The poor seedling establishment on most of the pine-associated treatments was 

 apparently caused by direct or indirect effects of the organic layer, the overstory 

 canopy, or a combination of these on seed germination and seedling mortalities. Pro- 

 viding the canopy was not too dense, seedling establishment was enhanced near overstory 

 trees by removing the organic layer and competing vegetation. The method of removal, 

 by fire or mechanical scarification, appeared to have little effect on initial estab- 

 lishment numbers if the method was carried out thoroughly. However, the specific type 

 of litter and vegetation removal did have a rather obvious effect on seedling size and 

 vigor, as will be discussed in the next section. 



Seedling Productivity 



Opening treatments vs pine-infZuenaed treatments .-- A comparison was made between 

 the average characteristic sizes of seedlings grown in the openings and those grown 

 under an overstory. Another contrast is shown in which the fire seedling dimensions 

 are removed from the analysis for a better comparison of treatments in the openings 

 with those in the pine stand (table 5) . 



The superiority of seedlings grov>m in the open is evident. Their average charac- 

 teristic sizes are greater than pine-influenced seedlings in all cases. 



Table 5 . --Charaat eristics of seedlings oaourring in openings compared to those of seed- 

 lings occurring under an overstory pine influence 







Average treatment measurements 



Seedling : 

 characteristics : 



Opening 



: Pine-influenced : All 



'■ minus fire : pine-influenced 



Shoot length 



7 



1 



cm 



6 



2 



cm** 



6 



8 



cm 



Crown length 



4 



4 



cm 



3 



4 



cm* 



4 



1 



cm 



Taproot length 



39 



6 



cm 



32 



4 



cm** 



34 



6 



cm* 



Lateral root length 



107 



6 



cm 



45 



8 



cm** 



64 



5 



cm** 



Lateral root number 



27 



2 





15 



9 



** 



19 



7 



** 



Total biomass 



334 



4 



mg 



203 



2 



mg** 



267 



8 



mg 



Shoot biomass 



181 



1 



mg 



103 



3 



mg** 



148 



3 



mg 



Root biomass 



153 



3 



mg 



100 







mg* 



119 



5 



mg 



* Treatment average significantly smaller than the opening treatment at the 5 percent 

 level . 



** Treatment average significantly smaller than the opening treatment at the 1 percent 

 level . 



16 



