Picea rubens

Last updated

Contents

Red spruce
Picea rubens UGA5349098.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species:
P. rubens
Binomial name
Picea rubens
Picea rubens range map.png
Synonyms [2]
  • Abies americana K.Koch nom. illeg.
  • Abies rubra (Du Roi) Poir.
  • Picea americana Suringar
  • Picea australis Small
  • Picea nigra var. rubra (Du Roi) Engelm.
  • Picea rubra (Du Roi) Link nom. illeg.
  • Picea rubra var. pendula Carrière
  • Picea rubra var. pusilla Peck
  • Picea rubra var. virgata (Rehder) Rehder
  • Picea rubra f. virgata Rehder
  • Pinus abies var. acutissima Münchh.
  • Pinus americana Gaertn. nom. illeg.
  • Pinus mariana var. rubra Du Roi
  • Pinus rubra (Du Roi) D.Don nom. illeg.
  • Pinus rubra var. violacea Endl.

Picea rubens, commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to western North Carolina. [3] [4] [5] This species is also known as yellow spruce, West Virginia spruce, eastern spruce, and he-balsam. [6] [7] Red spruce is the provincial tree of Nova Scotia. [4]

Description

Foliage and cones Picea rubens cone.jpg
Foliage and cones

Red spruce is a perennial, [8] shade-tolerant, late successional [9] coniferous tree that under optimal conditions grows to 18–40 m (59–131 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of about 60 cm (24 in), though exceptional specimens can reach 46 m (151 ft) tall and 100 cm (39 inches) in diameter. It has a narrow conical crown. The leaves are needle-like, yellow-green, 12–15 mm (15⁄32–19⁄32 in) long, four-sided, curved, with a sharp point, and extend from all sides of the twig. The bark is gray-brown on the surface and red-brown on the inside, thin, and scaly. The wood is light, soft, has narrow rings, and has a slight red tinge. [10] The cones are cylindrical, 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) long, with a glossy red-brown color and stiff scales. The cones hang down from branches. [3] [4] [5] [11]

Habitat

Dense red spruce forest in its native habitat at the summit of Spruce Knob, West Virginia RedSpruceForestOnSpruceKnobWV.JPG
Dense red spruce forest in its native habitat at the summit of Spruce Knob, West Virginia

Red spruce grows at a slow to moderate rate, lives for 250 to 450+ years, and is very shade-tolerant when young. [12] It is often found in pure stands or forests mixed with eastern white pine, balsam fir, or black spruce. Along with Fraser fir, red spruce is one of two primary tree types in the southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, a distinct ecosystem found only in the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. [13] Its habitat is moist but well-drained sandy loam, often at high altitudes. Red spruce can be easily damaged by windthrow and acid rain.

Notable red spruce forests can be seen at Gaudineer Scenic Area, a virgin red spruce forest located in West Virginia, the Canaan Valley, Roaring Plains West Wilderness, Dolly Sods Wilderness, Spruce Mountain and Spruce Knob all also in West Virginia and all sites of former extensive red spruce forest. Some areas of this forest, particularly in Roaring Plains West Wilderness, Dolly Sods Wilderness as well as areas of Spruce Mountain are making a rather substantial recovery.

It is closely related to black spruce, and hybrids between the two are frequent where their ranges meet. [3] [4] [5] Genetic data suggests that the red spruce peripatrically speciated from the black spruce during the Pleistocene due to glaciation. [14] [15]

Uses

Red spruce is used for Christmas trees and is an important wood used in making paper pulp. It is also an excellent tonewood, and is used in many higher-end acoustic guitars and violins, as well as musical soundboard. The sap can be used to make spruce gum. [11] Leafy red spruce twigs are boiled with sugar and flavoring to make spruce beer. [16] Also it can be made into spruce pudding. It can also be used as construction lumber and is good for millwork and for crates. [17]

Red spruce cones from the Pisgah National Forest Nine picea rubens cones from Pisgah National Forest.jpg
Red spruce cones from the Pisgah National Forest

Damaging factors

Like most trees, red spruce is subject to insect parasitism. Their insect enemy is the spruce budworm, although it is a bigger problem for white spruce and balsam fir. [18] Other issues that have been damaging red spruce have included the increase in acid rain and current climate change. [19]

One of the consequences of acid rain deposition is the decrease of soil exchangeable calcium and increase of aluminum.  This is because acid precipitation disrupts cation and nutrition cycling in forest ecosystems. Components of acid rain such as H+, NO3−, and SO42- limit the uptake of calcium by trees and can increase aluminum availability. [20]

