W. Wyatt Oswald, Laura E. Conkey, Daniel G. Gavin, Christine L. Goodale, Jed O. Kaplan
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Historic harvesting and mortality from air pollution drastically reduced the abundance of red spruce (Picea rubens), a late-successional dominant of cool-temperate forests of the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada, leaving few opportunities to understand the natural growth and disturbance responses of this species. Timbers salvaged from the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, a structure built from trees harvested in the late 1930s, provided an opportunity to reconstruct radial growth patterns and dynamics of a former old-growth red spruce stand located in Jobildunc Ravine on Mount Moosilauke in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Ravine Lodge tree-ring series were compared with data from a 255-year-old red spruce found living in Jobildunc Ravine, from the Nancy Brook site in the White Mountains, and from other dendroecological studies across the region. Ring counts provide minimum tree ages of 187–286 years for timbers from Jobildunc Ravine, suggesting they established between the mid-Seventeenth and mid-Eighteenth Centuries. Dendroecological analyses identified early decades of suppression in the understory followed by 2–5 growth releases and 2–4 growth declines for each sample, indicating occasional, small-scale disturbances of the canopy before the 1930s. A growth decline in 1834–1835 coincides with an outbreak of spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) in eastern Canada, perhaps reflecting a regional defoliation event that occurred as far south as Mount Moosilauke. This study illustrates the insights that can be gained from wood from historic structures on the dynamics of now-scarce old-growth red spruce forests.
期刊介绍:
Tree-Ring Research (TRR) is devoted to papers dealing with the growth rings of trees and the applications of tree-ring research in a wide variety of fields, including but not limited to archaeology, geology, ecology, hydrology, climatology, forestry, and botany. Papers involving research results, new techniques of data acquisition or analysis, and regional or subject-oriented reviews or syntheses are considered for publication.
Scientific papers usually fall into two main categories. Articles should not exceed 5000 words, or approximately 20 double-spaced typewritten pages, including tables, references, and an abstract of 200 words or fewer. All manuscripts submitted as Articles are reviewed by at least two referees. Research Reports, which are usually reviewed by at least one outside referee, should not exceed 1500 words or include more than two figures. Research Reports address technical developments, describe well-documented but preliminary research results, or present findings for which the Article format is not appropriate. Book or monograph Reviews of 500 words or less are also considered. Other categories of papers are occasionally published. All papers are published only in English. Abstracts of the Articles or Reports may be printed in other languages if supplied by the author(s) with English translations.