Ohio State University Extension Bulletin

Survival and Growth of Trees of a Canaan Valley, West Virginia Seed Source in Relation to Varying Soil/Site Conditions

Special Circular 175-00

Results and Discussion

A summary of means, standard deviations, and ranges in values for the tree, plantation management, topographic, soil, and foliar nutrient factors measured and evaluated in the study are presented in Table 1 for plots that received "effective" chemical weed control and those without such weed control. In addition, correlations between tree characteristics and various site factors for plots receiving "effective" chemical weed control are given in Table 2.

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges in Measurements for Tree, Plantation Management, Topographic, Soil, and Foliar Variables Measured in the Study.
Variable	"Other" Weed Control1				"Effective" Weed Control1
			Range				Range
	Mean	S.D.	From	To	Mean	S.D.	From	To
Tree Survival, Growth, and Foliage Characteristics
Plot Survival, %	73.1	20.3	25	100	86.9	18.9	16	100
Total Tree Ht., m	1.20	0.41	0.46	1.92	1.75	0.33	0.82	2.41
4-Yr. Tree Ht., m	0.61	0.25	0.33	0.94	0.91	0.22	0.42	1.40
Needle Length, mm	17.2	2.9	10	23	19.1	2.8	13	27
Foliage Color2	3.1	0.5	2.0	4.0	3.4	0.5	2.2	4.2
Foliage Weight, gms3	1.41	0.27	0.70	1.90	1.57	0.25	1.01	2.22
Lateral Limbs, no.	11.8	5.1	3	23	16.4	4.4	4	30
Needle Retention, yrs.	3.18	0.48	2.3	4.0	3.43	0.52	2.4	4.4
Plantation Management
Type Weed Control4	2.5	0.8	1.0	3.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
Vegetation Density5	3.7	0.8	3.0	4.0	2.0	0.5	1.5	4.0
Effectiveness Weed Cont.6	3.6	1.0	3.0	4.0	1.6	0.5	1.0	2.5
Topographic Factors
Azimuth, deg.	175	105	5	350	182	108	5	330
Slope, %	8.3	7.2	2	29	7.7	7.2	1	26
Plot Dist. from Ridge, %	50	28	0	100	52	27	0	100
Slope Shape7	1.9	0.7	1	3	1.8	0.7	1	3
Soil Physical Factors
Total Depth, in.	34.2	4.4	26	36+	33.8	4.6	22	36+
Depth Mottling, in.	18.7	11.1	0	36+	17.8	10.3	0	36+
Thickness Ap, in.	5.6	2.0	1	9	7.0	1.9	2	10
A Horizon Sand, %	30.1	16.3	4	51	31.2	17.4	1	82
A Horizon Clay, %	23.8	7.9	14	52	22.7	7.2	6	40
B Horizon Sand, %	29.4	15.8	2	57	31.5	15.4	5	57
B Horizon Clay, %	31.1	9.5	18	61	27.9	7.4	10	61
Soil Chemical Factors
A Horizon pH	5.71	0.63	4.5	6.6	5.61	0.64	4.4	6.6
A Horizon Lime Test Index	64.9	3.49	58	70	65.7	3.41	55	70
A Horizon P, lbs/ac	52.2	49.4	2	142	59.0	50.2	8	198
A Horizon K, lbs/ac	208	81.6	90	418	198	82.8	72	450
A Horizon Ca, lbs/ac	1,840	1,080	480	6,860	1,710	1,052	250	6,140
A Horizon Mg, lbs/ac	260	167.2	62	642	277	167.0	50	800
A Horizon Cat. Ex. Cap.	12.3	3.8	8	22	10.8	3.4	5	21
B Horizon pH	5.38	0.60	4.6	6.3	5.44	0.63	4.3	7.2
B Horizon Lime Test Index	64.8	3.40	54	70	66.9	2.90	60	70
B Horizon P, lbs/ac	17.0	30.8	2	160	18.2	31.0	2	198
B Horizon K, lbs/ac	170	63.2	70	382	171	60.2	60	368
B Horizon Ca, lbs/ac	2,610	880	260	4,680	2,073	940	250	4,420
B Horizon Mg, lbs/ac	410	223	112	1,210	383	210	50	1,210
B Horizon Cat. Ex. Cap.	11.7	5.6	6	38	10.6	4.0	3	19
Foliar Element Levels
Nitrogen, %	1.69	0.29	1.08	2.41	1.85	0.28	1.00	2.41
Phosphorus, %	0.19	0.04	0.14	0.29	0.22	0.04	0.14	0.33
Potassium, %	0.73	0.15	0.47	0.87	0.83	0.16	0.52	1.16
Calcium, %	0.53	0.16	0.43	0.98	0.59	0.16	0.23	1.15
Magnesium, %	0.12	0.02	0.10	0.19	0.14	0.02	0.09	0.20
Manganese, ppm	246	118	15	403	322	128	40	583
Iron, ppm	37	13.5	20	51	49	13.2	20	99
Boron, ppm	31	6.6	19	45	33	6.8	17	54
Copper, ppm	4.16	1.11	3.0	7.9	3.96	1.09	2.0	8.5
Zinc, ppm	29	12.5	13	43	39	12.8	16	75
Aluminum, ppm	211	176	70	503	261	189	18	999
Sodium, ppm	2.60	0.31	2.50	4.30	2.51	0.13	1.70	3.00
1 Weed Control: "Effective" = annual applications of "residual" herbicides for at least the first four years; "Other" = methods of weed control other than that defined as "effective." 2 Foliage Color Rating: 1 = Yellow; 2 = Green/Yellow; 3 = Yellow-Green; 4 = Green; 5 = Blue/Green. 3 Foliage Weight: Average weight of a four-inch long foliage sample from the upper one-third of the tree. 4 Type Weed Control: 1 = Annual Chemical; 2 = Occasional Chemical; 3 = Mowing Only. 5 Vegetation Density: 1 = Bare; 2 = Light; 3 = Medium; 4 = Dense. 6 Effectiveness of Weed Control: 1 = Excellent; 2 = Good; 3 = Fair; 4 = Poor. 7 Slope Shape: 1 = Concave; 2 = Flat/Even; 3 = Convex.

