Dendro terms Flashcards
Terminal moraine
Edge of a glacial range- Gravel, soil
Outwash plains
Water and area beyond moraine. Sandy, dry jack pines
Kettles or pothole lakes
Big chunk of ice broke off during retreat and made a hole. Wetlands with no inlet or outlet
Drumlins
Teardrop shaped hills oriented in retreat direction
Glacial erratic
Rocks dropped that don’t belong
Esker
Narrow hill created by streams and rivers under glacier. Thin, snakes, gravel hills. Oaks and Sugar Maples
Kames
Irregular hill. Soil, till, gravel that accumulated in depression on retreating glacier
Till
Unsorted glacial sediment from erosion
Glacial grooves
Cut into bedrock by gravel/rocks carried by glacial melt and water
Roche moutonnee
Passage of ice over bedrock, creates asymmetric erosion. Stoss side is gently slopped. Lee side is steep drop.
Peat
Thick organic matter, doesn’t decompose, Acidic, stores carbon
Peat wetland
Carbon sink
Bog
Acidic, cool climate, slow decomposition, no inlet or outlet. Less oxygen doesn’t allow decomposition with stagnant water
Marsh
Open grassy, sedges, etc. Less woody vegetation and open
Swamp
Woody vegetation, trees, which creates shade and canopy
Bog acidic
Wetlands due to stagnant H2O Sphagnum moss and other moss common
Fen
Over calcareous (limestone) glacial deposits. More basic from limestone
Vernal pool
seasonal depressional wetlands. Spring snow melt and rain. Amphibians breed ground and bears
Coastal wetlands
tidal marsh, slightly brackish to saline
Mangrove swamp
Trees adapted to brackish/saline water. Bird and other animal habitat
Primary succession
Happens when a site has rebuild soil layers, such as after a retreating glacier, volcano, exposed sand bars along rivers, or following very extreme fires that burn to bare rock. (Less common)
Secondary succesion
(more common) Happens when tree canopy is removed but soil stays intact. Wind disturbance, most moderate fires, hurricanes, or after clearcut harvests.
Stand initiation
Young intolerant pioneer species fill in open area. Reset intentionally by harvest or to get moose/deer
Stem exclusion
Established pioneers create closed canopy leaving no sunlight or nutrients for any new regen (a few decades)
Understory reinitiation
Pioneer trees start to die off, opening up sunlight and soil nutrients for new regen, often with some shade tolerant species. (70-100 years)
Old growth
Tends to be dominated by tolerant species that now regen by filling in small gaps as trees die or blow over
Dendrochronology
Study of changes in growth rings in living and old wood to investigate past environments
Wetland only plants
Obligate wetland plants
Often wetlands but can grow upland
Facultative wetland plants
Eutrophication
Buildup of organic matter over hundreds and thousands of years that can fill in lake and wetlands
Very Intolerant
Black spruce, black willow, eastern cottonwood, jack pine, quaking aspen, tamarack
Intolerant
Black cherry, black walnut, paper birch, red maple, red pine, silver maple
Intermediate shade tolerance
Balsam poplar, bitternut hickory, black ash, bur oak, green ash, hackberry, red maple, red oak, shagbark hickory, white ash, white oak, white pine, yellow birch
Tolerant
Balsam fir, basswood, bigtooth aspen, black ash, green ash, hackberry, northern white cedar, white ash, white spruce
Very tolerant
Beech, eastern hemlock, sugar maple
Fire frequency
Very freq surf and crown : Jack pine. Aspen
Very freq surf and rare crown: Bur oak savanna
Infrequent surf and freq crown: Boreal. Jack pine/black spruce (BWCA)
Infreq surf and infreq crown: Boreal. Black spruce peatland
Very rare crown and infreq surf: Sugar maple/basswood. Sugar maple/hemlock
Silvics
Growth requirements for a species (tree). Seed germination, condition, tolerance level, growth rate
Red pines
Deep roots, fire resistant bark. Shade intolerant. low genetic diversity. Between xeric and mesic
White pine
Moderately most soil. Shallower roots. Intermediate tolerance, fire resistant bark.
Jack pine
Well drained, xeric sites. Shade intolerant. High genetic diversity. Serotinous cones. Extensive even age stand indicates fire
Balsam fir
Very shade tolerant. Wide range of sites. Ladder fuel. Spruce budworm. Important cover species for wildlife. Cones sticks up and scales fall off individually
White spruce
Drier sites, faster growth. Shade intolerant. Boreal tree. Release beneficial in plantation. Start under canopy cut other trees away. NO hairs
Black spruce
Boreal common upland tree in North. Peatland in south. Shade intolerant. Cones semi-serotinous. Twigs have hairs. Pulpwood in Canada. Layering from snow loads, veg reproduction. Acidic, stagnant bogs.
