Established Pine Plantations Research Articles

Potential damage by Acromyrmex ant species in pine plantations in southern Brazil

Abstract Acromyrmex species primarily attack Pinus taeda plantations during the first months after planting, with more intense damage in the first 30 days. We evaluated potential damage by Acromyrmex crassispinus and Acromyrmex subterraneus in 30‐day‐old P. taeda plantations in southern Brazil by assessing the number of attacked plants and the distance reached by each colony, along with the losses in plant development resulting from different levels of defoliation. Both species were significant pests in newly established pine plantations. A single colony can attack a substantial number of seedlings (up to 453 seedlings). Colonies with larger nests attacked more plants and ranged farther; A. crassispinus reached 59 m and A. subterraneus 87 m. After 10 years, no significant losses in plant development were seen in seedlings defoliated less than 50% at 30 days after planting. But when defoliation of the young plants attained 75%, 100%, and 100%, including the cut of the apical meristem, volume losses reached 32%, 37%, and 43%, respectively. Leaf‐cutting ant controls should be carried out in plantations of P. taeda within 30 days of planting to avoid attacks. When seedlings are defoliated more than 75%, they should be replanted to avoid future losses in final wood volume.

Wintering Birds in Intensively Established Pine Plantations of Coastal Plain Mississippi

Intensively established pine plantations are an important component of the southeastern US landscape. Because only minimal information exists about how current establishment practices affect wintering birds in managed forests, we documented effects of five pine plantation establishment practices that varied in intensity on wintering birds during years 1 through 5 postestablishment in the Coastal Plain of Mississippi. Using mixed general linear models, we compared species richness, total bird abundance, and individual species abundance. During the first 5 years, species richness and total abundance were greatest in the chemical-only establishment practice, whereas species richness and total abundance were lower in mechanical site preparation establishments with increasingly intensive chemical herbaceous controls. For five common species with treatment effects, abundance generally was greatest in the chemical-only establishment practice and abundance decreased as establishment intensity increased. Increasing stand establishment intensity in mechanical-prepared treatments generally reduced presence of wintering avian species in young pine plantations of the Lower Coastal Plain. Conversely, tree and snag retention facilitated by chemical-only site preparation may enrich avian assemblages in intensively established pine plantations.

Small Mammal Responses to Intensively Established Pine Plantations in Coastal Plain Mississippi

Small Mammal Responses to Intensively Established Pine Plantations in Coastal Plain Mississippi

Bird assemblages of intensively established pine plantations in Coastal Plain Mississippi

AbstractPine (Pinus spp.) plantations are a common type of managed forest in the southeastern United States that may supply habitat for early successional bird species, many of which are declining. To provide information about young pine plantations as bird habitat, we evaluated spring bird presence in 5 combinations of stand establishment practices during years 2 through 5 post‐establishment in the Lower Coastal Plain of Mississippi, USA. We detected 38 species with point counts and compared bird metrics among establishment practices using mixed general linear models. Species richness, total relative abundance, and relative abundance of many species were greater by at least a factor of 1.5–4 in the chemical‐only establishment practice than mechanically prepared establishment practices, and values declined by about 5–60% within mechanically prepared establishment practices as herbicide intensity increased. Tree and snag retention contributed to avian abundance and richness in the chemical‐only establishment practice. Our study, in conjunction with past research, demonstrated the conservation value to early successional bird species of managed pine stands established with tree retention, indicating that silvicultural and wildlife habitat objectives can be met within the range of stand establishment treatments available to managers. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

Habitat Value of Intensively Established Pine Plantations for Northern Bobwhite

ABSTRACT Declines in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; bobwhite) populations in the southeastern United States may be partially attributable to loss of early successional plant cover associated with greater use of herbicides in forest management. We tested effects of 5 levels of operational plantation establishment intensity on vegetation communities and structure important for bobwhite in 1–5‐year‐old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations (n = 4) in the Outer Coastal Plain Mixed Forest of Mississippi. We compared results with values reported in the literature to calculate usable space for winter food, loafing, nesting, and brood‐rearing at 2 levels of spatial resolution. Treatments (k = 5) reflected a range of management intensities and were combinations of mechanical site preparation, chemical site preparation (CSP), and herbaceous weed control (HWC). Coverage of winter food plants in the least intensive treatment was more than double that in the most intensive; however, differences in usable space of winter food cover were negligible due to improved accessibility in more intensive treatments. Although CSP reduced coverage of nonpine woody plants across all years, loafing cover reached adequate levels by year 3 in all treatments. Usable nesting cover was <4% across all years and treatments and was nearly eliminated by the reduction in herbaceous cover and visual screening cover following broadcast HWC. Optimal brood‐rearing habitat was virtually absent in all treatments and years due to the lack of conjoint occurrence of bare ground and forb canopy. Although bobwhite habitat may have been promoted by formerly widespread plantation establishment methods that involved wide‐scale soil disturbance, those established using newer methods with less soil disturbance are likely inadequate for most bobwhite habitat requirements. Efforts to provide bobwhite habitat in plantation‐dominated landscapes may have to rely on management of thinned mid‐rotation stands and permanent landscape features such as rights‐of‐way. The value of young plantations for bobwhite may be increased by reducing management intensity or increasing spacing between planting rows, thus increasing time before crown closure and providing opportunity for understory manipulations.

Baited Pitfall Traps and Evaluation of Dispensing Methods for Root Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Newly Established Pine Plantations in Wisconsin

Plantation pine production in the Great Lakes region of the United States is often affected by a pine root weevil complex consisting of Hylobius pales (Herbst) and Pachylobius picivorus (Germar), which breed in dead and dying host material, and H. radicis Buchanan and H. assimilis (Miller, Benjamin & Warner), which attack and breed in healthy host tissue. Baited pitfall traps were used to assess temporal and spatial changes in weevil populations in newly planted clear-cut stands over a 2-yr period. The number of weevils breeding in dying tissue comprised the majority of total weevils trapped, but their percentage of the total declined drastically by the 2nd yr because the slash used for brood development was used or became too degraded. The number of weevils attacking healthy host tissue became more prevalent by year 2, as the volatiles emanating from the newly established seedlings became more predominant. There was a positive relationship between the number of weevils trapped in year 1 and the number of weevils trapped in year 2. A slow-release bait dispensing system was analyzed using specific synthetic compounds as baits. The synthetic α-pinene-ethanol mixture in slow-release polyethylene vials proved effective for monitoring the pine root weevil complex in recently planted clearcuts. The regional variability of weevil response to baited pitfall traps and the feasibility of using these traps to monitor pine root weevils in clearcut plantations are discussed.

The effect of log quality on the quality of sawn structural timber

SUMMARY The growing stock in the artificially established pine plantations in the Republic, the different silvicultural systems under which they have developed and the bearing this could have on the quality of the timber are described briefly. The timber characteristics responsible for the undesirable behaviour of sawn constructional timber on seasoning are discussed and the silvicultural and management systems which could be applied to improve the timber quality are briefly indicated. The role which tree-breeding could play in improving the quality and profitability of future tree crops is sketched.