Seedling Production in the High-Elevation Beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) Forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Sain RE and Blum KE. 1981. Seedling Production in the High-Elevation Beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) Forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Castanea. 46(3):217- 224
Beechnuts were collected during the fall of 1978 from six high-elevation beech forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Comparisons of seed viability were made between these high-elevation forests and low-elevation beech forests in middle and east Tennessee, and southwest Virginia. Viability was tested by tetrazolium, field germination, and laboratory germination tests. High-elevation beechnuts were found to have a germinative capacity of 72.26% (284/383) and low-elevation nuts 71.12% (431/606). Naturally occurring seedlings were found growing in the high-elevation forests in the spring of 1979. The conclusion is that these forests possess the capacity to reproduce via seed.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Sain, R; Blum, K
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- American beech (Fagus grandifolia), Great Smoky Mountains National Park NC TN, GRSM-01659, Vegetation