USDA FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH NOTE NE-IOI 



1969 



ortheastern Forest 

 £ xperiment Station 



ARKET STREET, UPPER DARBY, PA. 



SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF YELLOW-POPLAR 

 SEEDLINGS DEPEND ON DATE OF GERMINATION 1 



Abstract. A study of yellow-poplar seedlings showed that early survival 

 and growth were best among stems that originated in May and early 

 June. Few, if any, seedlings that emerged after 1 July were in favorable 

 competitive condition 3 years later. This indicates that clearcuttings made 

 for maximum natural regeneration of yellow-poplar should be carried 

 out in fall and winter to permit early germination in the spring. 



On good sites in the Appalachians, vegetation develops rapidly after 

 clearcutting. After a year or two, the ground is so occupied that there is 

 little space for additional seedlings to develop. Tree seedlings that do not 

 get an early start have reduced chances of survival. This situation may be 

 especially important in the case of yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera 

 L.). Yellow-poplar seed germinates from spring to early fall, 2 but small 

 seedlings do not appear to survive well after the first growing season. 3 

 Yellow-poplar is intolerant and does not develop well unless it gets a 

 jump on the competition. 



To determine whether or not time of germination affects initial develop- 

 ment and early survival of yellow-poplar seedlings, a 3-year study was 

 carried out on the Fernow Experimental Forest near Parsons, West Vir- 

 ginia. The study was begun early in the spring of 1966 in a number of 

 openings that had been made the previous fall in a 65-year-old stand. 



1 Published with the approval of the West Virginia University Agricultural Experiment 

 Station as Scientific Paper No. 1055. 



2 Tryon, E. H., and K. L. Carvell. Environmental factors affecting yellow-poplar 

 survival UNDER A young STAND. Castanea 25: 69-73, illus., I960. 



3 Phillips, J. J. Some effects of competition on the survival of yellow-poplar. 

 USDA Forest Serv. NE. Forest Exp. Sta. Res. Note 134, 4 pp., 1962. 



1 



