RESTORATION OF MIXED-SPECIES RED AND WHITE PINE STANDS: ESTABLISHMENT OF A RED PINE-WHITE PINE SHELTERWOOD

摘要

Maturing red pine plantations present a potential opportunity for white pine establishment in the understory and the development of mixed-species stands. This study will examine growth and survival of white pine seedlings underplanted in a red pine stand harvested to four residual basal area densities. In the spring of 2003, a 40-year-old red pine plantation in north-central Minnesota was harvested to four residual basal areas: 30, 60, 90, 120 ft~2 ac~(-1), and an unharvested control at 220 ft~2 ac~(-1). Following harvest, each treatment was underplanted with white pine seedlings. Our intent is to develop equations to predict the growth of white pine seedlings under a range of red pine canopy densities and characterize the susceptibility of seedlings to white pine blister rust, and Armillaria root rot based on temperature and relative humidity data.