Variation among northern red oak provenances in bark thickness:dbh ratios

Abstract

Differences in bark thickness in relation to diameter at breast height were observed in a 30-32 year old Illinois planting of 32 provenances of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) from throughout its natural range. Bark thickness by itself is often a good indication of relative cambial insulation from fire. Fire resistance in trees can largely be attributed to thickness and low thermal conductivity of bark. Western and southern provenances tended to have greater average bark thickness to dbh ratios than northern or eastern provenances because we tested latitude and longitude separately. One possible explanation is that provenances located in the western or southern areas of the range may have developed greater fire resistance through natural selection of genotypes that produce thicker bark at a given dbh.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings, 10th Central Hardwood Forest Conference

Citation

Russell, Matthew S.; Dawson, Jeffrey O. 1995. Variation among northern red oak provenances in bark thickness:dbh ratios. In: Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Fosbroke, Sandra L. C., ed. Proceedings, 10th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 1995 March 5-8; Morgantown, WV.: Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-197. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station: 565-572.