Flooding, Beavers, and Hardwood Seedling Survival

Abstract

Plantings were made for three successive years on clay-capped soils in the Mississippi River batture, the first year without flooding, and the second and third years with flooding. Species planted, but not in all years, were eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh.), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata Willd.), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.), swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii Nutt.), Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii Buckl.), and sweet pecan (Carya iliinoensis Wangenh., K. Koch). In years with flooding, beaver pulled up a fourth of the newly planted seedlings and ate the root systems. Height after 3 years, for trees planted in the first flood-free year, varied from 2.2 feet (sweet pecan) to 40.5 feet (cottonwood), arid survival varied from 63 percent (cottonwood) to 97 percent (green ash). Species planted in years with flooding, omitting beaver-destroyed trees, had better than 70 percent survival except for Shumard oak, swamp chestnut oak, and sweetgum.

Citation

Krinard, Roger M.; Johnson, Robert L. 1981. Flooding, Beavers, and Hardwood Seedling Survival. Res. Note SO-270. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station. 6 p.