Shade, leaf growth and crown development of Quercus rubra, Quercus velutina, Prunus serotina and Acer rubrum seedlings

The study was conducted in an open field to determine the optimum irradiance for establishment and growth of two oak species and two major associated woody species. Half-sib seedlings of black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and black oak (Q. velutina Lam.) were grown for two years under shade-cloth tents. Eight shade treatments (94, 70, 57, 45, 37, 27, 20 and 8% of full sunlight) with three replications each were used. Measurements were made on seedlings harvested at the end of the first and second growing seasons. In the second year, shading significantly decreased the number of leaves for all species except black cherry, but only significantly decreased leaf area in northern red oak. Shading significantly decreased average leaf size of red maple. Average leaf size of black cherry was largest in the intermediate shade treatments and decreased significantly with increased and decreased shade. Leaf weight/leaf area (mg cm(-2)) increased significantly in a quadratic pattern with decreasing shade for all four species. Leaf area ratio (cm(2) g(-1)) decreased significantly with decreasing shade for all species except red maple in the first year and black oak in the second year. Total branch development increased significantly with decreasing shade in red maple and northern red oak, whereas indeterminate branches increased significantly with decreasing shade only in black cherry, and short branches increased significantly with decreasing shade only in red maple.