Growth of western red cedar seedlings in relation to microtopography, forest floor nutrient status, and fireweed and salal on clear-cut sites in coastal British Columbia

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Messier ◽  
James P. Kimmins

The growth of western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn) seedlings was studied in relation to microtopography, to forest floor nutrient status, and to fireweed (Epilobiumangustifolium L.) and salal (Gaultheriashallon Pursh) abundance on 4-year-old logged and burned sites dominated by salal on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. These relationships were sought to determine some possible factors at the microsite level that influence the growth of western red cedar on recently clear-cut sites. Western red cedar growth and fireweed abundance and height were significantly greater in depressions than on flats and mounds, but these differences were not related to any major differences in forest floor pH, cellulose decomposition, total N and P, and available NH4+, NO3−, and phosphate P as measured using resin bags. The ecological significance of and possible reasons for the lack of correlation found between (i) western red cedar and fireweed growth and (ii) many measures of forest floor nutrient status are discussed.

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott X. Chang ◽  
Gordon F. Weetman ◽  
Caroline M. Preston ◽  
Kevin McCullough ◽  
John Barker

Fertilizer labeled with 15N was used to study the fate of N in forest soil–plant systems with (control) and without competition (treated) from an ericaceous evergreen shrub, salal (Gaultheriashallon Pursh), on a western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn ex D. Don)–western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) clear-cut site on northern Vancouver Island. Fertilizer was applied in April 1991 at 200 kg N•ha−1 as (NH4)2SO4 (3.38044% 15N enrichment) to single-tree plots of 1 m radius. Four-year-old western red cedar, western hemlock, and Sitka spruce (Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carrière) were used and the plots were destructively sampled after two growing seasons (October 1992). The distribution of 15N within trees was virtually unaffected by the treatment but displayed differences among species. The majority of the 15N in a tree was found in the current-year needles. Because of the dilution effect, 15N abundances in the above ground tree components were not different between treatments but 15N contents were significantly increased by salal removal. The pattern of and treatment effect on total N distribution were similar to those of 15N. Total recovery by trees of applied 15N was 7.7, 17.8, and 10.3% in the treated plots planted with cedar, hemlock, and spruce, respectively. The corresponding values for the control plots were 4.1, 2.0, and 4.9%. Understory in the control plots immobilized 14.8, 24.6, and 13.5% of the applied N for plots planted with the respective species. Total recoveries in soil and vegetation ranged from 57 to 87%, of which 59 to 82% was recovered in the soil compartments. Results clearly showed that trees competed poorly with the understory vegetation for the applied fertilizer N.


1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1052-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney J. Keenan ◽  
Cindy E. Prescott ◽  
J.P. Hamish Kimmins

Biomass and C, N, P, and K contents of woody debris and the forest floor were surveyed in adjacent stands of old-growth western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn)–western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) (CH type), and 85-year-old, windstorm-derived, second-growth western hemlock–amabilis fir (Abiesamabilis (Dougl.) Forbes) (HA type) at three sites on northern Vancouver Island. Carbon concentrations were relatively constant across all detrital categories (mean = 556.8 mg/g); concentrations of N and P generally increased, and K generally decreased, with increasing degree of decomposition. The mean mass of woody debris was 363 Mg/ha in the CH and 226 Mg/ha in the HA type. The mean forest floor mass was 280 Mg/ha in the CH and 211 Mg/ha in the HA stands. Approximately 60% of the forest floor mass in each forest type was decaying wood. Dead woody material above and within the forest floor represented a significant store of biomass and nutrients in both forest types, containing 82% of the aboveground detrital biomass, 51–59% of the N, and 58–61% of the detrital P. Forest floors in the CH and HA types contained similar total quantities of N, suggesting that the lower N availability in CH forests is not caused by greater immobilization in detritus. The large accumulation of forest floor and woody debris in this region is attributed to slow decomposition in the cool, wet climate, high rates of detrital input following windstorms, and the large size and decay resistance of western red cedar boles.


