Canadian Forest Service Publications
Root grafts and their silvicultural implications. 1972. Eis, S. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 2(2): 111-120.
Year: 1972
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 28496
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1139/x72-022
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Abstract
Many trees in stands of Douglas fir, western hemlock and western red cedar on Vancouver Island were joined by functional grafts. In a partially cut stand, 45% of the stumps showed evidence of continued growth and half of these (23%) were still growing vigorously more than 22 years after logging. On experimentally detopped trees, growth extended several meters up the bole. Dominant trees usually supported the growth of the root system and lower boles of grafted suppressed trees. Translocation through grafts may partially explain the frequent stagnation and slow recovery of stands after thinning from above, and may be involved in the usually rapid increase of growth after thinning from below. It is probably a contributing factor in establishing dominance and determining mortality in overtopped trees. In species that graft freely, the use of silvicides in spacing and thinning treatments should be restricted to young stands before grafts are established.