Utilization of family genetic variability to improve the rooting ability of white spruce (Picea glauca) cuttings

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1308-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gravel-Grenier ◽  
M.S. Lamhamedi ◽  
J. Beaulieu ◽  
S. Carles ◽  
H.A. Margolis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variability ◽  
Genetic Control ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Plant Root ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Root System Architecture ◽  
Initiation Phase ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Intensive Forest Management

Family genetic variability of the rooting characteristics of white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) cuttings harvested from 3-year-old stock plants was evaluated for 75 half-sib families. Growth, root system architecture, and gas exchange of the cuttings during the rooting phase (B+0) and the two subsequent growing seasons (B+1 and B+2) were evaluated. The root initiation phase (B+0) and the root development phases (B+1 and B+2) were found to be under strong genetic control. The weak correlations found between B+0 and the B+1 and B+2 phases may indicate that gene expression during B+0 is not related to root growth and development during B+1 and B+2. Strong positive correlations were observed between plant root and aboveground characteristics at the end of the B+1 and B+2 phases. This suggests that an indirect and efficient selection for white spruce families producing cuttings with heavier root dry masses could be based on the measures of aboveground morphological characteristics. Finally, the strong genetic control of morphological characteristics found in this study indicates that the selection of superior genotypes at a clonal level is possible for intensive forest management.

scholarly journals Genetic control and evolutionary potential of a constitutive resistance mechanism against the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) in white spruce (Picea glauca)

Heredity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Méndez-Espinoza ◽  
Geneviève J. Parent ◽  
Patrick Lenz ◽  
André Rainville ◽  
Laurence Tremblay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Control ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Resistance Mechanism ◽  
Spruce Budworm ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Constitutive Resistance

White spruce establishment in boreal Ontario mixedwood: 5-year results

1995 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 633-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Sutton ◽  
T. P. Weldon
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Mechanical Site Preparation ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Silvicultural Treatments ◽  
Block Experiment

Five-year results of a study to evaluate the relative effectiveness of nine silvicultural treatments for establishing plantations of white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) in boreal Ontario mixed-wood are presented. The experimental design provided three levels of mechanical site preparation (none, disk trenching, and toothed-blading) in all combinations with three kinds of chemical weed control (none, Velpar L© at the time of planting, and Vision© during the second growing season). A randomized block experiment using 0.8-ha plots and two replications was established in Oates Twp. in 1985 and repeated in adjacent Oswald Twp. in 1986. Bareroot white spruce was planted throughout. Four 25-tree sub-plots, located systematically from a random start, were established in each plot. White spruce performance was monitored for five years. Fifth-year survival rates averaged 34% and 84% without and with mechanical site preparation, respectively. Mean total heights after five growing seasons differed significantly (P < 0.01) by category of mechanical site preparation: teeth > trencher > none. Other criteria of performance showed the same pattern. Because of operational exigencies, the herbicide treatments were not applied as scheduled, which might account for the apparent ineffectiveness of those treatments in the particular circumstances of this study. Key words: Site preparation, disk trencher, Young's teeth, herbicides

Vegetation management and site preparation effects on 13C isotopic composition in planted white spruce

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1093-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E Staples ◽  
Ken CJ Van Rees ◽  
J Diane Knight ◽  
C van Kessel
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Vegetation Management ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Active Radiation ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Initial Hypothesis ◽  
And Control

Moisture availability is the factor that most commonly influences the discrimination against 13C fixation (Δ) by C3 plants. Therefore, by changing the availability of moisture by way of controlling competing vegetation, Δ in white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings should be affected. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of manual brushing on Δ in white spruce seedlings planted in disc-trenched and control (i.e., no site preparation) microsites. The effects of site preparation and vegetation management on soil moisture, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and Δ in white spruce seedlings were evaluated over three growing seasons. Vegetation management increased the amount of PAR reaching seedlings in the control and disc-trenched treatments by removing the shading by native vegetation around each seedling. It appears that the increase in PAR reaching seedlings decreased Δ by increasing the photosynthetic consumption of CO2. Differences in soil available moisture (up to 22%) between control and disc-trenched treatments were not reflected in Δ values, contrary to our initial hypothesis. This may indicate that the site was not moisture limiting. Also, these results underline the complexity and difficulty of determining the controlling mechanisms by which Δ is affected.

