Winter Injury by Ice and Snow to Red Pine Nursery Stock

During the spring of 1966, severe mortality occurred in several nurseries in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Beds of many red pine seedlings were almost totally destroyed. Dead and injured trees exhibited both terminal bud dieback and stem lesions. This situation was unprecedented and totally unexpected. Efforts made by the North Central Forest Experiment Station to determine the cause were only partially successful. Scleroderris canker was suspected as the cause of this mortality, but, despite numerous isolation attempts, Scleroderris was isolated from only a few trees in one nursery. As the summer of 1966 progressed, many of the trees that had appeared dead in the spring developed new shoots at the base of the seedlings. By late fall these trees, although smaller than normal, appeared in good health. It seemed that the agent responsible for the losses was not active during the warm summer months. One possible cause for this mortality was physiological damage due to severe weather changes. The late winter and early spring of 1966 were unusual in several aspects. A warm period with rain in February was followed by a cold period. Spring was unusually -late and was characterized by warm periods followed by severe temperature reductions. Nursery stock was not lifted until the last week in April.

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Author(s): Darroll D. Skilling, Stuart H. Slayton

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 21, Number 1 (1970)

Volume: 21

Number: 1