Date of Award
5-2018
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Biological Sciences - Ecology and Natural Resources: M.S.
Department
Biology
College
College of Science and Engineering
First Advisor
William Cook
Second Advisor
Jorge Arriagada
Third Advisor
Jeffrey Torguson
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Abstract
Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) was once a predominant component of the forest ecosystem in eastern Minnesota; however, widespread logging operations and associated wildfires removed significant amounts of white pine from the landscape at the turn of the 20th century. There has been an ongoing restoration effort at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park since the 1980s; but, even with over 40,000 seedlings planted since the year 2000, the success of reestablishment has been minimal. White-tailed deer pose a serious threat to restoring this conifer component to the landscape when deer densities are moderate to high. A two year study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of seedling age at time of planting and also compared several control methods to deter browsing. The results suggest that the one-year old seedlings planted were less susceptible to infestation to pine bark adelgids and experienced a higher survival rate than the two-year olds. Seedlings that were bud-capped, regardless of age, experienced significantly less browsing rates than those not bud-capped.
Recommended Citation
Arola, Kyle, "Restoration of Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, Minnesota" (2018). Culminating Projects in Biology. 34.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/biol_etds/34