Calcium concentration is important for red spruce for physiological processes such as dark respiration and cold tolerance, as well as disease resistance, signal transduction, membrane and cell wall synthesis and function, and regulation of stomata. Conversely, dissolved aluminum can be toxic or can interfere with root uptake of calcium and other nutrients. At the ecosystem and community levels, Calcium availability is associated with community composition, mature tree growth, and ecosystem productivity. One study testing the effects of added aluminum to soil, found that P. rubens mortality rate increased under these conditions. [21]

During the 1980s, increased acid deposition contributed to a loss of high-elevation red spruce trees, due to leached calcium and decreased freezing tolerance. [22] Additionally, the structure of the spruce needle enhances the capture of water and particles, which has been shown to add to soil acidification, nutrient leaching, and forest decline. [23]

However, more recently, reductions in acid deposition have contributed to red spruce resurgence in some mountain areas in the northeastern United States. This increase in red spruce growth has been associated with an increase in rainfall pH, which reduces bulk acidic deposition. This suggests that policies aiming to reduce atmospheric pollution in this area have been effective, although other species sensitive to soil acidification, such as sugar maple, are still continuing to decline. [22]

Conservation

The red spruce has low genetic diversity as well as a narrow ecological niche, meaning the tree is easily susceptible to changes within its environment. [24] The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) [25] seeks to unite diverse partners with the goal of restoring historic red spruce ecosystems across the high-elevation landscapes of central Appalachians. The partners that make up this diverse group are Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture, Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Mountain Institute, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, West Virginia Division of Forestry, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia State Parks, and West Virginia University. [26]


Prior to the late 1800s, 600,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) of red spruce were in West Virginia. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a vast amount of logging began in the state and the number of red spruce dwindled to 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres). Silviculture is being used to help restore the population of the lost red spruce. [27]

Significant efforts have been made to increase the growth of red spruce trees in western North Carolina. Most notably by Molly Tartt on behalf of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Tartt, a resident of Brevard North Carolina, embarked on a mission to find the lost red spruce Pisgah Forest that had been planted by the DAR as a memorial to the lives lost during the American Revolution. The forest, consisting of 50,000 trees was dedicated in 1940 and had until recently been forgotten until Tartt located and identified the forest. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian Mountains</span> Mountain range in eastern North America

The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain. The general definition used is one followed by the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada to describe the respective countries' physiographic regions. The U.S. uses the term Appalachian Highlands and Canada uses the term Appalachian Uplands; the Appalachian Mountains are not synonymous with the Appalachian Plateau, which is one of the provinces of the Appalachian Highlands.

<i>Picea mariana</i> North American species of spruce tree

Picea mariana, the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and is that province's most numerous tree. The range of the black spruce extends into northern parts of the United States: in Alaska, the Great Lakes region, and the upper Northeast. It is a frequent part of the biome known as taiga or boreal forest.

<i>Picea glauca</i> Species of conifer

Picea glauca, the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in North America. Picea glauca is native from central Alaska all through the east, across western and southern/central Canada to the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, and south to Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Upstate New York and Vermont, along with the mountainous and immediate coastal portions of New Hampshire and Maine, where temperatures are just barely cool and moist enough to support it. There is also an isolated population in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. It is also known as Canadian spruce, skunk spruce, cat spruce, Black Hills spruce, western white spruce, Alberta white spruce, and Porsild spruce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser fir</span> Species of conifer

The Fraser fir, sometimes spelled" Frasier fir, is an endangered species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States. They are endemic to only seven montane regions in the Appalachian Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the United States

The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinkham Notch</span> Mountain pass in New Hampshire

Pinkham Notch is a mountain pass in the White Mountains of north-central New Hampshire, United States. The notch is a result of extensive erosion by the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Wisconsinian ice age. Pinkham Notch was eroded into a glacial U-shaped valley whose walls are formed by the Presidential, Wildcat, and Carter-Moriah ranges. Due to the volatility of the area's climate and rugged character of the terrain, a number of rare or endemic ecosystems have developed throughout the notch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the United States

The Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests are an ecoregion in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, in the Eastern United States. The ecoregion is located in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, including the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It covers an area of about 61,500 square miles (159,000 km2) in: northeast Alabama and Georgia, northwest South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and central West Virginia and Pennsylvania; and small extensions into Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England–Acadian forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States

The New England-Acadian forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in North America that includes a variety of habitats on the hills, mountains and plateaus of New England and New York State in the Northeastern United States, and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.

