scholarly journals Effects of initial planting density on tree and stand development of planted black spruce up to age 30

2016 ◽  
Vol 92 (02) ◽  
pp. 200-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Groot ◽  
Francesco Cortini
Keyword(s):  
Black Spruce ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Stand Development

scholarly journals Wood density and wood shrinkage in relation to initial spacing and tree growth in black spruce (Picea mariana)

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Yin Zhang ◽  
Haiqing Ren ◽  
Zehui Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Path Analysis ◽  
Wood Density ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Longitudinal Shrinkage ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Initial Spacing ◽  
Transverse Shrinkage

AbstractThis study has quantified basic wood density and various types of wood shrinkage in relation to initial spacing (or initial planting density) and tree growth based on a 48-year-old black spruce (Picea mariana) spacing trial in eastern Canada. A total of 139 sample trees were collected from four initial spacings (3086, 2500, 2066, 1372 trees/ha) for this study. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) show that initial spacing is the most important parameter affecting wood density significantly, followed by tree diameter at breast height (DBH) class. With increasing spacing, wood density, radial and volumetric shrinkage tend to decrease, whereas longitudinal shrinkage tends to increase gradually. The largest spacing has the lowest wood density, the smallest transverse shrinkage and the largest longitudinal shrinkage. Path analysis indicates that wood density is the most important parameter affecting transverse shrinkage, followed by the distance from the pith. Furthermore, much of the variation of the transverse shrinkage with wood density may be due to the initial spacing and tree DBH class. Path analysis also reveals that longitudinal shrinkage is mainly related to log height and tree DBH class. With increasing log height, longitudinal shrinkage tends to increase, and transverse shrinkage tends to decrease. With increasing DBH class, the trees tend to have an increasing longitudinal shrinkage and a decreasing transverse shrinkage. Overall, this study suggests that a large increase in the initial spacing (e.g., 1372 trees/ha) might lead to a significant reduction in both wood density and transverse shrinkage, and a significant increase in longitudinal shrinkage in black spruce.

scholarly journals Comparison of the Ground Vegetation in Spruce Plantations and Natural Forest in the Greater Fundy Ecosystem, New Brunswick

2003 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cam Veinotte ◽  
Bill Freedman ◽  
Wolfgang Maass ◽  
Friederike Kirstein
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Successional Stages

We studied changes in ground vegetation associated with the conversion of natural, mature, mixed-species forest into conifer plantations in southeastern New Brunswick. This was done to determine the degree to which plant-associated biodiversity was affected by this forestry practice. Species of lichens, bryophytes, and vascular plants were examined in a 21-year chronosequence of 12 Black Spruce (Picea mariana) plantations and compared to 8 stands of natural forest of the type replaced. The richness, diversity, and density of species were greatest during younger stages of the plantation sere, with as many as 170 species occurring in a 6-year-old stand. Species occurred in successional stages according to their abilities to: (a) survive disturbances associated with clear-cutting and plantation establishment; (b) regenerate vegetatively; (c) re-establish from a persistent seedbank; (d) invade disturbed habitat by dispersed seeds; and/or (e) tolerate environmental stress imposed by the overtopping canopy during stand development. Multivariate analyses suggested that successional factors had the strongest influence on differences in the ground vegetation among stands of various ages. Gaps in the canopy of reference forest and older plantations provided microsite conditions similar to those of early seral stages, allowing some ruderal species to persist in older stands. Nonindigenous species were almost entirely limited to younger plantations. Some species of natural forest were rare or absent from plantations and may be at risk from the extensive development of these agroforestry habitats in our study region; these included Acer pensylvanicum, Cephaloziella spp., Chiloscyphus spp., Fagus grandifolia, Lepidozia reptans, Nowellia curvifolia, Odontoschisma denudatum, and Viburnum alnifolium.

scholarly journals Effects of Mechanical Site Preparation on Microsite Availability and Growth of Planted Black Spruce in Canadian Paludified Forests

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Henneb ◽  
Osvaldo Valeria ◽  
Nelson Thiffault ◽  
Nicole J. Fenton ◽  
Yves Bergeron
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Wood Fiber ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Mechanical Site Preparation ◽  
Decomposition Of Organic Matter ◽  
Successful Establishment

Low productivity caused by paludification in some parts of the closed black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P) dominated boreal forest threatens the provision of ecosystem services, including wood fiber production. The accumulation, over time, of organic matter in paludified soils leads to an anaerobic environment that reduces microbial activity, decelerates decomposition of organic matter, and generates nutrient-poor microsites for regeneration. Consequently, it results in significant impacts on site productivity. Considering its ability to disturb the soil, mechanical site preparation (MSP) is viewed as a potential treatment that can help restore productivity of paludified sites following harvesting. We conducted a field experiment to verify if (1) the availability of microsites conducive to reforestation varies with MSP, microtopography (slope and aspect) and initial OLT conditions; (2) the growth of planted seedlings depends on the intensity of mechanical disturbance of the organic layer, type of microsite, planting density, presence of Ericaceae, and the planting position and depth; (3) there are direct and indirect causal relationships between microsites availability after MSP, OLT, microtopography, planting quality and seedlings growth; and (4) if mechanical site preparation and microsite type exposed affect the Ericaceae cover after planting. Our results confirmed that MSP is effective in establishing conditions that permit a productive regeneration cohort on these paludified sites. To ensure successful establishment of plantations on these sites, it is necessary, however, to distinguish between those that are slightly or moderately paludified from those that are highly paludified, as treatment effectiveness of different MSP types depends on organic layer thickness. Our results also show that preference should be given to some microsite types as clay and mixed-substrate microsites for planting to ensure sufficient availability of water and nutrients for seedlings.

