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<p dir="ltr">For several decades, the ecological dominance of white oak (<i>Quercus alba</i>) has been declining throughout the species’ native range in eastern North America with failure to recruit new individuals into the overstory. White oak’s decline is concerning as the species is of great cultural, ecological, and economic value. Planting artificial regeneration is one approach to bolstering flagging natural white oak regeneration insufficient in vigor or quantity to supplant mature canopy white oak. Shelterwood harvests and artificial regeneration alone or in combination are frequently suggested to be an effective means of securing sufficient white oak regeneration in central hardwood understories. Because there is a much more comprehensive body of work examining northern red oak (<i>Quercus rubra</i>) than white oak artificial regeneration, managerial prescriptions for artificial regeneration of white oak are commonly generalized from northern red oak prescriptions. If the two species are silvically different, however, they should be managed differently to achieve maximum effectiveness of regenerative prescriptions.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">I conducted both a silvicultural field trial and a more controlled shade and competition study to examine artificial white oak regeneration responses to light and competition gradients. In the silvicultural field trial, I tested the impacts of varied lengths of competition control, geographical seed source, and canopy cover on growth and survival of artificial white oak regeneration within an expanding shelterwood system. After three growing seasons, my results indicated that seedlings grow and survive at the greatest rates in areas of up to approximately 50% canopy closure, or conditions found in harvest gaps.</p><p dir="ltr">In a shade and competition study, I compared artificial northern red oak and white oak growth, morphology, and physiology responses to three light levels (10% or low, 30% or medium, and full sun or high) under the presence or absence of an invasive competitor (Amur honeysuckle (<i>Lonicera maackii</i>)). After two years, my results indicated that medium light levels resulted in the greatest height and diameter growth as well as the greatest nonstructural carbohydrate amounts in both root and shoot organs of both species. Interestingly, my physiology results indicated that northern red oak seedlings displayed lower light compensation points and greater quantum yields than white oak seedlings. These traits potentially indicate greater shade tolerance of northern red oak than white oak. Further, white oak foliar nitrogen in shaded treatments, quantum yield, and light compensation points were impacted more severely by competition than equivalent northern red oak measures, indicating that white oak seedlings may not be as well equipped to handle invasive competition pressures. These results indicate that these two upland oak species are fundamentally different, and these differences should be considered when writing management prescriptions.</p>

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Graduation date: 2006 / Habitat loss causes a reduction in available resources for wildlife, alters the configuration of remaining habitat, and may isolate wildlife populations. White-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) are experiencing long-term population declines in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, where they are historically associated with oak woodlands. As secondary cavity-nesters, white-breasted nuthatches may be limited by the availability of existing cavities for nesting and roosting. Oak vegetation in the Willamette Valley has changed since European-American settlement times from vast areas of open oak savanna to isolated closed-canopy stands separated by agricultural fields. We examined nuthatch density, nest cavity selection, and nest success in relation to oak woodland structure and landscape context. We conducted point transect surveys in 3 strata: woodland interiors, large woodland edges, and small woodlands. We located and monitored nuthatch nests and sampled vegetation at nest locations and matching random locations around each nest. Woodland structure and edge density were measured at a 178-m radius (home range) scale, and landscape context was measured using vegetation cover within a 1-km radius around point transects and nests. We used program DISTANCE to fit detection functions and calculate nuthatch densities. We used conditional logistic regression to compare nest locations with random locations, and analyzed nest success with Mayfield logistic regression. White-breasted nuthatch density was significantly higher in small woodlands than in edges of large woodlands, which had higher nuthatch density than woodland interiors. Density of nuthatches increased with a combination of oak cover within a 1-km radius of the point, edge density within a 178-m radius, and number of oak trees >50 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) within a 100-m radius. Nest cavities were situated in oak trees containing more cavities than random oak trees that had cavities, and oak trees used as nest trees had a larger dbh than oak trees within random plots. Local woodland structure at nest locations was characterized by larger trees, measured by greater mean dbh, canopy cover, and basal area of oaks than random locations within the home range. Nest success in natural cavities was 71% and was not predicted by attributes of nest cavities, nest trees, local woodland structure at nests, woodland structure at the home range scale, or landscape context. These results suggest that the most suitable habitat for white-breasted nuthatches in the Willamette Valley includes oak woodlands in close proximity to one another with a high proportion of edge and mature oak trees. Managers should preserve trees containing cavities and large oak trees whenever possible. Thinning of small oaks and removal of conifers in oak woodlands to create more open, savanna-like conditions may also promote the development of larger oaks with more spreading branches, providing more opportunities for cavities to form and more foraging surface area for nuthatches.