Severe red spruce winter injury in 2003 creates unusual ecological event in the northeastern United States

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 1784-1788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynne E Lazarus ◽  
Paul G Schaberg ◽  
Donald H DeHayes ◽  
Gary J Hawley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Foliar Injury ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Injury Event ◽  
Ecological Event

Abundant winter injury to the current-year (2002) foliage of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) became apparent in the northeastern United States in late winter of 2003. To assess the severity and extent of this damage, we measured foliar winter injury at 28 locations in Vermont and surrounding states and bud mortality at a subset of these sites. Ninety percent of all trees assessed showed some winter injury, and trees lost an average of 46% of all current-year foliage. An average of 32% of buds formed in 2002 were killed in association with winter injury. Both foliar and bud mortality increased with elevation and with crown dominance, and bud mortality increased with greater foliar injury. Foliar injury in 2003 at a plantation near Colebrook, New Hampshire, was more than five times the typical levels for 9 previous years of measurement and more than twice that measured for another high-injury year. Plantation data also indicated that bud mortality in 2003 was greater than previously documented and that persistent winter injury was associated with increased tree mortality. Comparisons of our data with past studies for two sites with native red spruce also indicated that damage in 2003 was greater than other recently reported, high-injury years. Because heavy foliar and bud losses can severely disrupt the carbon economies of trees, the 2003 winter injury event could lead to further spruce decline and mortality, particularly among dominant trees at higher elevations.

scholarly journals Seasonal changes in antioxidants in red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) from three field sites in the northeastern United States

1991 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
NAGESWARA R. MADAMANCHI ◽  
A. HAUSLADEN ◽  
RUTH G. ALSCHER ◽  
R. G. AMUNDSON ◽  
S. FELLOWS
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Northeastern United States

Calcium addition at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest reduced winter injury to red spruce in a high-injury year

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 2544-2549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary J Hawley ◽  
Paul G Schaberg ◽  
Christopher Eagar ◽  
Catherine H Borer
Keyword(s):  
Acid Deposition ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest ◽  
Foliar Injury ◽  
Hubbard Brook ◽  
Ca Addition ◽  
Ca Depletion

Laboratory experiments have verified that acid-deposition-induced calcium (Ca) leaching reduces the foliar cold tolerance of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) current-year foliage, increasing the risk of winter injury and crown deterioration. However, to date no studies have shown that ambient losses in soil Ca have resulted in increased winter injury in the field. In 2003, a year of severe region-wide winter injury to red spruce, we measured the nutrition and winter injury of current-year foliage and bud mortality for red spruce on two watersheds at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in Thornton, New Hampshire: (1) a reference watershed that has undergone considerable Ca loss attributed to acid-deposition-induced leaching and (2) a watershed that was fertilized with CaSiO3 in 1999 to replace lost Ca. For all crown classes combined, winter injury was significantly greater (P = 0.05) for red spruce on the reference watershed than for spruce on the Ca-addition watershed. Differences in foliar injury were particularly evident for dominant and codominant trees. For these crown classes, red spruce on the reference watershed lost about 75% of their current-year foliage to winter injury, about three times more than foliar losses for the Ca-addition watershed (P = 0.01). Patterns of bud mortality followed that of foliar injury. The only difference in foliar cation nutrition detected was a significantly greater concentration of Ca in red spruce foliage from the Ca-addition watershed relative to spruce from the reference watershed (P = 0.001). Differences in Ca concentration, foliar winter injury, and bud mortality that occurred coincident with watershed Ca treatment provide the first evidence that ambient Ca depletion is associated with elevated winter injury of red spruce trees.

Vitality and chemistry of roots of red spruce in forest floors of stands with a gradient of soil Al/Ca ratios in the northeastern United States

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M Wargo ◽  
Kristiina Vogt ◽  
Daniel Vogt ◽  
Quintaniay Holifield ◽  
Joel Tilley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soluble Sugars ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Root Tips ◽  
Exchangeable Al ◽  
Crown Health ◽  
Living Root ◽  
C And N ◽  
Forest Floors

Number of living root tips per branch, percent dead roots, percent mycorrhizae and mycorrhizal morphotype, response of woody roots to wounding and colonization by fungi, and concentrations of starch, soluble sugars, phenols, percent C and N and C/N ratio, and Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, and P were measured for 2 consecutive years in roots of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) in stands in the northeastern United States (nine in 1993 and two additional in 1994) dominated by red spruce and with a gradient of forest floor exchangeable Al/Ca ratios. Root vitality was measured for nonwoody and coarse woody roots; chemical variables were measured for nonwoody (<1 mm), fine woody (1 to <2 mm), and coarse woody (2 to <5 mm) roots. There were significant differences among sites for all variables, particularly in 1993, although few were related to the Al/Ca ratio gradient. Percent mycorrhizae decreased, while some morphotypes increased or decreased as the Al/Ca ratio increased. In nonwoody roots, N increased as the Al/Ca ratio increased. Most sampled trees appeared to be in good or fair health, suggesting that an adverse response of these root variables to high Al concentrations may be apparent only after a significant change in crown health.

