ALBERT

Beschreibung: Many trees in stands of Douglas fir, western hemlock and western red cedar on Vancouver Island were joined by functional grafts. In a partially cut stand, 45% of the stumps showed evidence of continued growth and half of these (23%) were still growing vigorously more than 22 years after logging. On experimentally detopped trees, growth extended several meters up the bole. Dominant trees usually supported the growth of the root system and lower boles of grafted suppressed trees.Translocation through grafts may partially explain the frequent stagnation and slow recovery of stands after thinning from above, and may be involved in the usually rapid increase of growth after thinning from below. It is probably a contributing factor in establishing dominance and determining mortality in overtopped trees. In species that graft freely, the use of silvicides in spacing and thinning treatments should be restricted to young stands before grafts are established.

Beschreibung: This paper discusses the occurrence of man-caused forest fires during the summer fire season in a section of northwestern Ontario. Fire occurrence is viewed as being a chance process and a stochastic model is developed to describe it. The results of this study indicate that a Poisson model with the average number of fires per day depending on the Fine Fuel Moisture Code is appropriate.

Beschreibung: A nonlinear analytical model is developed to describe the relationship between average plant size (weight or volume) and stand density in single-aged, monospecific plant populations. The model gives estimates of the slope and intercept of the −3/2 power rule asymptote, the nature of the size–density trajectory, and such features as relative density at crown closure and the effects of soil type or site index. The model is tested by growing red alder (Alnusrubra Bong.) seedlings under greenhouse and lath house conditions at three initial spacings (8 × 8, 4 × 4, and 2 × 2 cm) and two soil types (river loam and alder forest soil) for 525 growth days. There are seven harvests, starting at crown closure. All size–density trajectories tend consistently towards the same single asymptote irrespective of initial spacing, soil type, or age. The asymptote slope and intercept are 1.46 and ca. 94 kg tree−1•m−2. The crown closure line is parallel to the asymptote at a relative density of 4.6 × 10−3. The model also adequately describes the size–density trajectories for 20–50-year-old red pines (Pinusresinosa Ait.) growing at six initial spacings. The asymptote slope and intercept are 1.6 and ca. 87 × 103 m3•tree−1•ha−1, respectively.

Beschreibung: The resistance to a pulsed electric current decreased sharply as the tips of stainless steel electrodes entered discolored and decayed tissues in living deciduous trees. The apparatus delivering the pulsed electric current is described.

Beschreibung: Reduced levels of root activity were associated with winter injury to shoots of 1-year-old black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) container seedlings.

Beschreibung: Conflicting reports of the occurrence of Cephaloascusfragrans Han. relate to the varied appearance and color of this mould upon wood and the fact it may be overgrown by other, more vigorous fungi. C. fragrans presents a problem in the commercial treatment of lumber, as it is not inhibited by formulations of chlorinated phenols presently used to prevent mould and sap stain.

Beschreibung: Three methods were compared for total sulphur analysis of tree foliage: magnesium nitrate ashing followed by turbidimetry, sodium hypobromite (NaOBr) oxidation followed by colorimetry, and an instrumental method using the Fisher S analyser, model 475. The latter method was found to be substantially better than the other methods with respect to accuracy and speed of analysis, and of satisfactory precision (average coefficient of variation (CV) was 2.5%). Dry ashing resulted in good precision (CV = 1.9%) but only recovered 76% of the reported total S in the United States National Bureau of Standards (NBS) orchard leaf standard. The NaOBr method recovered 88% of reported S from the NBS standard but showed poorer precision (CV = 4.5%). The Fisher analyser had the lowest operating cost per sample, largely owing to lower labour costs.

Beschreibung: The effects of fertilization and thinning of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) on the distribution of area increment along the bole were assessed using radial growth measurements 6 and 9 years after treatment. Within treatments, the average area increment per tree was linearly related to diameter at breast height, and this relationship was used to evaluate the effects of treatment on growth rate. Fertilization had the greatest effect on average area increment, and for a particular fertilization regime, thinning increased the response. Thinning modified the distribution of growth over the bole of all trees and increased butt flare, especially in smaller trees. The effect declined from the 4- to 6-year measurement period to the 7-to 9-year measurement period. Fertilization had no consistent effect on growth distribution. The regression methods used in this study provided a more sensitive measure of form changes than previous methods, were independent of size distribution, and facilitated extrapolations and evaluation of temporal trend.

