Ten-year responses of ponderosa pine plantations to repeated vegetation and nutrient control along an environmental gradient

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1027-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F Powers ◽  
Phillip E Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Plant Competition ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Xylem Water Potential ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Vegetation Control ◽  
Moisture Availability

Factorial combinations of vegetation, nutrient, and insect control treatments were applied repeatedly to three contrasting California plantations of Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws. Ten-year findings show that potential productivity is far greater than previously believed. Stem volume gains were linked directly with increases in crown volume. Insect problems were negligible. Vegetation control increased tree growth profoundly on xeric sites but less so on the most mesic. Where soil was both droughty and infertile, growth responses traced primarily to improved soil moisture availability and secondarily to better nutrition. The most fertile site also was droughty, and trees responded only to improved moisture availability. Water was less limiting on the most productive site. There, both fertilizers and herbicides triggered similar, substantive growth increases. Drought from both plant competition and climate reduced stomatal conductance, xylem water potential, and net assimilation rates. Assimilation rates increased linearly with site index, but treatment differences were not apparent once drought had peaked. Fertilization improved water-use efficiency where water stress was not extreme. Advantages in water availability to pines from vegetation control will dissipate as tree crowns close and transpiration rises.

Interaction of vegetation control and fertilization on conifer species across the Pacific Northwest

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Rose ◽  
J Scott Ketchum
Keyword(s):  
Weed Control ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tsuga Heterophylla ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Coast Range ◽  
Basal Diameter ◽  
Vegetation Control ◽  
The Pacific

An experiment evaluating three levels of vegetation competition control (no control, 1.5 m2 of vegetation control, and 3.3 m2 of vegetation control), each with two fertilization treatments (fertilization at the time of planting with complete slow-release fertilizer (Woodace® IBDU), or no fertilization), was installed at five sites. Two of these sites were planted with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) in the Oregon Coast Range, one with ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. Laws. & C. Laws.) in eastern Washington, one with western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) in the coastal hemlock zone in Oregon, and one with coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) in northern California. At four of the five sites, mean stem volume, basal diameter, and height of seedlings increased significantly with increasing area of weed control, and the magnitude of difference between treatments increased with time. Fertilization significantly increased seedling size only at the two sites with adequate soil moisture; increases were marginally significant at a third. Response to fertilization was less than from weed control and impacted growth for only the first year, whereas the influence of weed control continued to influence growth the entire length of the study (4 years). Area of vegetation control and fertilization did not interact significantly at any site.

Ponderosa Pine Habitat Types as an Indicator of Site Quality in the Dixie National Forest, Utah

1989 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Verbyla ◽  
Richard F. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Quercus Gambelii ◽  
Generally True

Abstract Forest habitat types have been purported to be useful indicators of site quality. This is generally true for habitat types with different dominant tree species. However, few have studied the site indicator value of habitat types with the same dominant tree species. We measured site index (base age 25) from 172 randomly selected plots within the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) zone of the Dixie National Forest, Utah. The range of site index within any one habitat type was broad. Poor sites occurred on all five habitat types. However, the best sites occurred only on the Pinus ponderosa/Symphoricarpos oreophilus and Pinus ponderosa/Quercus gambelii habitat types. Therefore, habitat type may be useful in predicting the best sites, but only if other site information is used in addition to habitat type. West. J. Appl. For. 4(2):52-54, April 1989.

scholarly journals Root Volume and Growth of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas-Fir Seedlings: A Summary of Eight Growing Seasons

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Rose ◽  
D. L. Haase ◽  
F. Kroiher ◽  
T. Sabin
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Coast Range ◽  
Root Volume ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Early Results

Abstract This is the final summary of two studies on the relationship between root volume and seedling growth; early results were published previously. Survival, growth, and stem volume were determined for 2+0 ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) seedlings after 8 growing seasons. For each species, seedlings from three seedlots were assigned to one of three root-volume categories [<4.5 cm3 (RV1), 4.5-7 cm3 (RV2), and >7 cm3 (RV3) for ponderosa pine; <9 cm3 (RV1), 9-13 cm3 (RV2), and >13 cm3 (RV3) for Douglas-fir]. On a dry harsh ponderosa pine site on the eastern slopes of Mt. Hood in Oregon, where gopher and cattle damage decreased the number of seedlings, more seedlings in the highest root-volume category survived (70%) than in the smaller root-volume categories (62% and 50%). Douglas-fir on a good site in the Coast Range of Oregon showed significantly greater height and stem volume for the largest root-volume category, whereas annual shoot growth and survival did not differ. Root volume is one of several potentially useful criteria for predicting long-term growth and survival after outplanting. West. J. Appl. For. 12(3):69-73.

