Comparative field study of growth and survival of Sierran conifer seedlings

摘要

This study is a comparison of seedling growth and survival of seven species of conifers that make up the mid-elevation Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest--Abies concolor, Abies magnifica, Calocedrus decurrens, Pinus jeffreyi, Pinus lambertiana, Pinus ponderosa, and Sequoiadendron giganteum. The field experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that seedling demography is affected by the study species' relatively shade and drought tolerances. Six discrete treatments were created in the first experiment by using three elevations (1,600 m, 1,900, m, and 2,200 m) and two natural light levels (closed canopy shade and open gap sun) at each elevation. One or two-year old seedlings were planted in the ground in replicate plots in each treatment and followed for two growing seasons. Four responses were analyzed--survival, height growth, diameter growth, and mass growth (total mass as well as root mass and shoot mass separately).