Characterizing Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Advanced Reproduction in an High Elevation Stand in West Virginia

Lutz, Aaron

doi:10.33915/etd.7209

Cited by 2 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(153 reference statements)

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“…Most sites appeared to only display sporadic windthrow. This theory of lack of disturbance is supported by the small number of samples taken from gaps during the study and is consistent with other datasets (Lutz 2018;Rentch et al 2007).…”

Section: Understory Height Classessupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Shelterwood treatments and thinning from above are common treatments to mimic natural disturbance (Sendak et al 2003, Rentch et al 2007, Carter et al, 2017. Mean gap size in spruce and spruce-hardwood stands has been recorded from around 50 square meters in the Central Appalachians (Rentch et al 2010;Lutz 2018) to 66 square meters in the Northeast (Fraver and White 2005).…”

Section: Silvicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, it is unknown what portion of the canopy spruce filled and at what elevation these mixed stands existed in the past to compare to today's structure. Common associates between the two eras include eastern hemlock, American beech, yellow birch, red maple and black cherry (Lutz 2018, Pauley 1989, Adams and Stephenson 1989, Allard and Leonard 1952, Hopkins 1899.…”

Section: Red Spruce In the Central Appalachiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are increased efforts put forward to study and understand the species and its life history specific to the Central Appalachian region. Regeneration, disturbance, climate change, and many other factors all play a large role in better understanding this unique species (Adams et al 1985;Schuler et al 2002;Beane and Rentch 2015;Lutz 2018;Rentch 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Central Appalachian Understory Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Growth Rates and Allometric Relationships

Gray¹

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Central Appalachian Understory Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Growth Rates and Allometric Relationships Joseph GrayRed spruce (Picea rubens) was a prized timber species in West Virginia during the era of resource exploitation in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Consequently, Central Appalachian red spruce has faced large reductions in range and changes in stand composition. This region is relatively underrepresented in literature partially due to these constrictions. Investigating how stem growth occurs in young individuals can fill in some of our gaps in understanding the species and aid in restoration efforts. We sampled an array of high elevation sites on federal and state lands in West Virginia to analyze understory spruce growth and allometric relationships.We compared these relationships to those found in other regions in the range of red spruce. Stem analysis was carried out on understory trees. Results were applied to build reference curves to model growth percentiles for the young trees. Growth rates tend to peak between 10 and 30 years of age. Heights range from 0.95 m to 6.85 m after 50 years. Results allow for comparison of growth rates to the cohort of understory red spruce regionally. Nonlinear analysis was carried out on allometric measures on the same cohort of red spruce. Diameter at breast height was found to be a somewhat reliable predictor of total height as well as crown width. Total height was less reliable when predicting crown width. None of the three measures were found to be reliable for predicting tree age as may be expected with a shade tolerant species.

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Section: Understory Height Classessupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Silvicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Red Spruce In the Central Appalachiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Central Appalachian Understory Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Growth Rates and Allometric Relationships

Gray¹

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“…There are increased efforts to better understand the species and its life history specific to the Central Appalachian region. Regeneration, disturbance, climate change, and many other factors all play a large role in dictating the role of red spruce in high-elevation forest communities [7,[12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reference Curves for Central Appalachian Red Spruce

Gray,

Schuler,

Thomas-Van Gundy

et al. 2023

Forests

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Red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) was a prized timber species in West Virginia during the era of resource exploitation in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As a result, central Appalachian red spruce comprise a much smaller component of high-elevation stand composition and a greatly constricted presence across the region. Widespread restoration efforts are underway to re-establish red spruce across this landscape. However, without benchmarks to gauge growth rates and stand developmental patterns, it is unclear whether these efforts are successful. Our goal was to develop reference curves predicting centile height growth for understory red spruce (≤7.6 m) across the region. We reconstructed the height growth patterns of over 250 randomly selected red spruce seedlings and saplings from 22 high-elevation stands in West Virginia. We also harvested 24 mature red spruce from the same stands to develop juvenile growth curves up to 7.6 m to compare understory growth rates of historical to contemporary rates from the reference curves. Our constructed reference curves showed height growth tended to peak between 10 and 30 years of age. Total heights ranged from 0.95 m to 6.85 m after 50 years. We identified two demographic populations in the mature red spruce trees. All the mature red spruce trees that established after 1890 exceeded the 97% growth centile by age 80. By contrast, only two trees from the pre-1890 population reached the same level by age 80. This work highlights the varied ascension pathways to the overstory for red spruce.

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Characterizing Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Advanced Reproduction in an High Elevation Stand in West Virginia

Cited by 2 publications

References 77 publications

Central Appalachian Understory Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Growth Rates and Allometric Relationships

Central Appalachian Understory Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Growth Rates and Allometric Relationships

Reference Curves for Central Appalachian Red Spruce

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