Spatial and temporal variation in the prevalence of growth decline in red spruce populations of the northeastern United States

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 1351-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. LeBlanc
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tree Size ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Data Bases ◽  
Growth Decline ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
Historical Levels

An analysis of the prevalence of individual-tree growth decline, based on reconstructed annual stemwood volume increment (AVI), was implemented on three data bases that have been used in past dendrochronological analyses of red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) decline in the northeastern United States. This analysis focused on the proportion of individual trees that exhibited a decrease in periodic mean AVI, a decrease in the linear trend of AVI, and (or) a negative AVI trend during the most recent 20-year period. Various subpopulations within the data bases were identified by site location, elevation, and aspect, and tree size, age, and competitive status, and the proportion of individual trees exhibiting growth decline was compared among these subpopulations. Also, the prevalence of growth decline after 1960 was compared with historical levels of growth decline. Differences in prevalence of growth decline were found among the three data bases and among locations within data bases. The proportion of red spruce that exhibited growth decline after 1960 exceeded historical levels of decline for populations in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, but not in the northern Maine population. Weak positive associations were found between prevalence of growth decline and tree size (DBH) and elevation. No consistent relationship was found between growth decline and tree age, competitive status, or stand density. Contrary to a previous report, growth decline was not more common among trees that exhibited evidence of competitive release in the 1940s than among unreleased trees.

Cambial and internal electrical resistance of red spruce trees in eight diverse stands in the northeastern United States

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.T. Smith ◽  
W.D. Ostrofsky
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Electrical Resistance ◽  
Direct Relationship ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbances ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Tree Condition

Rating systems are being developed to determine the degree to which forests are at risk from pests, pathogens, and anthropogenic disturbances. Measurements of electrical resistance of living trees have been shown to be correlated with cambial growth and alterations of wood function in a wide range of species. A comparison was made of patterns of cambial electrical resistance and of stem internal electrical resistance for eight red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) stands in the northeastern United States. Stands were compared by a new procedure using cambial electrical resistance profiles. The resulting groupings provided a refinement of vigor categories over other comparative methods, and the technique should prove useful for guiding management decisions. No direct relationship was found between the internal tree condition and the cambial electrical resistance, and implications of this with regard to monitoring forest stand health are discussed.

Winter injury to subalpine red spruce: influence of prior vigor and effects on subsequent growth

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 888-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Peart ◽  
Nathan J. Poage ◽  
Matthew B. Jones
Keyword(s):  
New Hampshire ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Subsequent Growth ◽  
Crown Condition ◽  
Severity Of Injury ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Injury Event ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Weak Tendency

We assessed the relationship between prior vigor and severity of winter injury to trees and saplings of red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) at Mount Moosilauke, New Hampshire. Severity of injury was quantified as percent foliar damage on current-year needles after severe injury in the winter of 1988–1989. There was no relationship between severity of injury and prior crown condition. There was only a weak tendency for trees with high live crown ratios to be less damaged than trees with proportionally smaller crowns. Severity of winter injury was not correlated with prior growth rates in the 1-, 2-, or 5-year periods preceding injury, for either trees (radial growth) or saplings (extension growth). However, crown condition of trees and saplings deteriorated significantly following injury. For both trees and saplings, prior growth and subsequent growth were positively correlated for the 1- and 2-year periods before and after the winter injury event. Effects of winter injury on growth in 1989 and 1990 were analyzed using growth ratios (subsequent growth relative to prior growth) to avoid ambiguity resulting from individual differences in growth rates. Severity of winter injury had no effect on growth ratios in the 1- or 2-year periods following winter injury. Although no effects on growth were detected following a single winter injury event, it remains plausible that successive, severe episodes of winter injury could reduce growth and increase mortality risk in red spruce.

scholarly journals Production of Bulbing Onion Overwintered in New Hampshire with Protection by Low Tunnels

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Grube Sideman ◽  
Amanda Brown ◽  
Ruth Hazzard ◽  
Heather Bryant
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Plastic Mulch ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Harvest Dates ◽  
Season Extension ◽  
Black Plastic ◽  
Low Tunnels ◽  
Spring Harvest

High demand for local produce year-round has led growers in the northeastern United States to experiment with fall planting of bulbing onion (Allium cepa) for spring harvest. Over two seasons, we evaluated survival, bolting, and bulbing of several cultivars of fall-planted onion in two sites in New Hampshire. Plants were seeded in August and September, and transplanted in September and October into raised beds covered with black plastic mulch. Low tunnels covered with 1.25-oz/yard2 rowcover and one layer of 6-mil-thick clear polyethylene were installed over the plants in late fall. Harvest dates ranged from 19 Apr. to 6 June in 2012, and from 22 May to 2 July in 2013. All onion cultivars showed high percentages of survival (65% to 100%). Cultivar, planting date, and the interaction between the two had a significant effect on the percentage of bolting and bulb diameter at harvest. In general, those planted later exhibited lower percentages of bolting and slightly smaller bulbs at harvest. Our work demonstrates that it is possible to harvest large bulbed onions in May and June in the northeastern United States in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hardiness zones 4B and 5B using low-tunnel season extension technology. This may provide additional marketing opportunities for growers in cold climates.

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