<i>Krummholz</i> Type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes

Krummholz — also called knieholz — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds. Under these conditions, trees can only survive where they are sheltered by rock formations or snow cover. As the lower portion of these trees continues to grow, the coverage becomes extremely dense near the ground. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the formation is known as tuckamore. Krummholz trees are also found on beaches such as the Oregon coast, where trees can become much taller than their subalpine cousins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Balsam Mountains</span> Mountain range in North Carolina, United States

The Great Balsam Mountains, or Balsam Mountains, are in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States. The Great Balsams are a subrange of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which in turn are a part of the Appalachian Mountains. The most famous peak in the Great Balsam range is Cold Mountain, which is the centerpiece of author Charles Frazier's bestselling novel Cold Mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spruce–fir forests</span> Spruce forest

Spruce–fir forests are type of forest found in the Northern Hemisphere dominated by spruce and fir trees. These forests are often considered to be climax forests, with the two main tree genera able to reproduce in their own shade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richland Balsam</span> Mountain in North Carolina

Richland Balsam is a mountain in the Great Balsam Mountains in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Rising to an elevation of 6,410 feet (1,950 m), it is the highest mountain in the Great Balsam range, is among the 20 highest summits in the Appalachian range, and is the ninth highest peak in the Eastern United States. The Blue Ridge Parkway reaches an elevation of 6,053 feet (1,845 m)—the parkway's highest point—as it passes over Richland Balsam's southwestern slope. The Jackson County-Haywood County line crosses the mountain's summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest</span> Ecoregion of the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States

The southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest is an ecoregion of the temperate coniferous forests biome, a type of montane coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. The ecoregion is the highest and coldest forest type in the Appalachian range, thriving in elevations above 5,500 feet (1,700 m) where the climate is too harsh to support the broad-leaved hardwood forest that dominates the region's lower elevations. A relict of the last Ice Age, this forest type covers just over 100 square miles (260 km2) and is considered the second-most endangered ecosystem in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spruce Mountain (West Virginia)</span> Highest point in the state of West Virginia

Spruce Mountain, located in eastern West Virginia, is the highest ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The whale-backed ridge extends for only 16 miles (26 km) from northeast to southwest, but several of its peaks exceed 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in elevation. The summit, Spruce Knob, is the highest Allegheny Mountain point both in the state and the entire range, which spans four states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern forest–boreal transition</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in Canada and the United States

The eastern forest–boreal transition is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of North America, mostly in eastern Canada. It is a transitional zone or region between the predominantly coniferous Boreal Forest and the mostly deciduous broadleaf forest region further south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balsam woolly adelgid</span> Insect that attacks fir trees

The balsam woolly adelgid is small wingless insect that infests and kills firs. In their native Europe they are a minor parasite on silver fir and Sicilian fir, but they have become a threat especially to balsam fir and Fraser fir after they were introduced to the United States around the beginning of the 20th century. Because this species is not native to North America, the Fraser fir has not evolved any type of defense against it.

<i>Oxalis montana</i> Species of flowering plant

Oxalis montana is a species of flowering plant in the family Oxalidaceae known by the common names mountain woodsorrel, wood shamrock, sours and white woodsorrel. It may also be called common woodsorrel, though this name also applies to its close relative, Oxalis acetosella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian temperate rainforest</span> Temperate rainforest in the Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian temperate rainforest or Appalachian cloud forest is located in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States and is among the most biodiverse temperate regions in the world. Centered primarily around Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forests between southwestern Virginia and southwestern North Carolina, it has a cool, mild climate with highly variable temperature and precipitation patterns linked to elevation. The temperate rainforest as a whole has a mean annual temperature near 7 °C (45 °F) and annual precipitation exceeding 140 centimeters, though the highest peaks can reach more than 200 centimeters and are frequently shrouded in fog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecological regions of Quebec</span>

The Ecological regions of Quebec are regions with specific types of vegetation and climates as defined by the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. Given the size of this huge province, there is wide variation from the temperate deciduous forests of the southwest to the arctic tundra of the extreme north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeastern Highlands (ecoregion)</span>

The Northeastern Highlands Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The ecoregion extends from the northern tip of Maine and runs south along the Appalachian Mountain Range into eastern Pennsylvania. Discontiguous sections are located among New York's Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Range, and Tug Hill. The largest portion of the Northeastern Highlands ecoregion includes several sub mountain ranges, including the Berkshires, Green Mountains, Taconic, and White Mountains.

