Identifying roots of northern hardwood species: patterns with diameter and depth

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 2862-2869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth D. Yanai ◽  
Melany C. Fisk ◽  
Timothy J. Fahey ◽  
Natalie L. Cleavitt ◽  
Byung B. Park
Keyword(s):  
Fine Roots ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Tree Roots ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Diagnostic Characteristics ◽  
Significant Difference

Forest canopies are often stratified by species; little is known about the depth distribution of tree roots in mixed stands because they are not readily identified by species. We used diagnostic characteristics of wood anatomy and gross morphology to distinguish roots by species and applied these methods to test for differences in the rooting depth of sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.), American beech ( Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), and yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) in two northern hardwood forests. We also distinguished hobblebush ( Viburnum lantanoides Michx.) and white ash ( Fraxinus americana L.) roots. Analysis of plastid DNA fragment lengths confirmed that 90% of the roots were correctly identified. The vertical distribution of fine roots of these species differed by 2–4 cm in the median root depth (P = 0.03). There was a significant difference in the distribution of roots by size class, with fine roots (0–2 mm) being more concentrated near the soil surface than coarser roots (2–5 mm; P = 0.004). The two sites differed by <2 cm in median rooting depths (P = 0.02). The visual identification of roots for the main tree species in the northern hardwood forest allows species-specific questions to be posed for belowground processes.

scholarly journals Height Development of Upper-Canopy Trees Within Even-Aged Adirondack Northern Hardwood Stands

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Nyland ◽  
David G. Ray ◽  
Ruth D. Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Yellow Birch ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Advance Regeneration ◽  
Canopy Trees

Abstract Knowledge of the relative rates of height growth among species is necessary for predicting developmental patterns in even-aged northern hardwood stands. To quantify these relationships, we used stem analysis to reconstruct early height growth patterns of dominant and codominant sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton), white ash (Fraxinus americana L.), and America beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) trees. We used three stands (aged 19, 24, and 29 years) established by shelterwood method cutting preceded by an understory herbicide treatment. We analyzed 10 trees of each species per stand. Height growth was similar across stands, allowing us to develop a single equation for each species. Our data show that yellow birch had the most rapid height growth up to approximately age 10. Both sugar maple and white ash grew more rapidly than yellow birch beyond that point. Beech consistently grew the slowest. White ash had a linear rate of height growth over the 29-year period, while the other species declined in their growth rates. By age 29, the heights of main canopy trees ranged from 38 ft for beech to 51 ft for white ash. Both yellow birch and sugar maple averaged 46 ft tall at that time. By age 29, the base of the live crown had reached 17, 20, 21, and 26 ft for beech, sugar maple, yellow birch, and white ash, respectively. Live–crown ratios of upper-canopy trees did not differ appreciably among species and remained at approximately 40% for the ages evaluated. These results suggest that eliminating advance regeneration changes the outcome of competition to favor species other than beech. North. J. Appl. For. 21(3):117–122.

22-Year Growth of Four Planted Hardwoods

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Laurane Stout
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Black Cherry ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
Old Field ◽  
Forest Landowners ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Hardwood Species ◽  
Initial Spacing ◽  
Preferred Species

Abstract Planting of northern hardwood species interests forest landowners and managers who wish to continue growing pure or nearly pure stands of high-value species, enhance old-field conversion to preferred species, or reforest areas where natural regeneration has failed. Little data on planted hardwoods can be found, however. This paper reports on 22 years of growth of a northern hardwood plantation established in 1961 containing red maple, black cherry, sugar maple, and white ash. The data show that plantings of these species can succeed on good sites with weed control over the first few years, protection from animal predators, and close initial spacing. North. J. Appl. For. 3:69-72, June 1986.

