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Young Plantation (young + plantation)
Selected AbstractsThe impact of Sirococcus shoot blight on radial and height growth of Norway spruce (Picea abies) in young plantationsFOREST PATHOLOGY, Issue 3 2000E. Halmschlager Summary The impact of Sirococcus shoot blight on the radial and height growth of Norway spruce in a young plantation (approximately 20 years old) was investigated by examining the increment losses for four infection intensities (classes). The average diameter at breast height of trees in the lightly damaged class was 72% when compared with the average diameter of the healthy trees, whereas moderately and severely damaged tree classes were 67 and 57%, respectively. Using tree ring analysis, the development of radial growth over time due to intensity of infection was studied. Height growth of affected trees was also significantly reduced (up to 43%) compared with the healthy trees, thus indicating a dramatic impact of Sirococcus conigenus on the growth of young Norway spruce. [source] Rehabilitation of degraded sodic lands during a decade of Dalbergia sissoo plantation in Sultanpur District of Uttar Pradesh, IndiaLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2002A. Mishra Abstract The ameliorative effect of Dalbergia sissoo, planted on sodic land at Sultanpur (26° 10,,26° 40,N, 81° 45,,82° 30,E), India, in a tropical environment, was studied at 3, 6 and 9 years of age. The soil properties of the sites improved significantly, showing marked reduction in pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and an increase in organic carbon, nitrogen and availability of nutrients in the soil. The significant reduction in Na ion was found in all the age groups. Results showed an improvement in the soil moisture regime due to increased infiltration rate (cm,hr,1), soil permeability (cm2), water-holding capacity, field capacity and pore space whereas, the bulk density decreased significantly after successive years of planting. The effect on soil attributes was confined to surface soil in the young plantation and deeper in older plantation. Therefore, the study clearly indicated that the sodic soil could be desodified by growing D. sissoo plantations on these degraded sites. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Wildlife habitat strips and native forest ground-active beetle assemblages in plantation nodes in northeast TasmaniaAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Simon Grove Abstract, In Tasmania, plantation establishment is often concentrated in ,nodes', a practice that can result in a high degree of fragmentation of remaining native forest in these areas. In this study we examined the sensitivity of ground-active beetles to the effects of conversion of native forest to plantation in which remaining native forest is largely confined to narrow wildlife habitat strips. At five damp sclerophyll forest sites in northeast Tasmania, pitfall sampling was carried out along the middle axis of a wildlife habitat strip, in the young plantation surrounding the strip, and at three distances in from the edge of nearby continuous native forest. The study documented a rich fauna, particularly for carabids. Species composition varied among sites, emphasising the need for adequate regional reservation of native forest at appropriate spatial scales. While plots in plantations and strips supported similar numbers of species as continuous native forest, they usually differed in assemblage composition. In general, assemblages in strips appeared to be intermediate in composition between those of continuous native forest and plantations. Significant differences corresponding to a progressive change in assemblage composition with distance into continuous native forest from its edge were detected for one, possibly two, sites. Plots in strips were generally more similar in assemblage composition to those near the edge of continuous native forest than to those towards its interior. Within the study area, strips may promote the survival of species that otherwise associate with the edges of continuous native forest, but they may provide less effective habitat for species that associate with native forest interiors. However, they still harbour many native forest species which are rare or absent in plantations. Although only based on a short-term sampling program, the study implies that future strips in Tasmanian damp sclerophyll forest could better benefit some forest interior species if prescriptions were to specify wider strips. However, a clearer conservation outcome might be to ensure the continuance of a sufficiently comprehensive, adequate and representative network of native forest formal reserves (in addition to wildlife habitat strips) containing damp sclerophyll forest. These should be large enough to cater for forest interior species, and dispersed at a spatial scale appropriate to the rate of species turnover found among ground-active beetle assemblages in these forests. [source] The impact of Sirococcus shoot blight on radial and height growth of Norway spruce (Picea abies) in young plantationsFOREST PATHOLOGY, Issue 3 2000E. Halmschlager Summary The impact of Sirococcus shoot blight on the radial and height growth of Norway spruce in a young plantation (approximately 20 years old) was investigated by examining the increment losses for four infection intensities (classes). The average diameter at breast height of trees in the lightly damaged class was 72% when compared with the average diameter of the healthy trees, whereas moderately and severely damaged tree classes were 67 and 57%, respectively. Using tree ring analysis, the development of radial growth over time due to intensity of infection was studied. Height growth of affected trees was also significantly reduced (up to 43%) compared with the healthy trees, thus indicating a dramatic impact of Sirococcus conigenus on the growth of young Norway spruce. [source] The decline of Common Kestrels Falco tinnunculus in a forested area of northern England: the role of predation by Northern Goshawks Accipiter gentilisIBIS, Issue 3 2003S. J. Petty We have previously documented the decline of the Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus over a 23-year period in a large coniferous forest in northern England. Kestrels fed predominantly on Field Voles Microtus agrestis, which were most abundant in young plantations (1,11 years old). Over the 23 years, voles remained abundant in the study area, but their numbers fluctuated cyclically. Here we consider whether the decline of Kestrels was linked to predation by Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis. Goshawks first bred in the study area in 1973 and increased until 1989, after which numbers stabilized. We use a number of approaches to explore the role of Goshawk predation, all of which are correlative, but independent. First, there was a significant negative relationship between Kestrel and Goshawk numbers after controlling for a decline in vole habitat. Short-eared Owls Asio flammeus, which also hunt by day, declined over the same period as Kestrels. Second, numbers of Tawny Owl Strix aluco and Long-eared Owl Asio otus did not decline as Goshawk numbers increased. These two species are also vole-dependent, but active by night, and less vulnerable to Goshawk attack. Third, six species of raptor comprised 4.5% of 5445 Goshawk prey items during the breeding season, but more Kestrels were killed than the combined total of all other raptors. Goshawks not only killed many adult Kestrels in early spring, prior to breeding, when it would have most impact on population levels, but there was also a temporal trend for predation on Kestrels to be inversely density-dependent. Finally, we estimated that Goshawks removed more Kestrels than were recorded each spring in the study area. We interpreted this as indicating that immigrant Kestrels were being removed continually, mostly before they could breed. We conclude that the decline of Kestrels (and possibly Short-eared Owls) was mainly due to predation by Goshawks. This study provides some of the strongest evidence yet of the role of predation in the hierarchical structuring of raptor communities. [source] | ||||||||||