Table 2. Simple Correlations Between Tree Measurements and Site Factors for Plots Receiving "Effective" Chemical Weed Control.
Site Factors6	Plot Surv.	Tot. Ht.	4-Yr. Ht.	Ndl. Lng.	Ndl. Ret.	Fol. Clr.	Fol. Wt.
	Simple Correlation Coefficient, r
Topographic Factors
Plot Slope %	0.14¹	0.23³	0.23³	0.44⁵	0.243	0.19²	0.14¹
Plot Slope Shape	0.23³	0.202	0.24³	0.09¹	0.16¹	0.30⁴	0.08¹
Soil Physical Factors
Depth to Mottling	0.37⁵	0.43⁵	0.27³	0.60⁵	-0.19²	0.19²	0.41⁵
Thick Ap Horizon	0.11¹	0.07¹	0.01¹	-0.04¹	0.19²²	0.20²	0.02¹
A Horizon, Sand.	0.19²	0.34⁴	0.41⁵	0.15¹	0.34⁴	0.17¹	0.19²
A Horizon, Clay	-0.02¹	-0.23³	-0.15¹	-0.19²	-0.35⁵	0.09¹	0.14¹
B Horizon, Sand	0.14¹	0.30⁴	0.34⁴	0.23³	0.31⁴	0.09¹	0.24³
B Horizon, Clay	-0.03¹	-0.27³	-0.19²	-0.28³	-0.38⁵	0.08¹	-0.09¹
Soil Chemical Factors
A Horizon, Phosphorus	0.04¹	0.23³	0.23³	0.24³	-0.06¹	0.09¹	0.12¹
A Horizon, Calcium	-0.16¹	-0.24³	-0.24³	-0.13¹	-0.03¹	-0.11¹	-0.12¹
A Horizon, Magnesium	-0.20²	-0.21²	-0.10¹	-0.25³	-0.19²	-0.09¹	-0.01¹
Foliar Element Levels
Nitrogen	0.17¹	0.35⁵	0.16¹	0.59⁵	0.20²	0.31⁴	0.37⁵
Potassium	0.28³	0.60⁵	0.57⁵	0.35⁵	0.39⁵	0.60⁵	0.22³
Calcium	0.06¹	0.28³	0.11¹	0.34⁴	0.21²	0.04¹	0.25³
1 Not statistically significant. 2 Statistically significant at 10 percent probability level. 3 Statistically significant at 5 percent probability level. 4 Statistically significant at 1 percent probability level. 5 Statistically significant at 0.1 percent probability level. 6 Only those variables for which correlations were statistically significant with one or more tree characteristics are included.

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