damage than larger diameter trees. Significant mortality was recorded to silver maple (Acer saccharinum), basswood, ash (Fraxinus spp.) and aspen in 1998, although mortality in 2000 and 2001 was about 1–2%. Trees sustaining > 75% crown damage usually died by 2001. Key words: ice storm, ice damage, forest health

2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L Noland

In 1998, thirty-four managed sugar bush blocks with 7% to 72% ice-induced crown damage were established in eastern Ontario. All received dolomitic lime (Ca, Mg) and P and K treatments in June 1999. Initial crown damage, fall root starch and sugar levels, sap production and sweetness, sap amino acid concentration, and tap hole closure rate were measured. Syrup production was calculated. Trees with >50% (severe) crown damage had reduced root starch content in 1998 and 2000, but not in 1999. In 2000, root total sugars were lower in trees with >50% crown damage. Sap produced per tap, and sap sweetness were reduced by damage, but not consistently in all years. Sap per tap increased with total crown branches in all three years, but sap sweetness and syrup production only in 1999. Syrup production per tap was consistently reduced in damaged trees in all three years, usually in trees with > 50% damage. The lime and P and K treatments did not significantly affect any of the variables measured. Results suggest that severe ice storm damage to crowns resulted in reduced fall root starch levels and less sap production, and/or sap sweetness, and therefore lowered the syrup producing capacity of sugar maple. Key words: Acer saccharum, ice storm, sap and syrup production, root starch, crown damage


2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Lautenschlager ◽  
John H Pedlar ◽  
John A Winters ◽  
Cathy M Nielsen

Treatment plots in blocks established in productive sugar maple (Acer saccharum) bushes throughout southeastern Ontario were used to quantify effects of fertilizers, vegetation control and interactions on maple growth following the 1998 ice storm. Treatments were applied during the spring of 1999. Increment cores from six mature sugar maple trees in each plot in each block were extracted and examined during October 2001. Maple growth was highly variable before the storm, but fell to a 30-year low during both the first and second year after the storm. Growth reductions increased with increasing crown damage. Treatment-related statistical differences were marginal; however, the data suggest that phosphorus and potassium additions and competition control improved the growth of ice-damaged mature sugar maple trees. The combination of competition control and fertilization increased growth of ice-damaged maple the most. Key words: Acer saccharum, increment cores, glyphosate, phosphorus, potassium


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 449-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL NICHOLSON ◽  
CANDACE GUILFORD ◽  
ADEBUKOLA ABIOLA ◽  
SAMAR BOSE ◽  
RAYMOND FRANCIS

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum), aspen (Populus tremuloides), and white birch (Betula papyrifera) are three hardwoods that are widely used by the North American pulp and paper industry. Because of their abundance, these species are also likely to be used by some of the biorefinery processes that are being developed. A significant amount of evidence indicates that the syringyl to guaiacyl (S/G) ratio of the lignin in a hardwood is a governing parameter regarding its ease of delignification. Credible data also show that among poplars the S/G ratio of the lignin significantly influences the ease of saccharification of the carbohydrate polymers to sugar monomers. Although the S/G ratio appears to be a key parameter for hardwoods, values accepted by most practitioners are not available for the three species. In this investigation, those ratios were estimated by an extensive literature review followed by S/G determination by nitrobenzene oxidation (NBO) and methoxyl analyses of organosolv lignin (OSL) from the ethanol/ water/sulfuric acid pulping process. The S/G values were approximately 1.4 for sugar maple, and 2.0 for aspen and white birch. Data are also included showing that sugar maple and white birch were equally reactive in kraft pulping. Thus, it is unclear whether or not the S/G ratio is indeed a governing parameter in this delignification process.


2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vic R Timmer ◽  
Yuanxin Teng ◽  
John Pedlar

Lime and/or PK fertilizers were applied as remedial soil treatments to 33 sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) woodlots established on a broad range of sites in eastern Ontario. All woodlots were actively used for maple syrup production and had suffered varying degrees of crown damage as a result of the 1998 ice storm. Soil and foliar samples were collected one and three growing seasons after treatment to assess changes in soil fertility and nutrition of these stands. Except for Ca from liming, the treatments significantly increased soil supply of added elements (P, K, Ca or Mg) as measured by standard laboratory methods. These effects may be relatively short-lived, as soil nutrient levels on treatment plots had started to decline by the end of the third season after treatment. Liming alleviated acidity on acid soils, but pH of neutral calcareous soils was unaffected, thus allaying initial concerns that liming may be "toxic" on these soils. The liming response was rapid, and persisted into the third growing season. Nutrient responses in soils were reflected in foliar analyses. Leaf P, K, Ca, and Mg were significantly raised when added as soil amendments. The results show that first-season nutrient responses to fertilizer additions are sensitive indicators of treatment effects on soil and foliage of sugar maple in the region. Initial growth assessments suggest a 15–22% basal area increment to P and K applications; however, it is not known if these early treatment effects will translate into long-term tree growth and sap yield responses. Key words: Acer saccharum, phosphorous and potassium fertilization, liming, soil tests, foliar analysis, soil acidity


2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin D. Rubin ◽  
Paul D. Manion

