Pine stand density is a key determinant of damage resulting from attacks by the southern pine beetle (SPB, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm.). High-density stands of maturing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) are at high risk for losses to SPB, and reducing stand density is the primary tool available to forest managers for preventing and mitigating damage. Field studies are expensive and inflexible for...

A set of 21 loblolly pine families produced by crossing trees from east Texas were tested for resistance to fusiform rust disease. The parents of these families were surviving trees in stands that experienced extensive mortality in the 1960s due to southern pine beetle infestation. Seedlings were grown in tubes in a greenhouse and artificially inoculated with C. quercuum from five different sou...

Crown structure, absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and growth were analyzed in 300 replicated loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliotti) clones to: (1) quantify genetic variation in crown structural traits, growth and APAR at the species, family and clonal levels; and (2) estimate within-family genetic and environmental influences on measu...

Loblolly pine (Pin1r.s tae(/(i L.) seedlings were grown in co~npetition with native weeds using soil and seed bank collected from recently chopped and burned areas near Appornattox, Virginia. One-year-old seedlings were planted and weeds allowed to germinate from the native seed bank while being exposed to COz (ambient and elevated approximately 700 ppm) and water (water stressed and well water...

Snags are standing dead trees that are an important component in the nesting habitat of birds and other species. Although snag availability is believed to limit populations in managed and non-managed forests, little data are available to evaluate the relative effect of stand conditions and management on snag occurrence. We analyzed point sample data from an intensive forest inventory within an ...

We compared radiation-use efficiency of growth (epsilon;), defined as rate of biomass accumulation per unit of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, of forest plots exposed to ambient (approximately 360 micro l l-1) or elevated (approximately 560 micro l l-1) atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]). Large plots (30-m diameter) in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation, which containe...

Loblolly pine (Pinus tueda L.) occurs naturally on soils that are frequently low in fertility and water availability (Allen et al., 1990; Schultz 1997). Despite these limitations, this species maintains a high level of productivity on most sites (Schultz, 1997). Knowledge of plantation loblolly pine root system growth and physiology is needed to understand how this species is adapted to soil re...

NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) catalyzes the light-dependent reduction of protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) to chlorophyllide (Chlide), a key regulatory step in chlorophyll biosynthesis. In most angiosperms, POR is encoded by a small nuclear gene family, containing at least two differentially-expressed genes designated porA and porB. We have demonstrated that the PORs of loblolly pi...

Mycorrhizal enhancement of drought resistance of two woody plant species, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and rose (Rosa hybrida L. cv. Ferdy), occurred independently of phosphorus nutrition. Mycorrhizae tended to alter root morphology and carbon allocation patterns of shoots and roots. Increased drought resistance of mycorrhizal plants was in part attributed to drought-induced colonization by m...

The Southern Alliance for the Utilization of Biomass Resources (SAUBR)................ 3 I met a landowner who was getting out of the cattle business and wanted to plant trees for some income, to encourage wildlife, and for recreation. She asked me how many loblolly pine seedlings she should plant on her pastureland. I replied, “It depends on your objectives and who you ask.” You see, there are...