Fragmentation
Single branch in contact with dirt can grow new tree. (willow, balsam fir, dogwood, BAM?)
Layering
Snow load causes low branches to root and grow saplings
Tamarack
Needles 2x photosynthetic rate of other evergreens. Shade intolerant. Self pruning. Decay resistant. Soft, short needles. Eastern larch beetle. Between Acidic bogs and basic wetlands
Northern White Cedar
slightly acidic or alkaline(Basic) soil. Moving water. Shade tolerant. Can germinate on undisturbed ground or old logs. Susceptible to fire. Long lived. Deer browse and habitat.
Common juniper
Whorled needles in 3. very drought tolerant with wide distribution.
Microcliamtes from glacier push
Arctic or alpine disjunct
Zonation
Where plant live
Ecosystem service
Something nature does for us that is difficult to recreate
Ex. pollination, habitat, veg for animals, filter toxin, erosion and flood control
American Elm
Can be upland but usually wet area, river valley. Bud off at an angle, pseudo terminal bud
Jewel weed (Touch me not)
Soft waxy toothed egg shape.
Northern beech fern
Wet depression
Sensitive fern
Wetter areas, not fine toothed
Tree carbohydrate allocation
1 Maintenance respiration (Staying alive)
2 Foliage and fine root production
3 primary growth (Growth in terminals, root extension)
4 Secondary growth (Cambium/DBH growth)
Occur at any time: Reproduction and defense against insects and disease
Monoecious
Male and female on same plant (more common)
Dioecious
One male tree and one female tree (ash, less common)
Hermaphrodite
Flower is both sexes
Leaf drop and use
Photosynthesis
Photo period/temperature triggers (Shorter light in fall)
Translocation of nutrients (from leaf to other parts of the tree)
Abscission layer develops (Layer of cell dies between petiole and stem)
Dormancy
Winter Burn
Warm fall or spring, ground frozen but still trying to photosynthesize without water.
Phloem
Inner bark. Moves sugars from leaves
Xylem
Sapwood. Moves water and minerals from roots
Cambium
Growing layer of cells, allows tree to grow out.
Nature’s antifreeze
Super cooling
Confier characteristics
Acidic needles. Slow to decompose and flammable. Retain moisture in needles. Conifers do well in dry seasons. Have ability to withstand or respond to fire. Photosynthesize better at cooler temps than deciduous. Gymnosperm. Cones.
Angiosperm
Seeds produced in ovaries that develop into fruit. Wide variety of dispersal methods. Flowers and seeds. Everything else
Vegetative reproduction
Reproduction from existing tissue instead of seed.
Identical clones
Insect rule of 10
Only 1 of 10 escape, only 1 of that 10 survive, only 1 of that 10 becomes invasive pest.
Biological Control and consideration
Action of predator, parasite and pathogens in maintaining other organism
Behavior, exposure (active time of each organism)
Handling time (How much can it eat or kill?)
Hunger
Host synchrony (Is plant active and vulnerable when bio cont is?)
Number/reproduction and winter survival
Cycle of insect
Egg - Larva - Pupa - Butterfly repeat. Exoskeleton doesn’t grow with larva
Spongy Moth (Gypsy Moth)
Defoliator, imported for silk production in 1869. Hairy larva 2 color spots: Red/orange and blue. Eggs in masses overwinter. Larvae crawl to top of tree and use silk and wind to move. Male strong flyer, female flightless. Will go after oak, maple and white pine.
Fungus bio cont., Bacteria spray, mating disruption with pheremones, traps
Hydric
Wet/wetlands
Biological indicator
Plant that only grows in specific locations. Ex. Blueberry-xeric, sandy
Emerald Ash Borer
China, came in packing material (pallets, packing etc.). Feeds on phloem of Fraxinus. Ash swamps trying to be repopulated with other tree species before EAB take over. Natural EAB spread 1-2 miles. Purple, sticky traps for monitoring.
Parasitic wasp, egg parasite and larval parasite
Forest Tent Caterpillar
NATIVE moth. Larva defoliate. Prefers Q. Aspen, birch, oaks (NE US Sugar Maple and Aspen). Black caterpillar with white keyhole mark on back. Stay in big groups. Egg mass in upper canopy. Outbreaks in cycles every 6-16 years. Most hardwoods reflush, with rare mortality. Larval mortality due to cold winters, harsh weather after spring hatch. Instar (large larva) occasionally don’t have food because of defoliation by smaller larva. Sarcophogid fly.
Disease triangle
Pathogen, Favorable environment, Host
Disease
Alteration of the function or form of a plant from normal.
Dutch Elm Disease
Exotic fungus. 1930 Europe or Asia. Elm bark beetle (Native and European). Root graphing, share nutrients and disease, vascular systems connected. Combated by trenching to break up root graphs.
