Pacific Southwest

Title: Postive seedling-shrub relationships in natural regeneration of ponderosa pine

Author: Keyes, Christopher R.; Maguire, Douglas A.

Date: 2005

Source: In: Ritchie, Martin W.; Maguire, Douglas A.; Youngblood, Andrew, tech. coordinators. Proceedings of the Symposium on Ponderosa Pine: Issues, Trends, and Management, 2004 October 18-21, Klamath Falls, OR. Gen. Tech. Rep PSW-GTR-198. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 95-107

Station ID: GTR-PSW-198

Description: An understanding of natural regeneration processes, and the stand structural features that influence those processes, is vital to attaining goals associated with natural regeneration. This paper discusses natural regeneration concepts and the interactions that occur between shrubs and natural regeneration of ponderosa pine. The interactions observed recently in a series of related seedling recruitment studies in central Oregon are summarized. Evidence suggests a positive relationship between shrubs and the occurrence of ponderosa pine seedlings during the first two years of the seedling establishment phase. The vast majority of germinant mortality occurs during summer months, and especially the weeks immediately after emergence. Shrubs do not enhance emergence rates, but do enhance overall recruitment rates by reducing rates of first-summer mortality. The mechanism driving these patterns appears to be microenvironmental amelioration by shrubs, abating germinant moisture stress and desiccation. The manifestation of this relationship is a positive spatial relationship between shrubs and small seedlings during this establishment phase.

Keywords: 

View and Print this Publication (230 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
• You may send email to pubrequest@fs.f ed.us to request a hard copy of this publication. (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Keyes, Christopher R.; Maguire, Douglas A.  2005.  Postive seedling-shrub relationships in natural regeneration of ponderosa pine.   In: Ritchie, Martin W.; Maguire, Douglas A.; Youngblood, Andrew, tech. coordinators. Proceedings of the Symposium on Ponderosa Pine: Issues, Trends, and Management, 2004 October 18-21, Klamath Falls, OR. Gen. Tech. Rep PSW-GTR-198. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 95-107.