Leaf- and plant-level carbon gain in yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech seedlings from contrasting forest light environments

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilou Beaudet ◽  
Christian Messier ◽  
David W Hilbert ◽  
Ernest Lo ◽  
Zhang M Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acer Saccharum ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Carbon Gain ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Yellow Birch ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Leaf Level ◽  
Plant Level

Leaf-level photosynthetic-light response and plant-level daily carbon gain were estimated for seedlings of moderately shade-tolerant yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton) and shade-tolerant sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) growing in gaps and under a closed canopy in a sugar maple stand at Duchesnay, Que. All three species had a higher photosynthetic capacity (Amax) in the gaps than in shade, but yellow birch and beech responded more markedly than sugar maple to the increase in light availability. The high degree of plasticity observed in beech suggests that the prediction that photosynthetic plasticity should decrease with increasing shade tolerance may not hold when comparisons are made among a few late-successional species. Unit-area daily carbon gain (CA) was significantly higher in the gaps than in shade for all three species, but no significant difference was observed between light environments for plant-level carbon gain (CW). In shade, we found no difference of CA and CW among species. In gaps, beech had a significantly higher CA than sugar maple but similar to that of birch, and birch had a significantly higher CW than maple but similar to that of beech. Sugar maple consistently had lower carbon gains than yellow birch and beech but is nevertheless the dominant species at our study site. These results indicate that although plant-level carbon gain is presumably more closely related to growth and survival of a species than leaf-level photosynthesis, it is still many steps removed from the ecological success of a species.

Condition of the fine roots of sugar maple in different stages of decline

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bauce ◽  
Douglas C. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Fine Roots ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Fine Root ◽  
Fine Root Biomass ◽  
Crown Condition ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Sugar Maples ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Crown Dieback ◽  
Apparently Healthy

An 85-year-old even-aged northern hardwood stand was studied to elucidate relations between the crown condition of declining sugar maples, Acersaccharum Marsh., and the condition of maple fine roots. Declining sugar maples had lower fine-root biomass and fewer rootlet tips than apparently healthy trees. However, rootlet mortality did not differ significantly between crown dieback classes. Damage to fine roots caused by Ctenophora sp. was significantly greater on trees in advanced stages of decline.

scholarly journals Height-Diameter Equations for Select New Hampshire Tree Species

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Fast ◽  
Mark J. Ducey
Keyword(s):  
New Hampshire ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Eastern Hemlock ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Paper Birch ◽  
Bartlett Experimental Forest

Abstract Height-diameter equations are important in modeling forest structure and yield. Twenty-seven height-diameter equations were evaluated for eight tree species occurring in the northern hardwood forest of New Hampshire using permanent plot data from the Bartlett Experimental Forest. Selected models with associated coefficients are presented for American beech, eastern hemlock, paper birch, red maple, red spruce, sugar maple, white ash, yellow birch, and all 16 species combined.

Effects of Weed Species on Northern Hardwood Regeneration in New Hampshire

1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Leak
Keyword(s):  
New Hampshire ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
No Reduction ◽  
Weed Competition ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Weed Species ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Commercial Species ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Regeneration stocking of northern hardwoods following cutting is difficult to assess because of limited information on the impact of dominating weed species. Measurements on more than 1,500 milacres were taken 8 years after cutting by commercial clearcutting, diameter limit, moderate and light selection. Milacres dominated by striped maple or hobblebush were respectively, ¼ to ⅓ or ¼ to ⅔ nonstocked with established commercial species. Milacres dominated by pin cherry showed no reduction in stocking of commercial tree species when compared to milacres without dominating weeds. Among individual commercial species, sugar maple and white ash showed the least response to dominating weed competition. The results provide preliminary guidelines on evaluating weed competition during regeneration surveys. North. J. Appl. For. 5:235-237, December 1988.

Calcium and magnesium in wood of northern hardwood forest species: relations to site characteristics

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Arthur ◽  
T G Siccama ◽  
R D Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
White Birch ◽  
Yellow Birch ◽  
Northern Hardwood

Improving estimates of the nutrient content of boles in forest ecosystems requires more information on how the chemistry of wood varies with characteristics of the tree and site. We examined Ca and Mg concentrations in wood at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Species examined were the dominant tree species of the northern hardwood forest and the spruce-fir forest. The concentrations of Ca and Mg, respectively, in lightwood of these species, mass weighted by elevation, were 661 and 145 µg/g for sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), 664 and 140 µg/g for American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), 515 and 93 µg/g for yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.), 525 and 70 µg/g for red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.), 555 and 118 µg/g for balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), and 393 and 101 µg/g for white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.). There were significant patterns in Ca and Mg concentrations with wood age. The size of the tree was not an important source of variation. Beech showed significantly greater concentrations of both Ca (30%) and Mg (33%) in trees growing in moist sites relative to drier sites; sugar maple and yellow birch were less sensitive to mesotopography. In addition to species differences in lightwood chemistry, Ca and Mg concentrations in wood decreased with increasing elevation, coinciding with a pattern of decreasing Ca and Mg in the forest floor. Differences in Ca and Mg concentration in lightwood accounted for by elevation ranged from 12 to 23% for Ca and 16 to 30% for Mg for the three northern hardwood species. At the ecosystem scale, the magnitude of the elevational effect on lightwood chemistry, weighted by species, amounts to 18% of lightwood Ca in the watershed and 24% of lightwood Mg but only 2% of aboveground biomass Ca and 7% of aboveground Mg.