Beschreibung: Organic content of the forest floor decreases for several years after clear-cutting, and then slowly recovers. Thickness, bulk density, organic matter, and nitrogen content of forest floors were measured for 13 northern hardwood stands in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Stands ranged from 1 to about 100 years in age. Forest-floor thickness varied significantly with stand age, but bulk density, organic fraction, and nitrogen fraction were independent of age. Total organic content of the forest floor agreed very well with data from Covington's (W. W. Covington 1981. Ecology, 62: 41–48) study of the same area. Both studies indicated that mature forest floors have about 80 Mg organic matter•ha−1 and 1.9 Mg nitrogen•ha−1. Within 10 or 15 years after cutting, the organic matter content of the floor decreases to 50 Mg•ha−1, and its nitrogen content to 1.1 Mg•ha−1. The question whether the decrease is rapid and the minimum broad and flat, or if the decrease is gradual and the minimum sharp, cannot be answered. The subsequent increase to levels reached in mature forest requires about 50 years. Some of the initial decrease in organic matter and nitrogen content of the forest floor may be caused by organic decomposition and nitrogen leaching, but mechanical and chemical mixing of floor into mineral soil, during and after the harvest operation, may also be important. The difference is vital with respect to maintenance of long-term productivity.

Beschreibung: Fertilization and cultivation before and after planting greatly increased 9-year growth and yield of longleaf (Pinuspalustris), slash (P. elliottii), and loblolly pines (P. taeda). Intensive culture did not decrease specific gravity or fiber length of the juvenile wood. In loblolly pine, genetic variation was found in response to intensive culture.

Beschreibung: Straw was added over snow to smother ground vegetation (straw experiment) in sample plots in a 45-year-old jack pine (Pinusbanksiana Lamb.) stand in Quebec. Sample plots in the same stand were fertilized six times with N, P, and K in a 10-year period to maintain four foliar N regimes (optimum nutrition experiment). Smothering of ground vegetation with straw improved N nutrition and produced a sustained increase in tree growth. Sustained growth increases were obtained by repeated applications of 56 kg N/ha associated with 1.4% N foliar concentrations in current foliage. Gross volume increments of about 3 m3 • ha−1 • year−1 were sustained with these low applications. Repeated heavy N applications killed trees and reduced growth. Repeated additions of P and K with N did not produce appreciable differences in response from additions of N alone. Increment cores showed the annual development in growth as increasing over most of the 10-year period for low repeated N additions, and as increased and stable over the same period for the straw addition.

Beschreibung: A factorial experiment was conducted in which Pinuscontorta var. latifolia and Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss seedlings were grown for 6 weeks under controlled environmental conditions with deficient and normal supplies of nitrate and ammonium. Free sugars (sucrose, fructose and glucose), starch (as glucose) and pectic sugars (galactose, arabinose, mannose and xylose) were quantitated. Effects of nitrogen form and nitrogen level, and their interactions, upon sugar contents and dry weights of the two species were examined. Growth responses to nitrogen occurred mainly in the shoots. For most parameters the two species reacted similarly to changes in nitrogen level and form, although the concentration of individual sugars differed between the species. In the shoots there were level × species interactions in the dry weight and the sum of free sugars plus starch. Plants grown under nitrogen deficiency were characterized by higher starch contents throughout and lower free sugars in the shoots. Supplying nitrate instead of ammonium lowered glucose levels, particularly in the shoots. Pectic sugar contents were unaffected by nitrogen nutrition. These compositional and growth responses to the nutritional regime implied changes in carbohydrate metabolism and physiological processes that are described by the C/N ratio of the plant.

Beschreibung: In 4 different years' experiments with loblolly (Pinustaeda L.), slash (Pinuselliottiielliottii Engelm.), and longleaf (Pinuspalustris Mill.) pine, timing of gibberellin A4/7 (GA4/7) treatments was critical for optimal promotion of pollen conebuds. Two or three biweekly treatments given at strategic times were equivalent to six given from May to August. July to August applications best promoted pollen conebuds. Using the cationic surfactant Aromox C/12, aqueous foliar sprays of 200 mg/L of GA4/7 were more effective than ethanolic topical bud treatments for pollen conebud induction in slash pine. Addition of naphthaleneacetic acid enhanced the GA4/7 effect in loblolly pine but diminished it in slash and longleaf pine.

Beschreibung: The basic assumptions of regression analysis are recalled with special reference to the use of a logarithmic transformation. The limitations imposed on inference-making by failure to comply with these assumptions are discussed and ways to avoid the limitations indicated. A systematic bias of the order of 10 to 20% which is inherent in most, if not all, prior uses of the logarithmic equation to estimate plant biomass is noted as is the correction for the bias.

Beschreibung: Root and shoot biomass and mycorrhizal development were examined for white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings naturally regenerating in four floodplain communities in the boreal forest. Mean seedling biomass was highest in the open community and lowest in the spruce community. Seedlings growing in the open community had higher root:shoot ratios (0.50) compared with seedlings growing in the willow (0.34), alder (0.20), and spruce (0.24) communities. Essentially all short roots of spruce seedlings growing in all four communities were infected by mycorrhizal fungi throughout the growing season.

