Small Mammals and Regeneration of White Spruce Forests in Western Alberta

Ecology ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 1102-1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Radvanyi
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Spruce Forests

Germination of R-55 Repellent Treated and Non-Treated Seeds of White Spruce Following Prolonged Cold Storage

1980 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-62
Author(s):  
A. Radvanyi
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Cold Storage ◽  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Past Experience ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Direct Seeding ◽  
Seed Supply ◽  
Coating Formulation

Depredation of broadcast seed supplies by small mammals has frequently caused forest regeneration endeavours by direct seeding methods to fail and have pointed out the need for a more effective coating formulation to protect the seed supply. Past experience has indicated coniferous seeds may not always be promptly sown following treatment and seeds are frequently returned to cold storage. Tests indicate white spruce seeds treated with the newly developed R-55 rodent repellent/graphite formulation can be safely stored for at least 5.5 years without a significant decline in germinative capacity.

A 550-Year Record of the Disturbance History of White Spruce Forests Near Two Inuit Settlements in Labrador, Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (30) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Roy ◽  
Najat Bhiry ◽  
James Woollett ◽  
Ann Delwaide
Keyword(s):  
White Spruce ◽  
Disturbance History ◽  
Spruce Forests ◽  
History Of

Dissemination of the conifer seed fungus Caloscyphafulgens by small mammals

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-137
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan ◽  
Jack R. Sutherland ◽  
T. A. D. Woods ◽  
Druscilla S. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Pathogenic Fungus ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Douglas Fir ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Conifer Seed

Field studies showed that the seed-pathogenic fungus Caloscyphafulgens (Pers.) Boudier was present in squirrel caches in 25% of the white spruce, Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss, stands in an area near Prince George, B.C. and in duff in 17 and 8% of the lodgepole pine, Pinuscontorta Dougl., clear-cuts there and at Williams Lake, respectively. In the laboratory, deer mice (Peromyscusmaniculatus Wagner), chipmunks (Eutamiastownsendii Bachman), and Douglas squirrels (Tamiasciurusdouglasii Bachman) consumed C. fulgens infested seeds of Douglas-fir, Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco, lodgepole pine, and white spruce as readily as noninfested seeds. Squirrels also ate C. fulgens ascocarps and passed intact ascospores, but these were not observed to germinate. Red squirrels, T. hudsonicus Erxleben, moved, and ate seeds from, both infested and noninfested Douglas-fir cones in the field. It is proposed that C. fulgens is disseminated by squirrels, and perhaps other rodents, and that the fungus may preserve seeds in caches thereby ensuring squirrel food supplies between cone crops. Caloscyphafulgens may also prevent seed germination in direct seeding trials.

Postdispersal seed predation of white spruce in cutblocks in the boreal mixedwoods: a short-term experimental study

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan H Peters ◽  
S Ellen Macdonald ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
Richard A Moses
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Seed Predation ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Seed Loss ◽  
Boreal Mixedwoods ◽  
Initial Seed

We conducted a 1-year study to examine the influence of postdispersal seed predation by small mammals and other vertebrate predators on seedling recruitment rates (percentage of seeds surviving to seedling stage) and seed loss of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) in recently logged areas in the boreal mixedwood forest in north-central Alberta. Experimental exclosures showed that predators reduced recruitment rates, on average, by 46% for seeds exposed to predation for 6 weeks in the summer and by 79% for seeds exposed to predation between autumn (seed dispersal) and the following summer (germination). We were unable to detect an influence of initial seed density on recruitment rates. A seed tray experiment suggested that predators can detect and consume 80%–94% of white spruce seeds available in cutblocks within 1 month of sowing and that seed predation rates do not vary predictably with distance from the cutblock–forest edge. Our results suggest that vertebrate seed predators, especially small mammals, have the potential to severely affect recruitment rates of white spruce in recent cutblocks, although long-term work is needed to understand how predators might affect recruitment under natural conditions with predator and seed densities that vary in space and time.

Conifer-seed preferences of small mammals

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (9) ◽  
pp. 773-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lobo ◽  
M. Duong ◽  
J. S. Millar
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Deer Mouse ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Seed Selection ◽  
Subalpine Fir ◽  
Phenacomys Intermedius

The preferences of the deer mouse ( Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)), southern red-backed vole ( Myodes gapperi (Vigors, 1830)), heather vole ( Phenacomys intermedius Merriam, 1889), long-tailed vole ( Microtus longicaudus (Merriam, 1888)), and meadow vole ( Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1851)) for lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.), white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss), and subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) seeds were investigated using cafeteria-style feeding experiments. Seed selection by P. maniculatus and M. gapperi in the field was also studied. Peromyscus maniculatus, M. gapperi, M. longicaudus, and M. pennsylvanicus showed a distinct preference for lodgepole pine seeds and avoidance of subalpine fir seeds, and consumed the different species of seeds in similar relative proportions. Phenacomys intermedius behaved very differently from the other rodent species in that it did not show a preference among seed species, and consumed very few seeds in total. Findings from the field seed selection trials were consistent with laboratory results. We suggest that postdispersal seed predation by small mammals could limit the recruitment success of lodgepole pine and white spruce, but would not be a major problem in the regeneration of subalpine fir stands. This could provide an advantage for subalpine fir over neighbouring competitive species.

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