Assessing the effect of measurement error in age on dominant height and site index estimates

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1698-1709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengcai Ni ◽  
Gordon Nigh
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Error ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Initial Value ◽  
Dominant Height ◽  
Projection Length ◽  
Age Model ◽  
Projection Error

Stand age is often hard to measure accurately. Measurement error in age affects height estimates when height is projected from one age to another age. In this study, our objective was to derive an estimator for the variance of the component of projection error associated with the error in age. To evaluate the estimator, a simulation approach was employed and the results showed that the estimator worked well in most cases. When the variance of the error in age increases and the projection is forward, however, the estimator might not work as well as in other cases. Another objective was to examine how the error in age behaved under different height–age models and to what extent it affected height and site index estimates. The effect of the error in age depended on its magnitude, the height–age model, initial value of dominant height and age, and projection length. It was also shown that the effect was sometimes negligible, but it could be considerable in other cases. Data from 80 ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) trees in British Columbia, Canada, were used in an illustrative example.

Western juniper and ponderosa pine ecotonal climate–growth relationships across landscape gradients in southern Oregon

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 3021-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin C. Knutson ◽  
David A. Pyke
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Annual Growth ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Climate Fluctuations ◽  
Western Juniper ◽  
Tree Ring Data

Forecasts of climate change for the Pacific northwestern United States predict warmer temperatures, increased winter precipitation, and drier summers. Prediction of forest growth responses to these climate fluctuations requires identification of climatic variables limiting tree growth, particularly at limits of tree species distributions. We addressed this problem at the pine–woodland ecotone using tree-ring data for western juniper ( Juniperus occidentalis var. occidentalis Hook.) and ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Loud.) from southern Oregon. Annual growth chronologies for 1950–2000 were developed for each species at 17 locations. Correlation and linear regression of climate–growth relationships revealed that radial growth in both species is highly dependent on October–June precipitation events that recharge growing season soil water. Mean annual radial growth for the nine driest years suggests that annual growth in both species is more sensitive to drought at lower elevations and sites with steeper slopes and sandy or rocky soils. Future increases in winter precipitation could increase productivity in both species at the pine–woodland ecotone. Growth responses, however, will also likely vary across landscape features, and our findings suggest that heightened sensitivity to future drought periods and increased temperatures in the two species will predominantly occur at lower elevation sites with poor water-holding capacities.

scholarly journals Effect of Silviculture on Carbon Pools during Development of a Ponderosa Pine Plantation

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 997
Author(s):  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Jianwei Zhang ◽  
Kim Mattson ◽  
Kaelyn Finley
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Carbon Pools ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Vegetation Control ◽  
Competing Vegetation

Forest stands can be considered as dynamic carbon pools throughout their developmental stages. Silvicultural thinning and initial planting densities for reforestation not only manipulate the structure or composition of vegetation, but also disturb forest floor and soils, which, in turn, influences the dynamics of carbon pools. Understanding these carbon pools both spatially and temporally can provide useful information for land managers to achieve their management goals. Here, we estimated five major carbon pools in experimental ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) plots that were planted to three levels of spacing and where competing vegetation was either controlled (VC) or not controlled (NVC). The objectives were to determine how an early competing vegetation control influences the long-term carbon dynamics and how stand density affects the maximum carbon (C) sequestration for these plantations. We found that planting density did not affect total ecosystem C at either sampling age 28 or 54. Because of competing vegetation ingrowth, the NVC (85 ± 14 Mg ha−1) accumulated greater C than the VC (61 ± 6 Mg ha−1) at age 28. By age 54, the differences between treatments narrow with the NVC (114 ± 11 Mg ha−1) and the VC (106 ± 11 Mg ha−1) as the pines continue to grow relatively faster in the VC when compared to NVC and C of ingrowth vegetation decreased in NVC, presumably due to shading by the overstory pines. The detritus was not significantly different among treatments in either years, although the mean forest floor and soil C was slightly greater in NVC. While NVC appears to sequester more C early on, the differences from the VC were rather subtle. Clearly, as the stands continue to grow, the C of the larger pines of the VC may overtake the total C of the NVC. We conclude that, to manage forests for carbon, we must pay more attention to promoting growth of overstory trees by controlling competing vegetation early, which will provide more opportunities for foresters to create resilient forests to disturbances and store C longer in a changing climate.

scholarly journals Three-Year Response of Ponderosa Pine Seedlings to Controlled-Release Fertilizer Applied at Planting

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaofei Fan ◽  
James A. Moore ◽  
Bahman Shafii ◽  
Harold L. Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Controlled Release ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Slow Release ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Fertilizer Treatment ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Pine Seedlings ◽  
Height Increase