Seed Storage and Germination Under Northern Hardwood Forests

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 478-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Marquis
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Seed Storage ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
Yellow Poplar ◽  
Organic Layers ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Sowing Seed ◽  
And Storage

The species, quantities, and germination of tree seed stored in the forest floor beneath five northern hardwood stands in Pennsylvania were determined by counting seed found in blocks of forest floor material and running germination tests on them, by burying seed in soil organic layers and observing germination and storage, and by sowing seed on natural seedbeds and observing germination over several years. Quantities of seed in excess of 1 million per acre (2.5 million per hectare) were found to be common, the number of seed of a particular species depending on the number of seed-bearing trees of that species in the overstory and on the length of time seed of that species will remain viable in the forest floor. Sugar maple, eastern hemlock, and American beech normally germinate the year after seed dispersal and do not remain viable in the forest floor. Black cherry, white ash, yellow poplar, red maple, and birch normally germinate over a period of several years after dispersal; and storage in the forest floor for 2 to 5 years is common. Pin cherry seed remain viable in the forest floor for long periods, and large quantities of seed may still be present 30 years or more after pin cherry trees have died out of the overstory.

scholarly journals In situ decomposition of northern hardwood tree boles: decay rates and nutrient dynamics in wood and bark

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 1515-1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris E. Johnson ◽  
Thomas G. Siccama ◽  
Ellen G. Denny ◽  
Mary Margaret Koppers ◽  
Daniel J. Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Decay Rates ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Clear Cutting

The decomposition of coarse woody debris contributes to forest nutrient sustainability and carbon (C) balances, yet few field studies have been undertaken to investigate these relationships in northern hardwood forests. We used a paired-sample approach to study the decomposition of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), American beech (Fagus grandifolia Erhr.), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) boles at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Mass loss over 16 years followed a first-order exponential decay pattern with half-lives ranging from 4.9 to 9.4 years in bark and from 7.3 to 10.9 years in wood. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations increased significantly during decomposition, resulting in sharp decreases in C:N and C:P ratios. We did not, however, observe significant net increases in the amount of N or P stored in decomposing boles, as reported in some other studies. Calcium (Ca) concentration decreased by up to 50% in bark but more than doubled in wood of all species. The retention of Ca in decomposing wood helps maintain Ca pools in this base-poor ecosystem. Together, the exponential model for mass loss and a combined power-exponential model for changes in nutrient concentrations were able to simulate nutrient dynamics in decomposing boles after clear-cutting in an adjacent watershed.

scholarly journals Validation and refinement of allometric equations for roots of northern hardwoods

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1777-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur ◽  
Steven P. Hamburg ◽  
Ruth D. Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Lateral Roots ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Mean Error

The allometric equations developed by Whittaker et al. (1974. Ecol. Monogr. 44: 233–252) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest have been used to estimate biomass and productivity in northern hardwood forest systems for over three decades. Few other species-specific allometric estimates of belowground biomass are available because of the difficulty in collecting the data, and such equations are rarely validated. Using previously unpublished data from Whittaker’s sampling effort, we extended the equations to predict the root crown and lateral root components for the three dominant species of the northern hardwood forest: American beech ( Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis Britt), and sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.). We also refined the allometric models by eliminating the use of very small trees for which the original data were unreliable. We validated these new models of the relationship of tree diameter to the mass of root crowns and lateral roots using root mass data collected from 12 northern hardwood stands of varying age in central New Hampshire. These models provide accurate estimates of lateral roots (<10 cm diameter) in northern hardwood stands >20 years old (mean error 24%–32%). For the younger stands that we studied, allometric equations substantially underestimated observed root biomass (mean error >60%), presumably due to remnant mature root systems from harvested trees supporting young root-sprouted trees.

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