Ah<tract--At!antic white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides; AWC) is an important wetland tree species occurring along !he Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The economic and ecological importance of AWC, coupled wiih significant population decline, has led tu increasing interest in its management and restoration. The geographic distribution of geoetic variation is an important consideration for developing management and restoration strategies. We present an overview ofrangewide geoetic variation wiihin AWC, including allozyme, provenance, cpDNA, and morphological variation, and combine !his information wiih ecological and geographic data to identifY suggested management regions wiihin !he species. We identified ihree major geographic regions: (I) Atlantic coast, (2) Florida peninsula, and (3) Gulf of Mexico coast, wiih further division of Regions I and 3 each into ihree subregions. This pattern of variation should be taken into account when identifYing populations for conservation, developing management and restoration plans, and selecting propagnles for regeneration and restoration purposes.

Atlantic white-cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P., is an important wetland tree species occurring along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from Maine to Florida, and westward along the Gulf of Mexico coast to Mississippi. Within this range, its distribution is patchy and disjunct, due to the scattered occurrence of suitable wetland habitat, natural range disjunctions and historic declines. Much recent interest has focused on the species, its management and its restoration, but very little is known about its geographic pattern of phenotypic variation. This study presents second year results from the first rangewide white-cedar provenance test. Rooted cuttings were propagated from 34 source populations, encompassing the entire latitudinal range (29°12′–44°20′N) of the species, and planted in three common garden plantations, two in New Jersey and one in North Carolina. Survival was generally high for Atlantic coastal populations at all three planting locations, ranging from 72% to 100% for individual provenances, but many Florida and Gulf coast populations exhibited reduced survival and winter hardiness in New Jersey, with 44–94% survival and 11–67% of surviving trees experiencing winter dieback. Height growth varied significantly between planting sites and provenances, and a significant site by provenance interaction suggested that relative performance of provenances varied across sites. All populations grew significantly more at Hofmann Forest, North Carolina than at the two New Jersey plantations, with mean 2-year height growth ranging from 54 to 96cm for individual provenances at this site. By comparison, mean height growth ranged from 23 to 63cm at Richard Stockton College, and from 12 to 32cm at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, New Jersey. Within individual sites, we identified polynomial relationships between height growth and latitude of origin, with southern Atlantic coastal populations among the best performers at all sites. Patterns of growth phenology were significantly correlated with latitude of origin. Spring growth rate and the percent of total growth occurring during spring were positively correlated with latitude, while fall growth rate and the percent of growth occurring during fall were negatively correlated with latitude. These early results suggest that significant provenance variation exists among white-cedar populations, and that local sources should be preferred for regeneration and restoration purposes.

First a test was performed to compare allozyme variation in a 52 seedlot collection of Metasequoia Miki imported from China in 1990, versus that in the 1949 Arnold Arboretum collection. The plants in the greenhouse and in a provenance plantation were examined to identify desirable new cultivars for introduction. Six were selected. To determine the best method to propagate these by cuttings, two hormones and eight different months were compared, using a mist bed. The best times of year appeared to be February/March and August/September. Introduction of three new cultivars is planned: a full, vigorous clone, a narrow clone and a weeping clone.

Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P. is an important wetland tree species occurring along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Substantial decline over the past two centuries has led to interest in the geographic pattern of genetic variation of the species, as it affects both restoration and ongoing management. We examined the extent and distribution of allozyme variation among 31 populations throughout the species' range. Averaged across populations, the mean number of alleles per locus (A) was 1.94, the effective number of alleles per locus (A(e)) was 1.31, expected heterozygosity (H-e) was 0.16, and the proportion of polymorphic loci (P) was 63.6%. Significant population differentiation was apparent, with F-ST = 0.085. Using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), we were able to ascribe 6% of the total variation to differences between varieties. We identified three main geographical regions: (1) Atlantic Coastal, (2) peninsular Florida, and (3) Gulf Coast. Within the Gulf Coast region, three subregions are apparent: central Florida panhandle, western Florida panhandle, and Mississippi. This geographic pattern may have resulted from three or more separate Pleistocene glacial refugia and suggests that propagules for regeneration and restoration activities should not be moved out of their region of origin.

