Sprouting by Pondcypress (Taxodium distichum var. nutans) After Logging

After logging, 17% of the stumps left in pondcypress (Taxodium distichum var. nutans) swamps produced sprouts that persisted for several years. Significantly more sprouts were present on stumps with diameters < 60 cm (perhaps left from younger trees) and shorter than 70 cm. Stumps in large openings and from trees cut in winter tended to have more sprouts than stumps left in thinned swamps and from trees cut during the summer. Sprout production provides a mechanism for rapM recovery of pondcypress and also ensures eed availability for subsequent regeneration after a swamp is clearcut. South. J. Appl. For. 20(4):209-213 Pondcypress (Taxodium distichum var. nutans) is one of the few conifers that sprout after the stem is damaged or destroyed. Epicormic branches often grow from the stem after burning; root sprouting may generate new stems if the entire trunk is destroyed; and dozens (even hundreds) of sprouts may be produced from a stump after the trunk is cut. The abd•ty to produce sprouts after logging has been thoroughly described for other trees and, in many cases, exploited for centuries. For instance, coppice woodlands in the British Isles have been worked since the Middle Ages. In Florida, small swamps dominated by pondcypress are now commonly being clearcut to produce chips for mulch. The ability of pondcypress to sprout increases the possibility that these swamps can regenerate successfully after such intensive logging. Not all pondcypress tumps produce sprouts after being cut, however. Vigorous sprouting has been described for cypress stumps 25 to 36 cm in diameter at 60 cm above the ground, 40 to 60 yr old, and cut in the fall or winter; at least one 300 yr old tree cut at 2.4 m above the ground is reported to have produced one coppice sprout (Mattoon 1915). However, these descriptions do not discriminate between responses of pondand baldcypress (T. distichum var distichum), and more specific information on sprout•ng that could be used to generate logging guidelines is lacking. This paper examines prouting by pondcypress in Note Katherine Ewel's current address is Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1151 Punchbowl St., Rm. 323, Honolulu HI 96813. The author thanks Karla Bran&, Cris Cristoffer, H. Terrell Davis, and Joel Smith for assistance. Mary Davis, John Ewel, Francis Putz, and Joel Smith made helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This study was conducted under a Memorandum of Agreement between the University of Florida and the Florida Division of Forestry. This paper is University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No. R-00740. several swamps that were clearcut or partially logged at several different times. Although the logging was not sufficiently controlled to permit a definitive analysis of the factors that control sprouting and subsequent stand restocking, the range of sites and approaches provide an opportunity to examine sprouting in pondcypress in greater detail than has previously been possible.