Dispersal of white spruce seed on Willow Island in interior Alaska.

Andrew Youngblood; Timothy A. Max

doi:10.2737/PNW-RP-443

Treesearch

Dispersal of white spruce seed on Willow Island in interior Alaska.

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Andrew Youngblood, Timothy A. Max

Year:

1992

Type:

Research Paper

Station:

Pacific Northwest Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2737/PNW-RP-443

Source:

Res. Pap. PNW-RP-443. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 17 p

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Abstract

The seasonal and spatial patterns of dispersal of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seed were studied from 1986 to 1989 in floodplain stands along the Tanana River near Fairbanks, Alaska. Analysis of the 1987 crop showed that production of filled seed was strongly related to estimated production of total seed and unrelated to selected stand structural characteristics. A mathematical expression, developed to estimate dispersal of filled seed into clearcut openings, predicted dispersal between 10 and 120 meters from the edge of an opening. The pattern of wind during the seed-dispersal season was predictable and consistent with winds measured at the Fairbanks International Airport. The results give forest managers ways to increase natural regeneration of white spruce in interior Alaska.

Keywords

White spruce, Picea glauca, dispersal of seed, Alaska (interior), production of seed, wind pattern

Citation

Youngblood, Andrew; Max, Timothy A. 1992. Dispersal of white spruce seed on Willow Island in interior Alaska. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-443. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 17 p