Volume 1, Issue 1
Summer Issue— August 2006
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Мяпяуе*г
Technical Development, Planning and Utilization
Unit Newsletter
NC Division of Forest Resources— DENR
TDP Newsletter gets New & Improved
Ron Myers
Beginning with this edition, you will notice some new changes with our Technical Develop¬
ment Newsletter. Several personnel and job responsibility changes have taken place since
we published our last Tech Update. I feel it was time to make some new changes not only
on how we deliver the updates but the content as well.
The purpose of this newsletter will be to update and inform DFR field personnel, private
landowners, and other agencies about FM projects, silvicultural research projects, and
DFR program activities.
The newsletter will focus on providing technical resource management information from
project updates and summaries. Areas of focus will include both pine & hardwood silvicul¬
ture, nursery activities, tree improvement and genetics, resource data, timber markets and
utilization, FM section projects, cooperating agency projects, and local county projects.
Our goal will be to produce between 3-4 newsletters per year which may include a spring
issue, summer issue, fall issue, and a special edition. To save costs we will only do a
limited mailing and the primary distribution method will be through email as a PDF file
and the newsletter will be available on the web & the NC DFR intranet for download.
Inside this issue:
Tech Updates
1
Pine Silviculture
1-2
Hardwood Silviculture
3
Market Forces
4
Nursery /Tree Improvement
5
Field Notes
6
Pine Silviculture Loblolly Pine Seed Source Considerations bmi Pickens
Choosing the best species to plant is the first of many critical decisions landowners must make to successfully regenerate
their forestland. Valued for both pulpwood and sawtimber, loblolly pine is a popular choice for species to plant in NC and
across the SE. Healthy seedlings, proper storage and handling, and careful planting are essential to ensure good survival.
The geographic location of the seedlings parents, referred to as seed source, is another important, but overlooked factor.
Loblolly pine grows across a large geographic area with varying climates. Its natural distribution is limited to the north by
low temperatures and to the west by low rainfall. Over time different ecotypes or populations developed that are faster
growing, more resistant to disease, more tolerant of cold, or drought resistant. Loblolly pine has important genetic varia¬
tions between eastern and western seed sources that effect its survival and subsequent growth.
Generally, loblolly populations west of the Mississippi River are more resistant to drought and fusiform rust, but slower
growing. Atlantic Coast sources grow faster than western sources, and sources moved from warmer climates grow faster
than local sources. Some of the general traits of seed sources located more south and west of North Carolina are listed in
Table 1.
Tree improvement programs do use non-local seed sources to increase growth and disease resistance. Progeny test data
show that the use of non-local seed pose little risk of failure as long as the source is suited to site conditions. Many families
selected from seed sources in NC, SC, and VA have been extensively tested and are found in DFR orchards.
NC DFR has formed a Seed Source committee to examine our current guidelines for selecting appropriate seed sources
for reforestation and to develop standards as they relate to cost-share funding.
