The case for delaying planting of bottomland oaks: an example involving Nuttall oaks

Abstract

A prominent difficulty during bottomland hardwood afforestation in the southeastern United States is that sites are often flooded during the preferred months of planting (January - March), which results in delayed planting (April - June) and reduced survival. We monitored growth and survival of Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckley) seedlings planted in 11 months (February through December) after varying periods of humidified cold storage to investigate the hypothesis that seedlings held over the summer months in humidified cold storage and planted in autumn months would fare better than seedlings planted in late spring and summer. Results generally agreed with this hypothesis. A trade-off is that height growth decreased with increased periods of time in cold storage. These results suggest that although reduced height growth can initially be expected, long-term storage over the summer months and subsequent planting in autumn need not result in substantial mortality of Nuttall oak. Differences in height may become less significant with each successive growing season.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings, 18th Central Hardwood Forest Conference

Citation

Mercker, David C.; Buckley, David S.; Conn, John P. 2013. The case for delaying planting of bottomland oaks: an example involving Nuttall oaks. In: Miller, Gary W.; Schuler, Thomas M.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Brooks, John R.; Grushecky, Shawn T.; Spong, Ben D.; Rentch, James S., eds. Proceedings, 18th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 2012 March 26-28; Morgantown, WV; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-117. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 384-389.