Regeneration responses in black ash ( Fraxinus nigra ) wetlands: implications for forest diversification to address emer
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Regeneration responses in black ash (Fraxinus nigra) wetlands: implications for forest diversification to address emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) Marcella A. Windmuller‑Campione1 · Matthew B. Russell1 · Robert A. Slesak1,2,3 · Mathew Lochner1 Received: 31 January 2020 / Accepted: 12 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis) has had an extensive impact across North America. It is currently present in Minnesota, USA but has not been observed in northern portions of the state where the vast majority of black ash (Fraxinus nigra) trees are located. Unlike other ash forest communities, the black ash forest type occurs in wetlands and is dominated by black ash with few associate species. Because of this, the loss of black ash can result in changes to the hydrological regime and species composition. The goal of this study was to quantify the structure and composition of regeneration 5 to 11 years post-harvest in three silvicultural systems (group selection, clearcut, and diameter-limit harvesting) to evaluate the potential for establishment of other tree species. Overall, regeneration postharvest was high but variable across all systems. Across silvicultural systems, there was no significant relationships between residual overstory trees (> 10 cm dbh) basal area and non-ash regeneration TPH, indicating flexibility in designing treatments for diversification. Populus sapling (2.54–10 cm) density was significantly negatively correlated to the depth of the soil muck layer. In contrast, a positive relationship was observed between depth of the soil muck and black ash saplings. These findings indicate that specific silvicultural systems in combination with site quality (e.g., clearcuts on high-quality sites with shallow muck layers) may help to promote non-ash species in black ash forests that are threatened with EAB. Keywords Silviculture · Diameter-limit harvest · Clearcut · Group selection · Wetlands
Previous Affiliations for the author R. Slesak: Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA; Minnesota Forest Resources Council, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. * Marcella A. Windmuller‑Campione [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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New Forests
Introduction The economic costs of invasive insects amount to US$70 billion per year globally (Bradshaw et al. 2016). Across the United States, forests are predicted to experience a large loss of host trees through 2027 as a result of non-native forest insects and pathogens (Krist Jr et al. 2014; Lovett et al. 2016). Notably, the emerald ash borer (EAB; Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an invasive phloem-feeding beetle, was estimated to cost managers US$10.7 billion between 2002 and 2019 to treat, remove, and replace more than 17 million ash trees within a geographic range surrounding Detroit, Michigan, its initial establishment location in the US (Kovacs et al. 2010). Given this, there is urgent need to understand how
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