Response of Suppressed Conifer Seedlings to Release from an Aspen-pine Overstorey

Abstract

Seedlings of white pine, red pine, and white spruce which had germinated in a spot-seeding experiment, and which had been suppressed for 27 years under a mature aspen-pine stand were released in 1950. The development of a new dense stand of aspen suckers permitted conifer growth rates of about 0.3 m per year for the next 30 years (not as rapid as for open grown trees) yet limited white pine weevil damage. The stand was thinned in 1980 to remove the aspen and all but the best stem of the coniferous species at each seed spot.