Treesearch

To study the effects of fire on red maple (Acer rubrum) seedlings, an experimental plantation was established. Fuels were needed to create fires of low and high intensity to reproduce conditions of wildfires in upland hardwood forests with a high red maple component. Because the amount of natural fuel needed to produce fires of low and high intensities was unknown, the purpose of this research was to study the type and amount of fuel that resulted in low and high intensity fires and fires of differing duration. This research was a pilot study and the experiment was not replicated at this...

Adjoining soil map units that vary in slope were evaluated to assess if soil properties differed sufficiently to impact analyses of soil change under longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) management. A Piedmont site, an Upper Coastal Plain site, and two Middle Coastal Plain sites in Georgia were sampled. All sites were dominated by an overstory of longleaf pine. A total of 24 profiles were collected to a depth of 200 cm with each site containing two or three map units and two or three profiles within each map unit. Use of visible/near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy was also incorporated as a...

Competition has long been considered a constraint on longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) regeneration. However, observational evidence suggests that neighboring vegetation may facilitate longleaf pine seedlings on xeric sites. To explore this notion, we established a manipulative experiment across a gradient of overstory basal area (9 to 25 m2/ha) with or without a hardwood midstory in the North Carolina Sandhills. After 2 years, seedling survival averaged 80 percent, differed significantly among overstory density groupings (p = 0.0006), and was lowest (73 percent) under high overstory...

The forested landscapes of the Southern United States have been dramatically altered by land management practices over the last 150 years, which have in turn greatly reduced the extent of several unique ecosystems and the native flora and fauna to which they are adapted. A case in point is the current status of fire-adapted longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems, which have declined by 97 percent since European colonization. Although resource managers across the South began efforts to restore longleaf pine on public and private lands more than 70 years ago, efforts are now underway on...

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings of five stocktypes, namely, bareroot (BR) and 108- or 164-ml closed-walled cavities of Superblock® or Copperblock® Styroblock containers, were planted at the Palustris and Escambia Experimental Forests. The 120-ml Jiffy® Forestry Pellets (JP) seedlings were also planted at the Palustris site. Among all stocktypes at planting, the BR and JP seedlings had the greatest and smallest root collar diameter, stem length, and fascicle density, respectively. Copper treatment did not affect seedling growth variables at planting. Nine months after...

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) seedlings grown from seeds collected from two seed orchards in 2014 showed evidence of hybridization with loblolly pine—as much as 80 percent had some stem elongation in the container nursery. This stem elongation, however, was not to the extent that has typically characterized bareroot seedlings of Sonderegger pine (P. x sondereggeri), the recognized hybrid of longleaf and loblolly (P. taeda) pine. Seedlings from these collections were quantified and outplanted. These outplanted seedlings were tracked to determine if they were Sonderegger pine and analyzed...

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) restoration is an important land management goal throughout the Southeast. On hydric sites within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, restoration may involve site preparation prior to planting in order to overcome challenges to seedling establishment, such as abundant competition and poor soil drainage (Brockway and others 2006). An earlier study of longleaf pine plantations on hydric flatwoods sites in Onslow County, NC, indicated that site preparation improved seedling growth but not survival through 2 years after planting (Knapp and others 2006). Although...

Stem elongation in the nursery is the traditional and accepted indicator that hybridization between longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and loblolly pine (P. taeda) has occurred. These hybrids, known as Sonderegger pines (P. x sondereggeri), are reported to have distorted limb structure and low-quality wood. As a result, landowners avoid using them. Recently, a large number of longleaf pine seedlings grown in a nursery from particular seedlots displayed unusual stem elongation and were assumed to be Sonderegger pines. It was determined that long-term observations of their development were...

We synthesized experimental observations in central Louisiana to estimate the season and precipitation conditions for optimal post-scorch foliage regrowth among longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings. After severe crown scorch, starch reserves support foliage regrowth and are at their maximum concentration in March through May. When sustained longleaf pine seedling vigor is desired, prescribed fire in March through May is optimal if seedlings have not experienced prolonged drought. We observed that 2 sequential years of severe drought reduced peak starch for 2 years after drought...

The use of a fuels photo series to characterize potential combustibles and adequately anticipate and predict potential wildfire and prescribed fire behavior and effects in a given area is a practice that began nearly 50 years ago. These photo series are regional in nature and have tended to characterize the variability in Western United States fuel complexes in finer detail than Eastern United States fuel complexes. Managers and practitioners have long expressed great interest in a more site-specific, Southern Appalachian Mountain fuels photo series. In this article, we present the...