Abstract
Boxelder (
Acer negundo L.) is a shade-tolerant species commonly found in west Gulf Coastal Plain floodplains. It is a desirable species for wildlife habitat, but has long been considered a “weed” for timber management, especially when regenerating forests to more desirable species. Results from an archived dataset of stem analysis from a variety of bottomland hardwood species showed the successional pathway of boxelder following the pioneer species eastern cottonwood [
Populus deltoides (Bartr.) ex Marsh.] on point bars along former Mississippi River channels. We were not able to show trainer effects of boxelder from these two-aged stands. A conceptual model of tree species to plant with red oaks (
Quercus spp.) in bottomland hardwood afforestation, along with personal observations of boxelder, were used to develop hypotheses for future boxelder stand development research to determine if boxelder could serve as a trainer species. These hypotheses are based on development in even-aged stands.
Parent Publication
Citation
Lockhart, Brian Roy; Souter, Ray A. 2013. Boxelder (
Acer negundo L.) stand development- can it serve as a trainer species? In: Guldin, James M., ed. 2013. Proceedings of the 15th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-GTR-175. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 65-72.