Life Sciences Commons^™

Pb1731 Identifying Oak Trees Native To Tennessee, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

From the bottomland swamps in the west to the mountain peaks in the east, Tennessee is enriched with a medley of forest trees like few other states. Diversity in soil types, climate and elevation give Tennessee an environmental gradient that provides habitats for approximately 190 native forest trees and large shrubs.

Oak trees are an important component of many Tennessee forests and are of particular interest to landowners, homeowners, the forest industry, students and outdoor enthusiasts alike. Oaks are deserving of special recognition, due to their important role in Tennessee’s history, both ancient and modern. Unmatched in economic and biological …

Sp677 Hardwood Plantations As An Investment, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Deciding what to do with a piece of land is not always easy. Appraisers use the phrase “highest and best use,” which implies that one should use the land for its maximum “economic/monetary value.” For example, would the landowner make more money by building a new shopping center or residential subdivision (with a substantial investment required) or would he or she do “better” renting to a livestock producer for grazing or cutting hay? Many acres are valuable as cropland growing annual crops such as soybeans, wheat or cotton. The choices for using land are many.

One choice that should be …

Sp676 Oak Shelterwood - A Technique To Improve Oak Regeneration, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The oak shelterwood method has been developed to enhance the regeneration potential of oaks growing on intermediate and high-quality sites. The method involves a welltimed mid-story removal to improve the number and vigor of oak advance regeneration and a subsequent overstory removal to facilitate regeneration of the stand.

Sp678 Forest Management Strategies To Minimize The Impact Of The Gypsy Moth, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Use of silviculture to manage gypsy moth effects gives foresters additional tools for developing integrated pest management programs. Silvicultural actions should be taken prior to gypsy moth outbreaks to reduce or minimize the potential damage that arises in stands vulnerable to gypsy moth. Three approaches to reduce stand susceptibility to gypsy moth are applicable. First, change the stand composition by reducing the proportion of favored species and increasing the number of non-favored species in the stand. This can be accomplished through intermediate thinning treatments. The percentage of favored species that remain should be less than 30 percent of total composition. …

Sp680 Treatments For Improving Degraded Hardwood Stands, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Pthe large trees of tomorrow. This assumption has been perpetuated in the diameter-limit harvests that have led to what we call high-grading today. The largest and best trees are repeatedly harvested leaving the smaller, inferior trees to perpetuate the next stand. In reality, the trees being released are probably of similar age as those being cut. The smaller, released trees did not have a chance to prosper in competition with the faster-growing, overstory trees. These released trees are incapable of continued growth with their small, spindly crowns. The consequence of removing only highly valued trees with each harvest is a …

Sp679 Two-Age System And Deferment Harvests, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The two-age system is designed to maintain two distinct age classes in a forest. This system is generally initiated using a deferment harvest, sometimes referred to as a shelterwood or clearcut with reserves (Figure 1). The deferment harvest retains a limited basal area of canopy trees while allowing the majority of the area to regenerate. The harvest initially creates a stand that contains scattered or small groups of older trees, typically one rotation length in age, surrounded by a regenerating age class. The canopy trees that are left are termed reserve trees. At the end of a second rotation length …

Sp675 Managing Oak Decline, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Oak decline is a slow-acting disease complex that involves the interaction of predisposing factors such as climate, site quality and advancing tree age. No single cause is responsible for the decline. Trees that are greater than 70 years of age and that occur on drier sites such as shallow, rocky soils on ridgetops and south- to west-facing upper slopes are most affected. Mortality of rootlets in the upper 12 inches of the soil initiates dieback in severe droughts. Secondary insects and diseases (red oak borers, twolined chestnut borers, armillaria root rot, defoliating insects, hypoxylon cankers) are contributing factors that cause …

Sp673 Forest Certification For Family-Owned Forests - Who Will Certify And Why?, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The concept of forest certification has grown as a tool to foster sustainable forest management. It began on the global scale in the 1980s, and moved rapidly to the United States. Initially in the U.S., several forest product companies completed third-party certification, followed by many publicly owned forests. Some stakeholders are beginning to discuss the need to accelerate forest certification on family-owned forests. Family-owned forests are particularly important in the U.S. because they comprise the majority of the forest land and contribute the greater part of the nation’s annual timber removal. Yet little is known about who among this diverse …

Physiologic Acclimation Of Southern Appalachian Red Spruce To Simulated Climatic Warming, Johathan William Hagen

Masters Theses

Global air temperatures are predicted to rise 1° to 4.5°C by the year 2100 and perhaps greater at high latitudes. In order to correctly identify the effects of climate change on tree species, the present thesis is an assessment of the sensitivity, response and acclimation potential of southern Appalachian red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) to the impact of warming. This objective was approached through examinations of synthesis (instantaneous and short-term acclimation rates of photosynthesis and respiration) as well as investment (biomass accumulation and partitioning, growth rate, and carbohydrate allocation) of carbon assimilates.

Red spruce from two southern Appalachian provenances …

Volume 4, Number 1 (2006), Ut Institute Of Agriculture

Tennessee Land, Life and Science Magazine

Issue Highlights:

• A focus on agriculture and natural resources programs at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

Volume 4, Number 2 (2006), Ut Institute Of Agriculture

Tennessee Land, Life and Science Magazine

Issue Highlights:

• From Grow to Go for a New Bioeconomy