Abstract
One-year-old baldcypress (Taxodium distichum [L.] Rich.) seedlings were planted across a flooding gradient in a Louisiana bottomland forest in March and September 1985. One half of the seedlings were protected with a chickenwire fence. Survival and height growth were monitored from 1985 through 1987. First year survival was high in all areas for both plantings, except for the unprotected March-planted seedlings, which were destroyed by animals. After three growing seasons, survival of March-planted seedlings in the flooded and intermittently flooded plots was still over 70%. Natural mortality of March-planted seedlings in the unflooded plot was high, with only 40% of the seedlings surviving to the end of the study. Survival of the September-planted seedlings was also best in the flooded and intermittently flooded plots and least in the unflooded plot. Height growth, like survival, was best for seedlings in the flooded and intermittently flooded plots. It seems that baldcypress seedlings can be planted in a swamp and grow well if animal damage is controlled.
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Conner, W.H., Flynn, K. Growth and survival of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum[L.] Rich.) planted across a flooding gradient in a Louisiana bottomland forest. Wetlands 9, 207–217 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160745
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160745