Consortium for Accelerated Pine Production Studies CAPPS

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Consortium for Accelerated Pine Production
Studies (CAPPS)

• Long-Term Trends in Loblolly Pine Stand
  Productivity and Characteristics in Georgia

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Consortium for Accelerated Pine Production
Studies (CAPPS)

• B.E. Borders, R.L. Hendrick,
• R. Will, D. Markewitz, A. Clarke,
• T.B. Harrington, R.O. Teskey

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CAPPS Program

• Five year program started in July 1998
• Members International Paper, Champion
  International, Temple-Inland, Boise Cascade, The
  Timber Company, Rayonier, Mead Coated Board,
  Westvaco, Gilman Paper, Jefferson Smurfit,
  Weyerhaeuser Co, U.S. Alliance

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Objective of CAPPS

• Improve our understanding of tree responses to
  intensive cultural treatments
• Use this improved understanding to develop more
  efficient management guidelines
• Develop simulation models that provide realistic
  yields on a localized level

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Objectives (cont.)

• Provide information for the improvement of
  process level simulators
• Evaluate and characterize wood quality of fast
  grown loblolly pine trees

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Funding

• CAPPS received funding for a 5 year period
  starting in July 1998 extending through June of
  2003
• The total extramural funding for this project
  comes from DOE (approximately 300,000), and
  forest industry (approximately 500,000)

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Funding (cont.)

• Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources at
  the University of Georgia is also providing
  approximately 500,000 of actual and in-kind
  support for this project

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CAPPS Field Plots

• Four separate installations located at 2
  locations in Georgia
• Two Piedmont installations (near Eatonton, GA in
  Putnam county)
• Two Lower Coastal Plain installations (near
  Waycross, GA in Ware county)

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Treatments

• H - complete vegetation control throughout the
  life of the stand using herbicides
• F - annual fertilization treatment
• HF - both H and F
• C - check plot (a very intensive mechanical
  treatment that include bedding in Waycross and a
  3-pass operation in Eatonton)

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Fertilizer Treatment

• 250 lbs/ac DAP plus 100 lbs/ac KCl spring of year
  1 and 2 plus 50 lbs/ac ammonium nitrate mid
  summer of year 1 and 2
• In each subsequent growing season 150 lbs/ac
  ammonium nitrate each spring

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Replication

• Two complete blocks of 3/8 acre treatment plots
  at each location
• 3 time replicates at each location
• Eatonton - 1988, 1990, 1995 (one block only)
• Waycross - 1987, 1989, 1993

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Plot History

• All plots established on cutover forestland
• All plots planted at the equivalent of 680
  trees/acre
• At Waycross half-sib family 7-56 used
• At Eatonton half-sib family 10-25 used

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Waycross Dry Site Age 9 - C
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Waycross Dry Site Age 9 - HF
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Picture 2
Waycross, Dry site Herbicide and Fertilization
Plot at Age 11
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Waycross West Site Age 11 - HF
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Site Descriptors - Soils

• WAYCROSS
• Slopes lt 1
• Dry site Bonifay in close associate with Blanton
  Greater than 40 sand MW WD
• Wet site Pelham in association with Rigdon with
  intermittent spodic PD to SPD

• EATONTON
• Slopes lt 15
• Cecil is predominant, with Pacolet and Appling
  and limited areas of Davidson

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Site Descriptors - Soils
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Site Descriptors - Climate
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Site Descriptors - Water Balance
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Site Descriptors - Water Balance
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Stand Development Treatment Response

• Eatonton (piedmont) HF, H, F, C highest
  production to least production through age 12,
  however by age 13 F is starting to overtake H
• Waycross (LCP) HF, F, H, C most production to
  least production through age 14 note that H had
  higher production than F through age 4

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Dominant Heights - feet
 
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Stand DevelopmentTotal Volume
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Stand DevelopmentMean Annual Volume Increment
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Stand DevelopmentCurrent Annual Increment
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Stand Development
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Stand Development - Waycross
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Stand Development - Eatonton
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Stand StructureLAI vs Basal Area

• Both sites show a positive correlation between
  projected leaf area index and stand basal area

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Stand Structure LAI vs BA
LAI for 1998 needle cohort
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Stand Structure Crown Size

• Crown length is slightly greater for F treatments
• Height to live crown is greater on more
  responsive treatments
• For a given treatment crown length vs stand
  basal area increases and flattens out whereas
  crown height continues to increase as basal area
  increases

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Stand StructureEatonton CL vs BA
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Stand StructureWaycross CL vs BA
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Stand StructureEatonton Ht to Crown vs BA
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Stand StructureWaycross Ht to Crown vs BA
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Stem Characteristics

• 20 trees from each plot in the oldest time
  replicate were cored at 4.5 feet from the
  Waycross sites early summer 1998 and from
  Eatonton early summer 1999
• We currently have wood density information
  available for the Waycross location

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Stem Characteristics - Waycross

• EW/LW ratios and ring density by growth ring show
  that
• HF and F treatments have lower density wood than
  C and H treatments
• All treatments have started producing mature wood
  by age 6

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Stem Characteristics
Waycross Dry Site
Waycross Wet Site
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Stem Characteristics

• Four trees from each plot were harvested and
  intensively measured for development of biomass
  prediction equations as well as for leaf area
  determination (in total more than 192 trees were
  taken from the Waycross sites and 160 from the
  Eatonton sites)

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Stem Characteristics Branches

• There is not a great deal of difference in the
  number of branches by height for the different
  treatments
• Maximum branch diameter tends to be larger on F
  and HF treatments
• Most differences reflect differences in tree
  height and height to crown

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Stem Characteristics
Waycross Site Largest live branch diameter in
each 16 foot log
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Stem Characteristics
Eatonton Site Largest live branch diameter in
each 16 foot log
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Stem Characteristics
Eatonton Site Number of branches gt1 by log
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Stem Characteristics
Waycross Site Number of branches gt1 by log
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Basic Ecophysiological Relationships
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BWPE Bolewood Production Efficiency (ft3 ac-1
projected LAI-1 year-1)
Waycross
B.F. Grant
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Waycross
B.F. Grant
Bolewood Prod. Eff. (ft3 ac-1 proj. LAI-1 yr-1)
Bolewood Prod. Eff. (ft3 ac-1 proj. LAI-1 yr-1)
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Waycross
Nitrogen Use Efficiency (ton ac-1 stem growth /
ton ac-1 nitrogen
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Conclusions

• Extremely rapid growth in coastal plain sites and
  clearly greater than in piedmont.
• Contrasting response to H and F treatments
• F greatly out performing H in sandy coastal plain
  soils
• H out performing F in clay rich piedmont soils
  but F catching up by age 13
• Accelerated growth apparently decreasing wood
  density at Waycross but all treatments are
  producing mature wood by age 7

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Conclusions cont

• Growth efficiency and nitrogen use efficiency
  decrease with tree size.
• At Waycross, fertilization increased efficiency
  when trees of equal size were compared.

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QUESTIONS?Comments?