- Original Article
- Open access
- Published:
Epicormic sprout development in pruned coast redwood: pruning severity, genotype, and sprouting characteristics
Développement de rejets épicormiques sur des séquoias californiens : intensité de l’élagage, génotype, caractéristiques des rejets
Annals of Forest Science volume 66, page 409 (2009)
Abstract
-
• Young coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don.) Endl.) trees were pruned to various heights to examine the effect of pruning severity on epicormic sprouting. Seven separate stands were used with as many as six treatments per stand in coastal Humboldt County, California, USA.
-
• Epicormic sprout development was affected by pruning severity but primarily at the most severe pruning treatments that removed all but the branches in the top 15% of tree height. Less severe treatments produced sprouts but the number and size of these sprouts were comparable to unpruned trees.
-
• Natural clonal patterns were also used to explore patterns of sprouting between genotypes. Linear mixed-effects models were developed to predict sprouting frequency as a function of pruning severity while accounting for the nested data structure (i.e., stem sections sampled nested within genotypes within treatments within sites).
-
• Comparing variances attributed to each of these random effects indicated that at any level of pruning severity, differences in epicormic sprouting between genotypes and sites expressed soon after pruning had disappeared after six growing seasons. Epicormic branches were more common two years after pruning than six years indicating many branches were dying. Branches were more common in the middle of the pruned bole, possibly because of competition from basal sprouts and the expanding tree crown.
Résumé
-
• De jeunes séquoias de Californie (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don.) Endl.) ont été élagués à différentes hauteurs afin d’examiner l’effet de l’intensité de l’élagage sur les rejets épicormiques. Sept peuplements ont été utilisés avec jusqu’à six traitements par peuplement dans la région côtière du Comté de Humboldt en Californie (USA).
-
• Le développement des rejets épicormiques a été affecté par l’intensité de l’élagage, mais surtout par les traitements les plus sévères qui ont presque supprimé toutes les branches au sommet sur 15 % de la hauteur des arbres. Des traitements moins sévères ont produit des rejets, mais le nombre et la dimension de ces rejets étaient comparables à ceux des arbres non élagués.
-
• Des clones naturels ont également été utilisés pour explorer les modèles de rejet entre génotypes. Des modèles linéaires a effets mixtes ont été développés pour prédire la fréquence des rejets en fonction de l’intensité de l’élagage, en prenant en compte la structure imbriquée des données (c’est-à-dire, les sections du tronc échantillonnées, imbriquées avec les génotypes, les traitements et les stations).
-
• La comparaison des variances attribuées à chacun de ces effets aléatoires a indiqué qu’à tout niveau d’intensité d’élagage, les différences de rejets épicormiques entre les génotypes et les stations exprimées peu de temps après la taille avaient disparu au bout de six saisons de croissance.
-
• Les branches épicormiques ont été plus fréquentes deux ans après l’élagage que six ans plus tard indiquant que de nombreuses branches sont en train de mourir. Les branches ont été plus fréquentes dans le milieu de la partie du tronc élaguée, peut-être en raison de la concurrence des rejets de la base et de l’expansion du houppier.
References
Auchmoody L.R., 1972. Epicormic branching: seasonal change, influence of fertilization, and frequency of occurrence in uncut stands. USDA For. Serv. Res. Pap. NE-228, 8 p.
Begin C. and Filion L., 1999. Black spruce (Picea mariana) architecture. Can. J. Bot. 77: 664–672.
Büsgen M. and Münch E., 1929. The structure and life of forest trees, English translation by T. Thomson, Chapman & Hall, Ltd, London, 436 p.
Collier R.L. and Turnblom E.C., 2001. Epicormic branching on pruned coastal Douglas fir. West. J. Appl. For. 16: 80–86.
Cosens R.D., 1952. Epicormic branching on pruned white fir (Abies concolor). J. For. 50: 939–940.
Crawley M.J., 2002. Statistical computing: an introduction to data analysis using S-Plus, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Chichester, UK, 761p.
Deal R.L., Barbour R.J., McClellan M.H., and Parry D.L., 2003. Development of epicormic sprouts in Sitka spruce following thinning and pruning in southeast Alaska. For. 76: 401–412.
Del Tredici P., 1998. Lignotubers in Sequoia sempervirens: development and ecological significance. Madroño 45: 255–260.
Douhovnikoff V., Cheng A.M., and Dodd R.S., 2004. Incidences size and spatial structure of clones in second-growth stands of coast redwood Sequoia sempervirens (Cupressaceae). Am. J. Bot. 91, 1140–1146.
Eckstein E., 1974. [Dangers to success in pruning Douglas-fir.] Allgemeine Forstzeitschrift 29: 1032–1034 (in German).
Evans J., 1987. The control of epicormic branches. In: Patch D. (Ed.), Advances in practical arboriculture, Forestry Commission Bulletin 65, Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, pp. 115–120.
Fink S., 1984. The cases of delayed or induced development of axillary buds from persisting detached meristems in conifers. Am. J. Bot. 71: 44–51.
Harrington C.A., 1984. Factors influencing sprouting of red alder. Can. J. For. Res. 14, 357–361.
Hingston R.A., 1990. Chemical control of epicormic shoots on 4 year old Pinus radiata D. Don. Aust. For. 53: 3–6.
Insightful Corp 2005. S-Plus 7 for Windows user’s guide, Insightful Corp. Seattle, WA, 654p.
Ishii H. and Ford E.D., 2001. The role of epicormic shoot production in maintaining foliage in old Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) trees. Can. J. Bot. 79: 251–264.
Ishii H., Ford E.D., and Dinnie C.E., 2002. The role of epicormic shoot production in maintaining foliage in old Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) trees II. Basal reiteration from older branch axes. Can. J. Bot. 80: 916–926.
Kerr G. and Harmer R., 2001. Production of epicormic shoots on oak (Quercus robur): effects of frequency and timing of pruning. For. 74: 467–477.
Kozlowski T.T. and Pallardy S.G., 1997. Growth Control in Woody Plants, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 641p.
Lange P.W., Ronde C.D., and Bredenkamp B.V., 1987. The effects of different intensities of pruning on the growth of Pinus radiata in South Africa. South African For. J. 30–36.
Littell R.C., Milliken G.A., Stroup W.W., Wolfinger R.D., and Schabenberger O., 2006. SAS for mixed models. 2nd ed., SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC. 814 p.
O’Hara K.L., 2007. Pruning wounds and occlusion: a long-standing conundrum in forestry. J. For. 105: 131–138.
O’Hara K.L. and Valappil N.I., 2000. Epicormic sprouting of pruned western larch. Can. J. For. Res. 30: 324–328.
O’Hara K.L., York R.A., and Heald R.C., 2008. Effect of pruning severity and timing of treatment on epicormic sprout development in giant sequoia. Forestry 81: 103–110.
Stein W.I., 1955. Pruning to different heights in young Douglas-fir. J. For. 53: 352–355.
Waring K.M. and O’Hara K.L., 2005. Ten-year growth and epicormic sprouting response of western larch to pruning in western Montana. West. J. Appl. For. 20: 228–232.
Zimmermann M.H. and Brown C.L., 1971. Trees: structure and function, Springer-Verlag, New York, 336p.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
O’Hara, K.L., Berrill, JP. Epicormic sprout development in pruned coast redwood: pruning severity, genotype, and sprouting characteristics. Ann. For. Sci. 66, 409 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009015
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009015