Abstract Sustained‐release fertilizer and two kinds of mulch treatments were tested to determine their effects on survival and growth of planted Chamaecyparis thyoides (Atlantic white cedar) on a sandy extremely nutrient‐deficient site. Height, basal trunk diameter, dry weight, and concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were measured for each treatment. After two growing seasons, survival was very high in untreated controls (mean, 86%) and was not significantly increased by any treatment (significance was assessed at p = 0.05 throughout this work). Stem height and cross‐sectional area doubled in unamended plots during the course of the study. Fresh mulch alone caused no additional increase in growth, compared with unamended plots. Decomposed mulch caused a slight but significant increase. Sustained‐release fertilizer caused significant increases in height (threefold) and dry weight (approximately sixfold). Combined treatment with fertilizer and mulch gave significantly greater growth responses than did other treatments, increasing heights 4‐ to 5‐fold, trunk cross‐sectional areas 4‐fold, and dry weights 11‐ to 21‐fold over no‐treatment controls. Tissue concentrations of N and P correlated with growth trends, with combinations of mulch and timed‐release fertilizer providing the highest values. Though statistically different, the two mulch treatments were similar in their effects on tissue nutrient concentrations. When combined with fertilizer, undecomposed mulch stimulated increases in height and dry weight significantly more than did decomposed mulch. Thus, establishment of C. thyoides on low‐nutrient sandy soils is improved by combined soil amendment with sustained‐release nutrients and organic mulch.

We report allozyme variation in 46 new single-tree seedlots of Metasequoia glyptostroboides collected in 1990 in Hubei and Sichuan provinces, China; and comparative growth data for 20 of the seedlots. Fourth-season heights ranged from 60% to 119% of plantation means at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Newark, Ohio. Height ranks at both sites were strongly correlated; there was no family x site interaction. Family heritability was 0.72. Several phenotypic mutants (dwarf, weeping, "corkscrew") appeared among the 46 new seedlots. Frequency analysis of foliar allozymes showed that 3 of 15 loci were polymorphic in the 1990 seedlots, vs 2 of 15 polymorphic in the 1947 Arnold Arboretum seedlot. All measures of genetic variation calculated were higher in the 1990 seedlot. It is clear, however, that the 1947 seedlot could not have all come from one large, isolated tree (implying self-pollination) because the FE-2 locus exhibited 4 alleles.

The present study was conducted to assess the distribution of genetic variation within and among populations of Chamaecyparis thyoides in both marginal and centrally located populations. Allozyme frequency analyses of ten loci from foliage of four New Jersey populations and two North Carolina populations of C. thyoides showed polymorphic loci = 50%, mean number of alleles per locus = 2.8, effective number of alleles per locus = 1.17, and expected heterozygosity = 0.14. Diversity was highest in two populations from southern New Jersey. The isolated population at High Point, New Jersey had only two polymorphic loci and expected heterozygosity of 0.03. There was no correlation between genetic and geographic distances among populations, implying that cedar must have possessed some means of long-distance dispersal at the end of the last glacial period, rather than advancing northward step by step.

Abstract We examined phenotypic characteristics of serotinous pitch pine cones from the dwarfed pine-oak forests of the New Jersey Pine Barren Plains, and three heat-application techniques to release their seeds, to evaluate the influence of these factors on seed germination and seedling development. One- and two-year-old mature cones averaged twice the number of germinating seeds/cone as green cones collected in late summer, and larger cones yielded higher quantities of viable seeds compared to smaller ones. Treating serotinous cones in boiling water or a convection oven yielded higher germination rates than using a microwave oven, especially with green cones. Thirty-two months following germination, cone characteristics and opening techniques did not predict seedling performance in the field. Parent tree influenced seedling height. We present recommendations to maximize the number of viable propagules collected during the selection and processing of serotinous, dwarfed pitch pine cones. North. J. Appl. For. 12(2):64-58.

We investigated the competitive and mutualistic interactions between common colonizers of low productivity sites in southern New Jersey's Pinelands National Reserve. These included pitch pine (Pinus rigida), the N-2-fixing bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), and their respective symbionts Pisolithus tinctorius and the actinomycete Frankia. We initiated a a-year greenhouse study to examine the effects of intra- and interspecific plantings of these woody perennials, with and without the endobionts P. tinctorius and Frankia. Biomass accumulation and partitioning, leaf nutrient concentrations, and a N-15-dilution technique were used to evaluate the success of the different planting combinations.After two growing seasons, symbionts increased the development of their hosts. Pines in interspecific plantings with bayberry exhibited similar levels of total production to those grown with conspecifics, whereas biomass partitioning to the shoots was increased in the mixed-species plantings. Bayberry exhibited trends toward higher production when Frankia rapidly colonized its roots or when the associated pine lacked P. tinctorius. There was no evidence that nitrogen fixed by bayberry seedlings reached companion pines after 2 years. Timing of endobiont colonization was a dominant factor influencing plant growth and the capacity to mitigate competition for Limiting resources.