Nitrogen competition using 15N between early successional plants and planted white spruce seedlings

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1282-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E Staples ◽  
Ken CJ Van Rees ◽  
Chris van Kessel
Keyword(s):  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Fertilizer N ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Epilobium Angustifolium ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Fertilizer N Uptake

The ability of noncrop plants to compete with white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings for applied fertilizer N is not well understood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of fertilizer N uptake using 15N by planted white spruce seedlings and understory vegetation. Double 15N-labeled NH4NO3 was broadcast in 1-m2plots for control, disc-trenched, and disc-trenched + manual brushing treatments. The fate of applied 15N in white spruce and noncrop plants was determined at the end of the first two growing seasons. The major competitors for fertilizer 15N were Populus tremuloides Michx. and grasses during the first growing season, and Populus tremuloides, Epilobium angustifolium L., and Achillea millefolium L. during the second growing season. Disc-trenching plus manual brushing significantly increased the fertilizer use efficiency of white spruce seedlings by limiting competition; however, <1% of the applied fertilizer 15N was utilized by the spruce seedlings after two growing seasons. The ability of competing vegetation to absorb broadcast fertilizer N suggests that alternative fertilizer types and placements be investigated to increase N uptake by white spruce seedlings planted in the boreal mixedwood forest.

scholarly journals White spruce establishment in two boreal Ontario mixedwoods: 13-year results

2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
R F Sutton ◽  
T P Weldon
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Untreated Control ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Mechanical Site Preparation ◽  
Treatment Performance ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Control Growth ◽  
Herbicide Treatments

An experiment to investigate techniques for establishing white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) in boreal Ontario mixedwood was begun in 1985 in Oates Twp. Eight 25-tree plots were established in each of nine treatments: three mechanical site preparation treatments (none, disk- trenching, and toothed-blading) in combination with three kinds of chemical weed control (none, Velpar L® at the time of planting, and Vision® during the second growing season). The experiment was repeated the following year in the adjacent township of Oswald. The mechanical treatments were applied as planned, but the herbicide treatments deviated somewhat from the plan. Fifth-year results were reported in this journal in 1995. In the eighth growing season, a ground-spray release treatment with Vision® was applied to four randomly selected 25-tree plots in each original treatment. Performance of white spruce after 13 growing seasons was significantly influenced by site preparation: survival averaged 65 and 79% without release in the blading and trenching treatments, respectively, and 22% in the untreated control; with release, survival averaged 74 and 80% in the blading and trenching treatments, respectively, and 24% in the untreated control. Growth was greatest in the bladed treatment, poorest by far in the untreated control. The ineffectiveness of herbicides in these experiments is surprising in view of successes elsewhere. The modest response to release was significant for 13th -year increment. Key words: site preparation, toothed blading, trenching, release

scholarly journals Paleovegetation and Paleoclimatic Changes in the Yukon at 6 ka BP

2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Les C. Cwynar ◽  
Ray W. Spear
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Vegetation Changes ◽  
The South ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Green Alder ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Shrub Tundra ◽  
Semi Arid Region

ABSTRACTThe most recent paleoenvironmental change to affect the Yukon centres around 6.0 ka. In the forested southern Yukon, black spruce (Picea mariana) and green alder (Alnus crispa) expanded their populations at most sites between 6.5 and 6.0 ka. Even in the semi-arid region of SW Yukon these species increased their populations, although slightly later at 5.5 ka. These vegetation changes in the south imply cooler and wetter growing seasons, i.e. more mesic conditions. In the region of the upper Blackstone River of central Yukon, the modern vegetation consists of shrub tundra with scattered groves of white spruce (Picea glauca) and even fewer black spruce. Open forests of predominantly white spruce occupied the region as early as 9.5 ka, but between 6.5 and 6.0 ka white spruce declined as black spruce became the dominant tree, coincidentally with an increase in green alder. By 5.0 ka the vegetation had acquired its modern composition. As in the south, these changes imply cooling. Less evidence is available on the expansion of alder and black spruce in the northern Yukon. Both species increased in forested areas (forest-tundra) at 6.0 ka. These changes again imply cooling. Because both black spruce and green alder were present in Yukon well before 6 ka, these vegetation changes cannot be ascribed to migration lags.

scholarly journals Growth of Coniferous Seedlings on a Drained and Mounded Peatland in Central Alberta

