Blog List

Saturday, 24 December 2016

Growth recovery in young, plantation white spruce following artificial defoliation and pruning

Author
Defoliation by the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)) was simulated by artificially defoliating trees in a plantation of 12-year-old white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) over a 2-year period and then allowing the trees to recover for 3 years. Four treatments were applied: control (C); removal of 50% of the current-year foliage (50); removal of all current-year shoots (100P); and removal of all current-year shoots and some older foliage age-classes (100P+). All treatments increased shoot production. Trees in the 100P treatment completely recovered their foliage mass after 1 year, but trees in the 50 treatment were still affected after 3 years of recovery. Trees in the 100P+ treatment showed poor recovery rates in foliage mass. Only the trees in the 50 treatment completely recovered height growth. After 2 years of defoliation, specific volume increment was reduced by 21.3, 58.1, and 75.3% for the 50, 100P, and 100P+ treatments, respectively. After 3 years of recovery, specific volume increment in the 50 treatment recovered completely, while the 100P and 100P+ treatments were reduced by 34.2 and 79.9%, respectively. Because of the release of suppressed buds following both needle loss only and shoot loss, white spruce may be a reforestation candidate for areas having a high probability of budworm outbreaks.

For further information log on website :
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/x03-033#/doi/abs/10.1139/x03-055

No comments:

Post a Comment

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fasting for Runners

Author BY   ANDREA CESPEDES  Food is fuel, especially for serious runners who need a lot of energy. It may seem counterintuiti...