Abstract Four controlled-release fertilizers (fast release [FR], moderate release [MR], slow release [SR] and slow release with micronutrients extended [ME]) were applied, at rates of 0, 5, 15 and 30 g/seedling, to ponderosa pine seedlings (Pinus ponderosa Doug. ex Laws) immediately after planting. Compared to the controls, the 5 and15 g/seedling of FR or ME fertilizer produced significantly greater caliper growth and the 5 and 15 g/seedling of ME fertilizer and 15 and 30 g of FR fertilizer produced significantly greater height growth after 3 yr. Mortality occurred mainly during the first growing season and varied substantially with fertilizer types and dosage. High dosage (30 g/seedling) generally caused more mortality than other dosage levels. Seventy-eight, 54, 51, and 36% of total nutrients had been released from the FR, MR, SR and ME products, respectively, by late August of the first growing season. Early in the second growing season, the FR product had released 98% of its total nutrients, and the MR, SR, and ME products had released over 90% of their nutrients. The best fertilizer treatment, 15 g of the ME product, produced a 21% diameter increase and a 30% height increase 3 yr after treatment. The relative magnitude of the growth responses is similar to those observed from other adjacent placement, controlled-release, seedling fertilization studies in the Northwest. West. J. Appl. For. 17(3):154–164.

Effects of Soil Compaction on Tree Volume in a California Ponderosa Pine Plantation

1986 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Helms ◽  
C. Hipkin
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Density ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Unit Area ◽  
Site Index ◽  
Soil Bulk Density ◽  
Pine Plantation ◽  
Alternative Approaches

Abstract Soil bulk density was measured around 423 trees (0.48 ha) in a 16-year-old ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) plantation in the Sierra Nevada of California. A landing, skid trail, and areas adjacent to skid trails had soil bulk density increased by 43, 30, and 18% compared to areas with lowest bulk density. Due to differences in mean tree volume and initial survival, volume per unit area in these three locations was reduced by 69, 55, and 13%. Areas between skid trails were relatively unaffected. Assuming full stocking, reduction in productivity by age 40 yr in the most heavily compacted areas is equivalent to about one site index class. Further reduction in projected volume on highly compacted areas could occur due to lower initial survival. Alternative approaches to skid trail management are suggested. West. J. Appl. For. 1:121:124, Oct. 1986.

scholarly journals Climate Effect on Ponderosa Pine Radial Growth Varies with Tree Density and Shrub Removal

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaelyn Finley ◽  
Jianwei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Climate Effect ◽  
Moisture Availability

With increasing temperatures and projected changes in moisture availability for the Mediterranean climate of northern California, empirical evidence of the long-term responses of forests to climate are important for managing these ecosystems. We can assess forest treatment strategies to improve climate resilience by examining past responses to climate for both managed and unmanaged plantations. Using an experimental, long-term density and shrub removal study of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson) on a poor-quality site with low water-holding capacity and high runoff of the North Coastal mountain range in California, we examined the relationships between radial growth and climate for these trees over a common interval of 1977–2011. Resistance indices, defined here as the ratio between current year radial growth and the performance of the four previous years, were correlated to climatic variables during the same years. We found that all treatments’ radial growth benefited from seasonal spring moisture availability during the current growing year. Conversely, high spring and early summer temperatures had detrimental effects on growth. High-density treatments with manzanita understories were sensitive to summer droughts while lower densities and treatments with full shrub removal were not. The explanatory power of the climate regression models was generally more consistent for the same shrub treatments across the four different densities. The resistance indices for the lower density and complete shrub removal treatment groups were less dependent on previous years’ climatic conditions. We conclude that, for ponderosa pine plantations with significant manzanita encroachment, understory removal and heavy thinning treatments increase subsequent growth for remaining trees and decrease sensitivity to climate.

Reevaluating the self-thinning boundary line for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 963-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianwei Zhang ◽  
William W. Oliver ◽  
Robert F. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Site Occupancy ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Site Index ◽  
The Self ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Boundary Line ◽  
The Face

The self-thinning rule has been used extensively to predict population dynamics under intraspecific and interspecific competition. In forestry, it is an important silvicultural concept for maintaining stand health in the face of climate change and biotic stress, but uncertainty exists because traditional self-thinning limits were set subjectively without regard to site quality. We addressed this by analyzing ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson) data from 109 research plots measured repeatedly and 59 inventory plots measured once across California. Self-thinning boundaries were fitted to the data with quantile regression and stochastic frontier function (SFF) techniques with and without site index (SI) as a covariate. The models from both methods fitted the data well with either research plots or all plots. Slopes for size-density trajectories were –0.45 with the 0.99 quantile and –0.47 for SFF. Maximum stand density indices (SDI) were 1250 trees per hectare (TPH) with the 0.99 quantile and 1050–1060 TPH with SFF. Mortality occurred when site occupancy from SFF reached 0.75, suggesting a zone of imminent mortality. Curvilinear trends in maximum SDI across SI for both methods indicate that self-thinning varies with site quality. Any management regimes that increase site quality and productivity will increase the self-thinning boundary.

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