Modelling stand development after partial harvests: An empirically based, spatially explicit analysis for lowland black spruce

2010 ◽  
Vol 221 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.C. Thorpe ◽  
M.C. Vanderwel ◽  
M.M. Fuller ◽  
S.C. Thomas ◽  
J.P. Caspersen
Keyword(s):  
Black Spruce ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Explicit Analysis

Spacing rectangularity effect on the growth of loblolly pine plantations

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1451-1459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahadev Sharma ◽  
Harold E Burkhart ◽  
Ralph L Amateis
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Taeda ◽  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Crown Width ◽  
Pine Trees ◽  
Tree Data ◽  
Initial Spacing ◽  
Pinus Taeda L

The effect of spacing rectangularity on tree growth and stand development was evaluated using tree data obtained annually from a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) spacing trial monitored through age 16 years. In this trial, plots with an initial planting density of 2240 trees/ha occur at slightly and highly rectangular spacings. Spacings with rectangularities 3:4 and 1:3 were used to evaluate the rectangularity effect. Survival and the development of height, diameter, volume per hectare, and basal area per hectare of loblolly pine trees were not affected by rectangularity. Diameter and height distributions were found to be a function of age but not a function of the rectangularity of initial spacing. Crown width, however, was affected by rectangularity. The crown width was larger at larger row or column distance than at smaller row or column distance, but the ratio of crown widths between and within rows was not equal to the rectangularity of the original planting spacing.

Upland black spruce stand development 17 years after cleaning and precommercial thinning

2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
R L Fleming ◽  
D S Mossa ◽  
G T Marek
Keyword(s):  
Black Spruce ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Fibre Production ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Annual Increment ◽  
Stand Volume ◽  
Quadratic Mean ◽  
Precommercial Thinning ◽  
Thinning Intensity ◽  
Four Levels

Density management is often used by silviculturists to guide stand composition and development. We examined the effects of cleaning (hardwood removal) and four levels of precommercial thinning (0, 20, 35 and 50% basal area removal) on stand development in a dense, 24-year-old upland black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] BSP) plantation near Beardmore, Ontario. Immediately before treatment, stand densities and basal areas for all species and for black spruce averaged 7375 and 6415 stems ha-1, and 27.9 and 20.5 m2 ha-1, respectively. Seventeen years after treatment, black spruce total stand volume (VT) was higher in the cleaned, unthinned plots (243 m3 ha-1) than in the untreated controls (171 m3 ha-1) while total stand volume increment of all species combined was similar in these two treatments. Compared with cleaning alone, thinning cleaned plots from below increased quadratic mean diameters (DQ) by up to 9% but decreased VT by up to 28%. At plantation age 41, increases in black spruce densities of 1000 stems ha-1 resulted in mean decreases of 0.6 cm in DQ and mean increases of 43 m3 ha-1 in VT. Endemic black spruce stem mortality rates decreased with thinning intensity, with mortality concentrated in the smallest size classes. In some plots, mortality was increased by wind or snow damage, and by root rots. Height increment of dominant trees was unaffected by thinning. Projected yields at age 55 (the physical rotation age—the age at which maximum mean annual increment occurs) suggest the heaviest precommercial thinning could increase quadratic mean diameter from 16.1 to 17.7 cm, but decrease merchantable stand volume from 292 to 225 m3 ha-1. Results indicate that total black spruce fibre yields and product value on these sites will be maximized in denser stands. Cleaning appears to offer greater benefits for black spruce fibre production than precommercial thinning. Key words: black spruce, precommercial thinning, cleaning, density management, projected yields

Density and rectangularity of planting influence 20-year growth and development of red alder

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1244-1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean S DeBell ◽  
Constance A Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Alnus Rubra ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Red Alder ◽  
Management Guidelines ◽  
Stand Characteristics ◽  
Related Mortality

Red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) seedlings were planted in northwestern Oregon, U.S.A., at five initial spacings: 0.6 × 1.2 m, 1.2 × 1.2 m, 1.2 × 1.8 m, 1.8 × 1.8 m, and 2.5 × 2.5 m. Up to about age 10, tree and stand characteristics were correlated primarily with initial planting density in the expected manner; through age 20, however, tree growth and stand development in plots planted at rectangular spacings were substantially more rapid than in the two closest square spacings. Mean stand diameter ranged from 19.2 cm in the widest spacing to 14.0 cm in the closest square (1.2 × 1.2 m) spacing; mean tree height decreased from nearly 24 m in the widest (2.5 × 2.5 m) spacing to about 18 m in the closest square spacing. Diameter–density relationships in the widest spacing were consistent with existing density management guidelines, but very dense spacings and rectangular plantings began to experience substantial mortality at smaller diameters than assumed in the guidelines. We suggest that rectangular planting of red alder at dense spacing enhanced stand differentiation, accelerated competition-related mortality, and thus led to improved growth of surviving trees.

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