Seedling survival and growth during the 2 years following seed germination of Magnolia stellata, a threatened subcanopy tree, after clearcutting

Published Date

First online: 06 May 2015

Title 

Seedling survival and growth during the 2 years following seed germination of Magnolia stellata, a threatened subcanopy tree, after clearcutting

• Author 

• Ichiro Tamaki 
• , Katsushige Nomura
• , Reiko Nomura
• , Chieko Tate
• , Mika Ogiso
• , Yoshihiro Miyakami
• , Yumiko Yabe

• 
  

Abstract 

The two-year survival and growth of seedlings of Magnolia stellata were monitored at a site following clearcutting. The mortality rate during the growing season of the first year was 3.4 %, much lower than reported in previous studies, possibly because of the high light levels due to clearcutting. In contrast, the mortality rate during the winter season of the first year was 7.7 %, and 10 of 13 individuals were killed by uprooting due to frost heave in wet locations. Individuals that grew in wet sites and germinated early exhibited good height growth in the first year. However, in the second year, no effects of the moisture conditions or germination timing on the relative growth rate were detected, although there was a correlation between initial height and height growth. This result suggests that the soil moisture conditions and the length of the growing period have strong effects during the early period of life but gradually reduce in influence as the plants grow. We found that soil moisture conditions had positive and negative effects on seedling growth and survival in the growing and winter seasons, respectively, of the first year, but not in the second year. This suggests that effects of the particular environment can vary greatly depending on life stage.

• References 

• 1. Asai N, Hiroki S (1997) The regeneration habit and habitat of Magnolia tomentosa Thunb. Stud Inform Sci 5:101–115 (in Japanese with English abstract)
  2. Goulet F (1995) Frost heaving of forest tree seedlings: a review. New For 9:67–94CrossRef
  3. Hiroki S (1995) The regeneration habits of Magnolia stellata and Alnus trabeculosa with special reference to topographic features of the habitats. Stud Infor Sci 1:1–16 (in Japanese with English abstract)CrossRef
  4. Japan Association for Shidekobushi Conservation (1996) Wild stand of Shidekobushi (star magnolia) in Japan. Jpn Assoc Shidekobushi Conserv, Mizunami (in Japanese)
  5. Kisanuki H, Oguro H, Nakai A, Setsuko S, Nishimura N, Tomaru N (2008) The soil seed bank of the threatened plant Magnolia stellata is subordinate to the emergence of current-year seedlings. J For Res 13:143–146CrossRef
  6. R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
  7. Seiwa K (2000) Effects of seed size and emergence time on tree seedling establishment: importance of developmentral constraints. Oecologia 123:208–215CrossRef
  8. Setsuko S, Nishimura N, Tomaru N (2008) Effects of environmental factors on emergence and survival of current-year seedlings of Magnolia stellata. Chubu For Res 56:5–8 (in Japanese)
  9. Tabata H (2001) The future role of Satoyama woodlands in Japanese society. In: Yasuda Y (ed) Forest and civilisations. Lustre/Roli, Delhi, pp 155–162
  10. Tamaki I, Nomura K, Nomura R, Tate C, Ogiso M, Miyakami Y (2014) Regeneration of Magnolia stellata by sprouting and seedling establishment during the first year after clearcutting. J Jpn For Soc 96:193–199 (in Japanese with English abstract)CrossRef

• 
  

• For further details log on website :

• http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10310-015-0490-5

•