References

  1. ↑ Farjon, A. (2013). "Picea rubens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T42335A2973542. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42335A2973542.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Picea rubens Sarg.". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  3. 1 2 3 Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books ISBN   3-87429-298-3.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Taylor, Ronald J. (1993). "Picea rubens". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 2. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  5. 1 2 3 Earle, Christopher J., ed. (2018). "Picea rubens". The Gymnosperm Database.
  6. ↑ Blum, Barton M. (1990). "Picea rubens". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Conifers. Silvics of North America. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – via Southern Research Station.
  7. ↑ Peattie, Donald Culross (1948-01-01). A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 51. ISBN   0-395-58174-5.
  8. ↑ "Red Spruce (Rubens)". Garden Guides. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Dumais, D; Prevost, M (June 2007). "Management for red spruce conservation in Quebec: The importance of some physiological and ecological characteristics – A review". Forestry Chronicle. 83 (3): 378–392. doi: 10.5558/tfc83378-3 . ProQuest   294760995.
  10. ↑ "Red Spruce" (PDF). USDA NRCS. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Red Spruce". A handbook of Maritime trees. Atlantic Forestry Centre. Archived from the original on 2008-08-18.
  12. ↑ "Eastern OLDLIST: A database of maximum tree ages for Eastern North America".
  13. ↑ White, Peter (2006). "Boreal Forest". Encyclopedia of Appalachia. University of Tennessee Press. pp. 49–50.
  14. ↑ Juan P. Jaramillo-Correa & Jean Bousquet (2003), "New evidence from mitochondrial DNA of a progenitor-derivative species relationship between black and red spruce (Pinaceae)", American Journal of Botany, 90 (12): 1801–1806, doi:10.3732/ajb.90.12.1801, PMID   21653356
  15. ↑ Isabelle Gamache, Juan P. Jaramillo-Correa, Sergey Payette, & Jean Bousquet (2003), "Diverging patterns of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA diversity in subarctic black spruce: imprint of a founder effect associated with postglacial colonization", Molecular Ecology, 12 (4): 891–901, Bibcode:2003MolEc..12..891G, doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01800.x, PMID   12753210, S2CID   20234158 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 285. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.
  17. ↑ "Red Spruce". The Wood Database. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "Red Spruce" at the Encyclopedia of Life
  19. ↑ Houle, Daniel (2012). "Compositional vegetation changes and increased red spruce abundance during the Little Ice Age in a sugar maple forest of north-eastern North America". Plant Ecology. 213 (6): 1027–1035. Bibcode:2012PlEco.213.1027H. doi:10.1007/s11258-012-0062-0. S2CID   15104515.
  20. ↑ Schaberg, P. G.; DeHayes, D. H.; Hawley, G. J.; Strimbeck, G. R.; Cumming, J. R.; Murakami, P. F.; Borer, C. H. (2000-01-01). "Acid mist and soil Ca and Al alter the mineral nutrition and physiology of red spruce". Tree Physiology. 20 (2): 73–85. doi: 10.1093/treephys/20.2.73 . ISSN   0829-318X. PMID   12651475.
  21. ↑ Kobe, Richard K; Likens, Gene E; Eagar, Christopher (2002-06-01). "Tree seedling growth and mortality responses to manipulations of calcium and aluminum in a northern hardwood forest". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 32 (6): 954–966. doi:10.1139/x02-018. ISSN   0045-5067.
  22. 1 2 Wason, Jay W.; Beier, Colin M.; Battles, John J.; Dovciak, Martin (2019). "Acidic Deposition and Climate Warming as Drivers of Tree Growth in High-Elevation Spruce-Fir Forests of the Northeastern US". Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 2: 63. Bibcode:2019FrFGC...2...63W. doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2019.00063 . ISSN   2624-893X.
  23. ↑ Pierret, Marie-Claire; Viville, Daniel; Dambrine, Etienne; Cotel, Solenn; Probst, Anne (2019-04-01). "Twenty-five year record of chemicals in open field precipitation and throughfall from a medium-altitude forest catchment (Strengbach - NE France): An obvious response to atmospheric pollution trends". Atmospheric Environment. 202: 296–314. Bibcode:2019AtmEn.202..296P. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.12.026 . ISSN   1352-2310.
  24. ↑ Parmar, Rajni; Cattonaro, Federica; Phillips, Carrie; Vassiliev, Serguei; Morgante, Michele; Rajora, Om P. (2022-12-03). "Assembly and Annotation of Red Spruce (Picea rubens) Chloroplast Genome, Identification of Simple Sequence Repeats, and Phylogenetic Analysis in Picea". International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 23 (23): 15243. doi: 10.3390/ijms232315243 . hdl: 11390/1240084 . ISSN   1422-0067. PMID   36499570.
  25. ↑ Burks, Evan (Dec 2010). "Return of the Red Spruce". Wonderful West Virginia. 74 (12): 6–11.
  26. ↑ Bove, Jennifer. "Appalachian Red Spruce Forest" . Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  27. ↑ Rentch, James; T. Schuler; M. Ford; G. Nowacki (September 2007). "Red Spruce Stand Dynamics, Simulations, and Restoration Opportunities in the Central Appalachians". Restoration Ecology. 15 (3): 440–452. Bibcode:2007ResEc..15..440R. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2007.00240.x. S2CID   85913515. ProQuest   289371889.
  28. ↑ "Daughters of the American Revolution brings forgotten forest to light".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.