Survival and Genet Growth and Development of Field-Planted Giant Cane (Arundinaria gigantea) over Time in Southern Illinois

摘要

The drastic loss of giant cone (Arundinaria gigantea) -dominated communities (canebrakes) in southeastern North America has spurred great interest in habitat restoration. We report on two giant cane restoration studies that investigate the effects of collection source, rhizome propagule morphological characteristics and type (greenhouse-grown containerized stock plants or bare rhizomes), site, and time on genet survival and growth. Survival over the two studies (after three and five years) differed by propagule collection source, was marginally greater when planting older containerized stock, and varied between sites. Although field survival tended to be somewhat greater for greenhouse-grown containerized stock in comparison to bare rhizomes, overall survival was similar for both stock types when accounting for mortality of planted rhizomes in the greenhouse. The number of culms, their height, and spread of the genets increased over time and differed by planting stock type in each study. At Becca's Tract, cane genet growth ranged from a mean of 1.4 +/- 0.1 culms that were 41.7 +/- 1.8 cm tall with essentially no spread after the first growing season to a mean of 80.6 +/- 7.6 culms that were 99.8 +/- 2.8 cm tall with a spread of 212.1 +/- 19.6 cm after five years. Giant cone rhizome sections initially grown in a greenhouse or planted directly in the field can be used to establish canebrokes in a framework that is operationally feasible for large-scale restoration.