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam K. Takyi ◽  
Graham R. Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Larix Laricina ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Collar Diameter ◽  
Survival And Growth

Abstract Artificial reforestation experiments compared survival and growth of five species of coniferous containerized seedlings, and seedling browsing by ungulates on a clearcut, drained, and mounded peatland in the boreal forest. Six to seven growing seasons after planting, 91% of all seedlings had survived. Height and diameter growth in five species were ranked as follows: Siberian latch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) > lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.) > tamarack (Larix laricina [Du Roi] K. Koch) > black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) = white spruce(Picea glauca [Moench] Voss). Overall, tamarack height and diameter growth was twice that of either spruce species. Height and diameter growth of tamarack, black spruce, and white spruce planted in the spring was 65% to 97% greater than that of the more robust seedlings for the same species planted in the fall of the same year. Repeated winter browsing by ungulates did not affect survival and growth of the five species. In an experiment where survival and growth of tamarack and black spruce seedlings planted on the mounds were compared with that of seedlings planted on the flat areas between mounds, there were no differences in survival, height, or root collar diameter growth between the two planting sites. In the event that suitable peatlands are used to augment existing timber supplies, lowering the water table through ditching, combined with mound-planting, is a feasible method of reforesting timber-harvested, boreal wet sites with Siberian latch, lodgepole pine, and white spruce. Tamarack and black spruce, however, survive and grow well on drained peatlands without mound-planting. North. J. Appl. For. 17(2):71-79.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF MULCHES ON NURSERY SEEDBEDS OF WHITE SPRUCE

1965 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Mullin
Keyword(s):  
Weed Control ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Laboratory Measurements ◽  
The Third ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Rye Straw ◽  
A Minor

Several kinds of seedbed mulch were used in an experiment to study frost heaving of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) in a nursery. Treatments consisted of silica gravel (of three sizes), hardwood sawdust, vermiculite, shredded sphagnum, mixed silica and sphagnum, and rye straw (the regular nursery mulch). These were applied to beds sown in the fall of 1958, 1959 and I960. Shading of beds during the winter between the first and second growing seasons was also examined.During the first growing season, several counts were made of the number of trees and weeds. At the beginning of the second growing season a count was made of the trees heaved and the residual stand. At the beginning of the third growing season, samples were taken for laboratory measurements of top length, root length, stem diameter, oven-dry weight and top-root ratio.The sawdust mulch was superior in most respects. It permitted the highest germination and survival, better prevention of heaving than rye straw, and better weed control than rye straw. Although the sawdust mulch treatment produced small and poorly balanced trees this was believed due chiefly to high bed density, and compared favourably with the rye straw. The use of hardwood sawdust as a mulch offered considerable advantage over the presently used rye-straw.Heaving was found to be a minor cause of mortality over the three year period examined. Shading of the beds offered no advantage in reducing this loss.

Genetic control of wood properties in Picea glauca — an analysis of trends with cambial age

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Lenz ◽  
Alain Cloutier ◽  
John MacKay ◽  
Jean Beaulieu
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Genetic Control ◽  
Wood Density ◽  
Wall Thickness ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Fibre Surface ◽  
Wood Properties ◽  
Cell Wall Thickness ◽  
Cambial Age

We investigated the genetic control of wood properties as a function of cambial age to enable improvement of juvenile wood attributes in white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). Increment cores were taken from 375 trees randomly selected from 25 open-pollinated families in a provenance–progeny trial repeated on three sites. High-resolution pith-to-bark profiles were obtained for microfibril angle (MFA), modulus of elasticity (MOE), wood density, tracheid diameter and cell wall thickness, fibre coarseness, and specific fibre surface with the SilviScan technology. Heritability estimates indicated that genetic control of cell anatomy traits and wood density increased with cambial age, whereas the genetic control of MFA and MOE remained relatively low across growth rings. Wood density, radial cell diameter, cell wall thickness, and specific fibre surface were highly heritable, indicating that significant genetic gains could be expected in tree improvement programs, although cambial age at selection may strongly influence the magnitude of realized gains. In contrast, growth-related properties, such as ring width, core length, and tree height, gave weak or nonsignificant heritability estimates. Adverse correlations between mechanical strength and properties related to paper quality suggest that breeding strategies must incorporate both types of traits to improve white spruce wood quality for different end uses.

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