Damage from the 1998 ice storm was evaluated on 50 plot clusters (1667 trees) in northern New York. For seven of the 10 most dominant species, observed diameter distributions fit those predicted by the best fit negative exponential model according to Chi-square analysis (χ2, α = 0.05). The lack of fit for Pinus resinosa, Fraxinus nigra and Tsuga canadensis was attributed to plantation management, variable flooding regimes and harvesting practices, respectively. Trees were then removed from the distributions based on the severity of the ice storm damage. Acer saccharum and Populus tremuloides distributions became significantly different from negative exponential, indicating a possible change in population structure that could impact forest succession. Key words: ice storm, forest structure, diameter distribution


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 862-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Alexander Elvir ◽  
G Bruce Wiersma ◽  
Alan S White ◽  
Ivan J Fernandez

Responses in basal area increment (BAI) of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) to chronic ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) treatment were examined at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. The Bear Brook Watershed is a pair-watershed forest ecosystem study with West Bear watershed treated with (NH4)2SO4 at a rate of 1800 equiv.·ha–1·year–1 since 1989, while East Bear watershed serves as a reference. Following 10 years of treatment, BAI was significantly higher for sugar maple trees growing in the treated watershed, with yearly increases relative to the reference watershed ranging from 13% in 1999 to 104% in 1996. The increase in sugar maple radial growth was attributed to a fertilization effect from the (NH4)2SO4 treatment. A reduction in BAI in sugar maple growing in the treated watershed observed in 1998 and 1999 was attributed to internal stresses and growth allocation to crown recovery after the severe 1998 ice storm. Red spruce showed no BAI growth responses to the treatment. Lower foliar Mg and Ca concentrations in red spruce in the treated watershed and lower soil responses to N enrichment in treated softwood stands compared with treated hardwood stands could explain the lack of BAI response in red spruce.


2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 668-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
B L Wong ◽  
L J Staats ◽  
A S Burfeind ◽  
K L Baggett ◽  
A H Rye

To assess the effect of the ice storm of January 1998 on sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) tree health, starch, and soluble sugars in twigs from two damaged sugarbushes (younger: trees 50–100 years old, and older: trees approximately 200 years old) in northern New York were measured throughout the leafless phase (September 1998 – May 1999). Trees severely damaged by the ice storm exhibited signs of recovery during the first growth season (1998), that is, greater numbers of lateral (epicormic) shoots and increased wood production in the current year growth ring of branches at mid-crown, and high concentrations of starch in the twigs at the time of leaf drop. Differences in reserve and soluble sugar profiles between damaged and slightly damaged or undamaged sugar maple trees and between trees of the older sugarbush and those of the younger sugarbush indicate changes in cold season physiology of damaged trees in adapting to or tolerating cold temperature. In damaged trees of the younger and older sugarbushes, the profiles of sucrose, stachyose, raffinose, and xylose were similar to those of corresponding slightly damaged or undamaged trees throughout the cold season, except for late winter sucrose, glucose, and fructose profiles, which exhibited differences in concentration and profile configurations compared with respective slightly damaged or undamaged trees. A lower concentration of sucrose in damaged older tree wood tissue after dehardening in late winter and a lower concentration of "resynthesized" starch just prior to vernal growth were observed. The data indicate that the profiles of individual sugars can provide information on changes in physiological and biochemical processes in damaged trees during the cold season.Key words: starch, sucrose, glucose, fructose, raffinose, stachyose.


1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 669-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Burton ◽  
Richard M. Stanford ◽  
Jon W. Allan

Experimental acidification effects on stream biota and organic matter decomposition rates in natural, low-alkalinity (7–15 mg CaCO3/L) Michigan streams were studied using paired, artificial, recirculating streams. Acidification to pH 4 with sulfuric acid from pH 7.0 to 7.4 resulted in significant decreased decomposition rates for 5-g leaf packs of white birch (Betula papyrifera) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Populations of total macroinvertebrates on leaf packs in the acid stream were substantially reduced over a 264-d exposure period, whereas populations remained unchanged in the control stream. Detailed studies were conducted on a caddisfly, Lepidostoma liba, and an isopod, Asellus intermedius. The Lepidostoma population was resistant to short-term exposure to acidification, but significant mortality occurred after 80 d at pH 4 at 2–4 °C. Late instars were not affected by acidification and emerged after more than 60 d at 15–20 °C. Asellus was very sensitive to acidification with up to 93% mortality after only 24 d and with inhibition of reproduction. Acidification also resulted in increased mortality for a snail, Physa heterosiropha, and another caddisfly, Pycnopsyche sp.


2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C Parker

The influence of ice damage, fertilization, and herbicide treatments on understory microclimate was examined in several sugar maple stands during three growing seasons. Stands with greater initial crown damage and lower leaf area index had higher understory light levels, elevated air temperatures and lower humidity. Ice damage had comparatively less effect on the below-ground environment. Stands with higher damage and lower leaf area index exhibited higher soil temperature and lower soil moisture availability in certain years. The strength and significance of the relationships of canopy features with microclimatic variables diminished over time with canopy recovery and growth of understory vegetation. Fertilization treatment effects on stand microclimate were not apparent, but competition control reduced understory leaf area, increased soil temperature, and had minimal influence on soil moisture status. Key words: canopy, fertilization, ice storm, microclimate, natural disturbance, sugar maple, vegetation management


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