1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 605-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Prescott ◽  
M.A. McDonald ◽  
G.F. Weetman

Availability of N and P was compared in the forest floors of old-growth forests of western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn)and western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) (CH forests), and second-growth forests of western hemlock and amabilis fir (Abiesamabilis (Dougl.) Forbes) (HA forests) of windthrow origin. Five samples of each forest floor layer (litter, fermentation (woody and nonwoody), and humus (woody and nonwoody)) were collected from three forests of each type (CH and HA). All layers of CH forest floors had smaller concentrations of total and extractable N and mineralized less N during 40-day aerobic incubations in the laboratory. Total and extractable P was lower in the litter layer of CH forest floors. Seedlings of western red cedar, Sitka spruce (Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carr.), western hemlock, and amabilis fir grown from seed in forest floor material from CH forests grew more slowly and took up less N and P than did seedlings grown in HA forest floor material. The low supply of N and P in CH forest floors may contribute to the nutrient supply problems encountered by regenerating trees on cutovers of this forest type.


2007 ◽  
Vol 139 (5) ◽  
pp. 685-689
Author(s):  
Regine Gries ◽  
Robb G. Bennett ◽  
Grigori Khaskin ◽  
Gerhard Gries

AbstractIn a field trapping experiment in an abandoned seed orchard of western red-cedar, Thuja plicata Donn × D. Don, in British Columbia, we show that attraction of male red-cedar cone midges, Mayetiola thujae (Hedlin), to the pheromone blend (2S,12S)-, (2S,13S)-, and (2S,14S)-diacetoxyheptadecane is reduced in the presence of a blend of all other stereoisomers, or of the three SR- or RR-stereoisomers. The three RS-stereoisomers, in contrast, had no significant effect. Thus, synthetic pheromone for monitoring M. thujae populations must not contain the SR- or RR-stereoisomers of 2,12-, 2,13-, and 2,14-diacetoxyheptadecane. This result will allow development of a less expensive design for synthesizing the pheromone.


1946 ◽  
Vol 24c (5) ◽  
pp. 158-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Buckland

Investigations of decay in Thuja plicata D. Don. in British Columbia have shown that the major heart-rotting fungi of living western red cedar on the Coast, in decreasing order of importance, are Poria asiatica (Pilát) Overh. (brown cubical pocket and butt rot), Poria albipellucida Baxter (white ring rot), Fomes Pini (Thore) Lloyd (white pitted trunk rot), Merulius sp. (brown crumbly butt rot), and Poria subacida (Peck) Sacc. (spongy white rot). In the Interior of the Province they are Poria asiatica, P. Weirii Murr. (yellow ring rot), Fomes Pini, Polyporus balsameus Peck (brown cubical butt rot), Merulius sp., and Poria subacida. Other fungi attacking the heartwood of living trees less extensively are Fomes annosus (Fr.) Cke., F. nigrolimitatus (Romell) Egel., F. pinicola (Sw.) Cke., Armillaria mellea (Fr.) Quél., Omphalia campanella (Fr.) Quél., Polyporus Schweinitzii Fr., and Coniophora cerebella Pers.On the areas investigated, loss through decay in stands 50 to 450 years of age never exceeded growth increment. It was indicated that decay in younger stands was of importance. Loss through decay and incidence of infection was appreciably higher in the Interior than on the Coast. No reliable external indications of decay in the standing tree were found.Deterioration in felled trees was caused by Poria Weirii, P. albipellucida, P. subacida, Armillaria mellea, Omphalia campanella, Fomes annosus, F. nigrolimitatus, and F. pinicola. Polyporus cuneatus (Murr.) Overh., and Hymenochaete tabacina (Sow.) Lév. were the major decay organisms of cedar sapwood and slash. Polyporus abietinus (Dicks.) Fr., P. versicolor (L.) Fr., P. semipileatus Peck, P. hirsutus (Wulf.) Fr., and Poria isabellina (Fr.) Overh. were restricted in distribution or of irregular occurrence.To assist in the identification of cultures all the major heart-rotting organisms were grown on tannic and gallic acid media. Seventy-seven species of Basidiomycetes were collected on living and dead Thuja plicata in British Columbia from 1943 to 1945.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 1585-1595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Sollins ◽  
Steven P. Cline ◽  
Thomas Verhoeven ◽  
Donald Sachs ◽  
Gody Spycher

