Effects of selective cuts on the mycorrhizae of regenerating Betula alleghaniensis and Acer saccharum seedlings in two Quebec mixed deciduous forests

Abstract

The mycorrhizae of younger (2- to 3-year-old) and older (5- to 12-year-old) yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) seedlings and saplings were recorded from naturally regenerating plants in gaps created by selective cuts and compared with those of plants of comparable age growing in the undisturbed forest. The levels of ectomycorrhizal colonization and the diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi (based on morphotyping) were recorded for yellow birch and the levels of colonization and the abundance of arbuscules, vesicles, and coils were reported for the vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizae of sugar maples. Selective cutting had no negative effect on the mycorrhizal community structure of yellow birch and sugar maple. This may be because of the quick regeneration of the mycorrhizal hosts coupled with the minor levels of soil disruption and relatively small gap size at the study sites. Greater colonization levels in the gaps versus uncut areas were observed in the 2- to 3-year-old maples but not in the 2- to 3-year-old birch seedlings. The types of ectomycorrhizal fungi colonizing the roots of birch seedlings from the gaps did not differ from those in the uncut forest areas.

Patterns of rhizosphere carbon flux in sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and yellow birch (Betula allegheniensis) saplings

“…Finally, we assumed that the rooting environment in the pots was relatively similar to that in the mature forest at HBEF. Although root densities were lower in the pots than those at the HBEF, mycorrhizal colonization of sapling roots in this experiment (32% of root length in sugar maple; 49% in yellow birch) was similar to literature values reported for mature trees of these two species (∼30% in sugar maple; ∼65% in yellow birch; DeBellis et al , 2002).…”

Comparing composition and structure in old-growth and harvested (selection and diameter-limit cuts) northern hardwood stands in Quebec

“…Many recent studies have assessed the impact of partial harvesting in hardwood stands, by focusing on particular features such as: snag and coarse woody debris (CWD) abundance (Gore and Patterson, 1986;Goodburn and Lorimer, 1998;Doyon et al, 1999;Hale et al, 1999;McGee et al, 1999;Fraver et al, 2002); tree size and structure (Hale et al, 1999;McGee et al, 1999;Solomon and Grove, 1999); gap characteristics (Kimball et al, 1995;Beaudet and Messier, 2002), light profiles (Beaudet et al, 2004); tree species composition (Majcen, 1995;Hale et al, 1999;Solomon and Grove, 1999); tree growth (Majcen, 1995;Bédard and Majcen, 2003;Jones and Thomas, 2004); the biodiversity of various groups of organisms (Bourque and Villard, 2001;DeBellis et al, 2002;Moore et al, 2004). In this study, a more global approach was used to characterize and compare many structural and compositional features of oldgrowth hardwood stands (OG) modeled under the micro-gap regime, and two types of partially cut stands.…”

Diversity of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonizing Clintonia borealis from a mixed-wood boreal forest

“…If available, the remaining fine roots from each individual plant were stored in formalin‐acetic acid for the morphological examination of the AM colonization. Roots were stained with 0.1% Chlorazol black E (De Bellis & Messier, 2002) and stained roots were mounted on microscope slides in glycerine jelly (Widden, 2001). The presence or absence of fungal material (AMF hyphae, vesicles or arbuscules) was recorded using a gridline intersect method (McGonigle et al , 1990) and the percentage of colonized intersections was calculated.…”