Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) as influenced by soil moisture and other environmental factors.

Published online
24 Feb 1968
Content type
Journal article
Journal title
Journal of Applied Ecology
DOI
10.2307/2401300

Author(s)
Buckingham, F. M. & Woods, F. W.

Publication language
English
Location
USA & North Carolina

Abstract

From sections cut from stems of 10 P. taeda trees on a moderately deep, well drained sandy loam in Duke Forest, N. Carolina, the annual above-ground volumes of early and late wood for 25 years were calculated, and were correlated with soil moisture deficit computed by Wiser's system (1964) based on Thornthwaite's method (1948). Early-wood-volume was further correlated with air temperature and hours of sunshine. It was concluded that: since individual height-growth trends are apparently random, environmental factors have relatively little influence on shoot elongation; seasonal volume per tree (expressed as a % of total annual volume), plotted against time, varies little and shows a similar trend among trees; there is no evident correlation between the annual volume of early wood and late wood produced in the same year; prediction of late-wood volumes from monthly moisture deficit is best made by combining data for Aug., Sept. and Oct. ; light and temperature are probably not limiting factors from Aug. to Oct. ; and variation in early-wood volume increment can be explained adequately only by a combination of five variables, viz. Oct. temperature and Nov. sunshine of the preceding year, and March temperature, May moisture deficit and June temperature of the current year. Temperature seems to be the most significant factor affecting the initiation of growth in spring. KEYWORDS: Growth factors \ effects \ wood properties and structure \ Pinus taeda \ increment \ Pinus taeda light relations \ Pinus taeda thermal relations \ Pinus taeda water relations \ Pinus taeda \ wood anatomy \ Rings, growth correlation \ width \ climatic factors \ Rings, growth correlation \ width \ wat

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