Fallen boles (logs) of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco), western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), and western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn) in old-growth stands of the Cascade Range of western Oregon and Washington were compared with regard to their physical structure, chemistry, and levels of microbial activity. Western hemlock and western red cedar logs disappeared faster than Douglas-fir logs, although decay rate constants based on density change alone were 0.010/year for Douglas-fir, 0.016/year for western hemlock, and 0.009/year for western red cedar. We were unable to locate hemlock or red cedar logs older than 100 years on the ground, but found Douglas-fir logs that had persisted up to nearly 200 years. Wood density decreased to about 0.15 g/cm3 after 60–80 years on the ground, depending on species, then remained nearly constant. Moisture content of logs increased during the first 80 years on the ground, then remained roughly constant at about 250% (dry-weight basis) in summer and at 350% in winter. After logs had lain on the ground for about 80 years, amounts of N, P, and Mg per unit volume exceeded the amount present initially. Amounts of Ca, K, and Na remained fairly constant throughout the 200-year time span that was studied (100-year time span for Na). N:P ratios converged toward 20, irrespective of tree species or wood tissue type. C:N ratios dropped to about 100 in the most decayed logs; net N was mineralized during anaerobic incubation of most samples with a C:N ratio below 250. The ratio of mineralized N to total N increased with advancing decay. Asymbiotic bacteria in fallen logs fixed about 1 kg N ha−1 year−1, a substantial amount relative to system N input from precipitation and dry deposition (2–3 kg ha−1 year−1).


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Rezaei ◽  
Jim Lim ◽  
Shahab Sokhansanj

HighlightsWRC and SPF generate the largest fraction of small particles (<0.5 mm) during grinding.WRC is slightly low in total sugars, high in lignin content (should make durable pellets), and high in extractives.Aspen followed by WRC has the highest drying rate and the shortest drying time amongst all samples.Smoke point is similar for all wood species and is ~180°C.Abstract.Western red cedar () and yellow cedar () are among the most valuable tree species in British Columbia. These species make up about 20% of the coastal timber volumes and mostly are used as lumber for construction applications where resistance against decay is important. The use of red cedar for pellet production has been uncertain because it appears cedar has a tendency to cause fires in rotary drum dryers when compared to other wood species like pine and Douglas Fir. The scientific reasons for the reported fire incident are not known. The goal of the current study is to investigate the drying rates and the range of combustion temperature for western red cedar and five other wood species that either are used or have potential to be used for palletization purposes in British Columbia. Red cedar and Spruce/Pine/Fir (SPF) generate the largest fraction of small particles (<0.5 mm) during grinding. Almost 93% of cedar particles are less than 1 mm. Cedar has a high carbon content and low oxygen content that causes cedar has higher calorific value than other species. During a drying process, aspen following by cedar has the highest drying rate and the shortest drying time amongst all samples. The smoke point is similar for all wood species and is ~180°C. So, in the case of high temperature drying (beyond the smoke point) of mixed feedstocks with similar size, red cedar dries faster and starts smoking at dryer output. Keywords: Chemical composition, Drying rate, Physical characterization, Smoke point, Western red cedar.


1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Quesnel ◽  
L M. Lavkulich

Elemental concentrations were measured and compared for LF horizons, H horizons, decaying wood, and fine (< 2 mm) roots of three ecosystems on northern Vancouver Island. The principal tree species of these ecosystems were western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), amabilis fir (Abiesamabilis (Dougl.) Forbes), and western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn.). The H horizons had greater Mg and Na values than the LF horizons, while the opposite result was found for K and loss on ignition (LOI). The decaying wood represents a significant accumulation of nutrient-deficient biomass that could immobilize N. The decomposing fine roots will temporarily immobilize N while possibly increasing the concentration of elements such as Fe, Al, and Mn. These materials should be separated from forest floor samples in order to represent more accurately the nutrient status of forest floor horizons.


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