Beschreibung: Growth response of young, spaced balsam fir (Abiesbalsamea (L.) Mill.) to 3 successive years (1979–1981) of treatment with Bacillusthuringiensis Berliner for spruce budworm (Choristoneurafumiferana (Clem.)) control was examined in 20 plots on the Cape Breton Highlands, Nova Scotia. Defoliation commenced in 1976, 3 years before control operations began. Five plots were established both inside and outside the spray block, in areas that had been severely defoliated by budworm and in areas moderately defoliated. All plots in the severely defoliated area suffered heavy tree mortality, but mortality was significantly lower in the protected plots. In contrast, the moderately defoliated plots suffered virtually no tree mortality. The average volume increment of stem-analyzed trees from 1979 to 1981 was 0.63 dm3/tree for protected and 0.43 dm3/tree for unprotected trees in the severely defoliated area versus 4.15 dm3/tree for protected and 3.08 dm3/tree for unprotected trees in the moderately defoliated area. These volume increment values are equivalent to 8.8 m3/ha of growth between 1979 and 1981 for protected plots in the moderately defoliated area, compared with 6.1 m3/ha for unprotected plots. Therefore, a total gain of 2.7 m3/ha can be attributed to the 3 years of B. thuringiensis spraying. Long-term growth responses toB. thuringiensis spraying were not evaluated. Better results would be expected had protection started at the beginning of the budworm outbreak, instead of after 3 years of severe defoliation.

Beschreibung: Calculations are presented on the quantities of N, P, K, Mg and Ca in the soil and above-ground portions of two spruce-pulpwood stands on sites of average fertility in northern and southern Quebec. The magnitude of the depletions of these nutrients from the site, in full-tree and tree-length methods of logging, are compared with the available and total quantities of them in the soil. The ranges of values, from the literature, for the input of these nutrients in dust and precipitation, and the losses in leaching, are presented and discussed in relation to the logging losses.It is concluded that on both sites it is unlikely that full-tree logging will result in any reduction in growth, due to nutrient removal, during the second rotation of trees. However, nutrient depletion due to full-tree logging, particularly with respect to Ca, K and N, may require correction by means of fertilizers in forest ecosystems of marginal fertility. These are usually either dry sites with low reserves of organic matter and low exchange capacity or wet sites with excessive accumulations of organic matter. The need for further detailed studies of the nutrient cycle in different forest ecosystems is stressed.

Beschreibung: Black alder, Alnusglutinosa (L.) Gaertn., seedlings were grown and kept well watered for 10 weeks, and then subjected to moisture stress conditioning for 5 subsequent weeks, where one-half of the seedlings were watered only when visibly wilted. The remaining seedlings (controls) were kept well watered. Moisture stress conditioning greatly reduced shoot, root, nodule, and total plant dry weight. The root–shoot ratio (grams/grams) of seedlings was significantly increased from 0.28 in the control seedlings to 0.33 in the water-stressed treatment. Acetylene reduction rates decreased only slightly in the range of water potentials between −0.50 and −1.29 MPa, then dropped rapidly below water potentials of −1.30 MPa. Moisture stress conditioning had no significant influence on this response. Although not significantly different, leaf and nodule osmotic potentials were consistently lower in the water-stressed plants.

Beschreibung: The relationships between foliage area and sapwood area between trees and within the crowns of 20 Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carr., provenance Queen Charlotte Island, British Columbia (10 in a control plot and 10 in a plot fertilized with potassium and phosphorus 8 years before harvest) and 10 Pinuscontorta Dougl., provenance Ladysmith trees were examined using a physiological analysis based on Darcy's law. Foliage area index on the fertilized P. sitchensis plot was higher than on the control. The variation of foliage area density with depth in the canopies followed a normal distribution. Relationships between foliage area and sapwood basal area were linear but the slopes were different for the two species. There was no significant difference between the control and fertilized P. sitchensis trees. The relationship between foliage area and the product of sapwood area and permeability was linear and data from the three plots fell on the same line. Sapwood area, permeability, and their product decreased with depth through the crowns of the trees. Within the crowns, relationships between cumulative foliage area and sapwood area, and between cumulative foliage area and the product of sapwood area × permeability were different with species and treatment. A single linear relationship resulted when the product of cumulative foliage area above an internode × the internode length was plotted against sapwood area × permeability for the internode. This suggests that it is the drop in potential across a node and internode rather than the gradient of potential across the internode that is related to the flux of water through tree crowns. The data support the hypothesis that the relationship between foliage area and sapwood area depends on permeability of the sapwood and the local climate through its influence on transpiration rate, particularly via average water vapour pressure deficit of the air and stomatal conductance.