Abstract Within-species selection was chosen as the method to improve pitch pine for a seed orchard to furnish seedlings for revegetation in southern New Jersey. In a progeny test of 68 families of open-pollinated plus tree seedlings at two plantation sites, after 5 growing seasons the top family among selected pitch pine progeny was as tall as the best pitch x loblolly check stock, and the best five pitch families were in the same range with another pitchlob and two loblolly families. Mean heights were slightly greater on a worked-out sandpit site than on an undisturbed sandy topsoil. North. J. Appl. For. 11(4):146-149.

AbstractThe Pinelands National Reserve and UNESCO Biosphere encompass a large portion of southern New Jersey's Pine Barrens. Within the core preservation zone of these Reserves lies the Warren Grove Weapons Range, a military installation where exercises during the past 50 years have devastated portions of the indigenous pygmy pine‐oak forest. In 1987, restoration efforts were initiated to identify materials and techniques that promote a diverse and productive native plant community atop drastically disturbed portions of the range. We used trial plantings to examine fertilizer and sewage compost fertility amendments, the effect of different native plant mixtures (including the dwarfed race of pitch pine,Pinus rigida), the influence of the ectomycorrhizal fungusPisolithus tinctoriuson the growth of pines and associated species, and mulch applications to conserve moisture and add organic matter. Following two growing seasons, test plantings exhibited 25% of the vegetation production found in the surrounding pine‐oak community, 50% canopy closure, and levels of diversity comparable to the reference site. Maximum biomass and cover were achieved following the application of 16 Mg/ha compost and the establishment of pitch pine seedlings. Pitch pine was the dominant species in all plots where it was planted, with herbaceous species comprising the balance of the developing vegetation. Amendments of seeded grasses,P. tinctorius, and mulch influenced species composition but failed to enhance total plant production. We recommend restoring drastically disturbed sites in the pine plains with cultural input of compost to the spoils and planting of pitch pines and other woody species to accelerate the structural blending of reforested sites with the surrounding native vegetation.

Abstract Pitch pine cones may be picked when green, 2 weeks to 1 month before apparent ripeness, in order to avoid rodent predation. The resulting seedlings grow as well as those from cones picked later. The mean number of germinants per cone for 46 test families from Cape Cod, Fire Island, and New Jersey was 45.5 when seeds were planted in Leach tubes and started in a greenhouse. Seedlings growing in peat/vermiculite/sand (1:1:1) and amendments at pH 4.8 were significantly larger in volume than seedlings growing at higher or lower pH, and they suffered less damping off than those at higher pH. Seedlings should be grown to minimum stem diameter of 3.0 mm before outplanting. There is evidence of ecotypic differentiation between populations on dissimilar sites at Cape Cod. North. J. Appl. For. 8(2):63-68.

Journal Article Seven-Year Performance of 20 Douglas-Fir Seedlots in New Jersey Get access John E. Kuser John E. Kuser 1Department of Environmental Resources, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, Volume 7, Issue 4, December 1990, Pages 194–195, https://doi.org/10.1093/njaf/7.4.194 Published: 01 December 1990

Journal Article Field Notes: Rooting Primary-Leaved Sprouts of Pitch and Shortleaf Pine Get access Melissa N. Grossmann, Melissa N. Grossmann 1Department of Horticulture and Forestry, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar John E. Kuser John E. Kuser 2Department of Horticulture and Forestry, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, Volume 5, Issue 2, June 1988, Pages 87–159, https://doi.org/10.1093/njaf/5.2.87 Published: 01 June 1988

Abstract After four seasons of field growth, height differences among seedlings from various seedlots of improved eastern white pine are highly significant at plantations in Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York. Survival varies from 53% to 83%, and plantation mean heights vary from 47 cm to 100 cm. Rank correlations of mean heights of seedlots at the five plantations are all positive and 8 of 10 are significant, indicating stability of performance. Two major trends show: (1) trees of a few seedlots are taller at all plantations, while those from Lake States and two Quebec seedlots grow relatively slowly wherever tested; and (2) trees of northern origin are more often taller at northern plantations, and those of central origin are taller at central plantations. North. J. Appl. For. 4:66-69, June 1987.