Impact of Pruning Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Abstract

In recent years, eastern redcedar has been the most rapidly expanding tree resource in the Great Plains from Oklahoma to South Dakota, primarily in rangelands and pastures. Based on these increases and potential management-related problems, eastern redcedar is perceived as a threat to the rangeland resource. Pruning eastern redcedar can allow for increased herbaceous growth under the eastern redcedar's crown, improve livestock handling, maintain the species for diversity and habitat contributions, and improve wood quality for potential future utilization by forest industries. To determine the effect of pruning to different heights on tree growth, we compared unpruned trees' total height and diameter to trees pruned from ground level to heights of 60, 90, 120, and 150 cm. No significant differences in the total height were found for all pruning treatments over all time periods. After more than 10 yr, trees pruned to 60, 90, and 120 cm had smaller diameters at ground level than unpruned trees. There were no differences in ground diameters for trees pruned to 150 cm compared to unpruned trees after 4 yr of growth. There were no significant differences in dbh for eastern redcedar trees pruned to all heights. Management of eastern redcedar, including pruning, is recommended as an alternative to control measures. West. J. Appl. For. 17(4):189–193.

Fire dynamics distinguish grasslands, shrublands and woodlands as alternative attractors in theCentralGreatPlains ofNorthAmerica

“…Connecting these physiological thresholds to reported J. virginiana growth rates (Owensby et al . ; Engle & Kulberth ; Schmidt & Wardle ), we estimate that fire‐free intervals of 15–20 years would allow consistent tree establishment, although this interval may be as short as 6–10 years for locations with abundant tree seed sources and heavy grazing (Owensby et al . ; Hoch, Briggs & Johnson ; Fuhlendorf et al .…”

“…To resist typical grassland fires, J. virginiana must reach a height of 2.5 m and diameter of 17.5 cm at breast height (1.4 m) (Owensby et al 1973;Hoch, Briggs & Johnson 2002;Vanderweide & Hartnett 2011). Connecting these physiological thresholds to reported J. virginiana growth rates (Owensby et al 1973;Engle & Kulberth 1992;Schmidt & Wardle 2002), we estimate that fire-free intervals of 15-20 years would allow consistent tree establishment, although this interval may be as short as 6-10 years for locations with abundant tree seed sources and heavy grazing (Owensby et al 1973;Hoch, Briggs & Johnson 2002;Fuhlendorf et al 2008). These estimates closely match modelling by Fuhlendorf et al (2008), as well as historical observations that J. virginiana is more common in pyrrhic woodlands with a fire frequency > 5 years (Batek et al 1999;Stambaugh, Guyette & Marschall 2013;Desantis, Hallgren & Stahle 2011).…”

Shade is the most important factor limiting growth of a woody range expander

“…There are, however, considerable negative effects of eastern redcedar on the diversity of native plants [11,14,44,52], resulting in near monocultures of eastern redcedar (termed the 'green glacier' [53]). The costs of removal of encroaching eastern redcedar are extremely high ( [37,[53][54][55][56][57][58], so alternative means of reducing their densities need to be sought.…”

Growth response following green crown pruning in plantation-grown Eucalyptus pilularis and Eucalyptus cloeziana

“…Following the removal of branches from the lower stem, growth of the upper part of the pruned region, closer to the green crown, can be favoured leading to more cylindrical stem forms (Larson 1965). Short-term pruning studies in eucalypts (e.g., Pinkard and Beadle 1998), acacia (e.g., Majid and Paudyal 1992) and conifers (e.g., Kaumi 1980;Schmidt and Wardle 2002) have reported reduced stem taper. While this reduction is desirable in increasing the recovery of sawn wood from logs, changes may only be transitory and not maintained until final harvest (e.g., Sutton and Crowe 1975;Bredenkamp et al 1980).…”