Beschreibung: Height and diameter growth to age three and the number of first year branches were analyzed for 25 cottonwood clones grown in six plantations in central Mississippi. Plantations were on two contrasting sites and planted in three consecutive years. Results showed small clone × planting year interactions and large clone × site interactions for all parameters. In the lower Mississippi Valley, therefore, emphasis should be placed on testing over a range of sites rather than replicating over time.

Beschreibung: Balsam woolly aphids were reared on young grand fir trees maintained in controlled environment or outdoors. Solutions of various nitrogen fertilizers were applied repeatedly to the trees and the effects on aphids and bark amino acids were studied. On trees fertilized with ammonium nitrate or a sequence of compounds, aphid population growth was less than on trees fertilized with urea or potassium ammonium nitrate. On urea-fertilized trees, populations multiplied 16.5 times in five generations, compared with a 5.7-fold increase on unfertilized trees and a 1.4-fold increase on ammonium nitrate-fertilized trees. These differences resulted from effects of these nutrients on aphid life history. Urea promoted aphid establishment and reproduction, whereas ammonium nitrate affected these processes, as well as survival, adversely. The highest establishment and survival rates resulted from potassium ammonium nitrate.These differences may be related to fertilizer-induced changes in the amino acid diet of the aphid. Thin layer electrophoresis and chromatography revealed that urea, ammonium nitrate, and calcium nitrate each increased arginine concentrations in the bark, the highest levels resulting from ammonium nitrate. Traces of phenylalanine and asparagine, found in other treatments, were absent from trees fertilized with ammonium nitrate during June.

Beschreibung: Mathematical growth analysis techniques were used to assess the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment on growth and biomass partitioning of Liquidambarstyraciflua L. (sweetgum) and Pinustaeda L. (loblolly pine) seedlings. Plants were grown from seed under high (1000 μmol•m−2•s−1) and low (250 μmol•m−2•s−1) photosynthetic photon flux density at CO2 concentrations of 350, 675, and 1000 μL•L−1 for 84 or 112–113 days. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration significantly increased height, leaf area, basal stem diameter, and total dry weight of sweetgum seedlings grown under high irradiance and to a lesser extent under low irradiance. Increases in dry matter accumulation were associated with early CO2 enhancement of net assimilation rate, but increases in amount of leaf surface area contributed more towards maintenance of larger size as seedlings aged. For sweetgum seedlings in particular, reduction of growth by low irradiance under normal atmospheric CO2 was compensated for by growing plants with elevated CO2. In contrast, elevated CO2 concentration produced no significant increase in growth of loblolly pine seedlings.

Beschreibung: Stomatal conductance was measured with porometers in two plots of Pinussylvestris L. with markedly different tree spacings (plot 1, 608 stems ha−1; plot 2, 3281 stems ha−1), and hourly rates of transpiration were calculated using the Penman–Monteith equation at intervals throughout one growing season. Stomatal conductance varied little in relation to height or age of foliage. There was a linear decrease in canopy conductance with increasing water vapour pressure deficit of the air. Transpiration rates on both plots increased during the summer (maximum 0.3 mm h−1); rates on plot 1 were always lower (ca. 0.7 times) than on plot 2. Needle water potentials were similar throughout the season and only slightly lower on plot 1 than on plot 2. The mean hydraulic resistance of the trees on plot 1 was 2.4 times that on plot 2. The results support a hypothesis that considers the changes in transpiration rate, conducting cross-sectional area, canopy leaf area, water potential, and hydraulic resistance following thinning as a set of homeostatic relationships.

Beschreibung: The degree of resistance to a pulsed electric current of wood in progressive stages of discoloration and decay in living trees was correlated primarily with the moisture and mineral contents of the wood. Below the fiber saturation point, the degree of resistance was correlated primarily with the amount of moisture while above the fiber saturation point resistance was correlated primarily with the concentration of mobile potassium and calcium ions. The apparatus used to produce the current and to measure the resistance to it was accurate in detecting and in indicating the stage of deterioration of discolored and decayed wood. The apparatus was tested and found to be reliable electrically within the range of resistances encountered in the trees studied.

Beschreibung: A relation between fire behavior and crown scorch height is derived from measurements on 13 experimental outdoor fires. The range of data includes fire intensities from 16 to 300 kcal/s-m, and scorch heights from 2 to 17 m. The results agree with established theory that scorch height varies with the 2/3 power of line-fire intensity. The effects of air temperature and wind speed on scorch height are treated as well. The derived relations could be useful to those interested in prescribed burning under a crown canopy, ecological response of trees to fires of varying intensity, and timber losses following forest fires.