Other physical factors

Abstract

Aspen has been recognized for many years as being very intolerant of shade (Baker 1918a, Clements 1910, Weigle and Frothingham 1911, Zon and Graves 1911). In dense stands, vigorous aspen trees are confined to the dominant and codominant crown classes. Regardless of size, when they are overtopped by larger trees, aspen trees deteriorate and eventually die. Many well-stocked, even-aged aspen stands have virtually no aspen regeneration beneath them, even in the form of small ephemeral suckers (Beetle 1974, Jones 1974b). In contrast, healthy coniferous seedlings may be plentiful under the densest aspen canopies. Paucity of suckers in an aspen stand, however, is only partly a result of reduced light; it also is partly a matter of apical dominance and of low temperatures in the shaded soils. (See the VEGETATIVE REGENERATION chapter for a fuller discussion of suckering physiology.)

Parent Publication

• Aspen: Ecology and management in the western United States

Citation

Jones, John R.; DeByle, Norbert V. 1985. Other physical factors. In: DeByle, Norbert V.; Winokur, Robert P., editors. Aspen: Ecology and management in the western United States. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-119. Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colo. p. 83-86