Silvical Characteristics of Western Redcedar in Alaska 



During the past few years new silvical information on western redcedar 

 has been obtained. In March 1953 Andersen added new data on the range 

 of western redcedar in Technical Note No. 22. In 1955 he extended the 

 board foot form class volume tables for cedar and made preliminary red- 

 cedar cubic form class volume tables. In October 1957 Gregory publish- 

 ed "Some silvical characteristics of western redcedar in Southeast 

 Alaska" in Ecology. Gradually we are adding to the fund of knowledge 

 about this species at the northern edge of its range. 



Redcedar does not reproduce itself to an appreciable extent in well- 

 stocked old-growth stands. Its seeds germinate and young seedlings 

 are numerous but they do not survive (table 8). The direct effect of 

 light or its indirect effect through warming of the site seems nec- 

 essary for survival of this species in Alaska. Western redcedar at 

 its northern limits is probably very sensitive to slight environmental 

 differences. 



Table 8. -- Average number of western hemlock and western 

 redcedar seedlings and saplings per acre in six 

 well-stocked old-growth stands 



Seedling Height Sapling Dbh 

 (Inches) (Inches) 

 Under 6.0 6.0 and over 2 4_ 



Western hemlock 21,437 5,552 200 32 



Western redcedar 11,860 78 6 4 



A definite relationship between site index and prevalence of redcedar 

 (table 9) was indicated by the fact that the species was much reduced 

 in number on habitats with a site index above 110. It was rare in 



Table 9 . -- Occurrence of redcedar by site index in young even-aged stands 



Site index Total No. No. of plots Average percent stand 

 of plots with redcedar basal area in redcedar L' 



66-75 



3 



76-85 



16 



86-95 



15 



96-105 



29 



106-115 



18 



116-125 



38 



126-135 



19 



136-145 



3 



146H- 



1 



100 





57 



94 





22 



100 





20 



97 





17 



89 





12 



34 





1 



1 





2/ 

























2/ 



Less than 1 



1^/ Stems 1 inch dbh and larger 



27 - 



