Assessing two year growth and survival of two oak species and three planting stocks on Hurricane Katrina damaged land

• Main Author: Hall, Andrew Taylor
• Other Authors: Andrew W. Ezell
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: MSSTATE 2017
• Subjects: Forestry
• Online Access: http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-12152016-114751/

<p>Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 damaging 1.2 billion cubic meters of timber including 48 million cubic meters of hardwood. An economically efficient method of artificial oak regeneration is necessary in many areas to restore this high value resource. Bareroot, conventional containerized, and EKOgrown® seedlings of <i>Quercus shumardii</i> and <i>Q. texana</i> were planted on two sites in south Mississippi. Growth and survival were evaluated for two years. Survival was assessed monthly and at the end of each growing season. Height and groundline diameter were assessed initially after planting and the end of each growing season. After two growing seasons, <i>Q. Nuttallii</i> exhibited superior performance generally when compared to <i>Q. Shumardii</i>. Conventional containerized had poor survival and initial growth likely caused by freeze damage in the nursery. EKOgrown® seedlings performed better than other planting stocks, however, high seedling cost makes them less cost-effective than bareroot seedlings which exhibited acceptable performance overall. </p>