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Sugar maple (Acer saccharumMarsh.) decline disease, decreased growth, and regeneration failure have been related to a low supply of Ca and Mg. There is increased interest in augmenting cation availability via liming, but there is little information on the amounts of lime required and the longevity of the lime treatment. A single application of 22.4 Mg ha‐1of dolomitic limestone in 1985 at four forested sites in Potter County, PA has shown that soil, soil water, and sugar maple foliage chemistry are significantly altered by liming and the changes in soils and foliage persist as long as 21‐yr post‐treatment. By 2001, only 3 kg ha‐1of lime remained undissolved while increases in exchangeable Ca and Mg, and pH continued through 2006 at depths up to 35 to 45 cm. Exchangeable Mn and Al concentrations were significantly reduced by lime application, though effects were slower to develop at deeper depths. Soil solution chemistry from 1996 was highly variable but reflected the changed soil nutrients. On limed plots, sugar maple foliage had elevated concentrations of Ca and Mg in 2006 samples, indicating the persistence of the lime treatment. Comparison of Ca/Al ratios in soil solution, soils, and foliage show inconsistencies from previous published risk thresholds. Species‐specific thresholds of Ca and Mg availability in soil and foliage have better potential management application and should be more rigorously tested as stress indicators.

Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) seedlings survive and grow poorly under dense hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula Michx.) ground cover in the understory of partially cut Allegheny hardwood stands. Previous field studies showed that there were about 80% fewer black cherry seedlings where fern was present than where it was absent. Allelopathic interference with black cherry seed germination, seedling survival, and growth by hay-scented fern foliage leachates, root washings, and soil transformation products was evaluated in a series of field, greenhouse, and laboratory experiments. Black cherry seeds germinated as well in the presence of hay-scented fern or its leachates as when they were absent in both the laboratory and the field. Fern foliage leachates and root washings did not affect black cherry growth in sand or natural soil cores in the greenhouse. There also was no evidence that hay-scented fern natural products or their soil transformation products built up in the soil. A two-year manipulative field experiment to separate effects of hay-scented fern foliage shade from foliar leaching showed that foliage shade significantly reduced black cherry seedling survival and growth; foliage leachates had no effect. Results of the studies led to the conclusion that allelopathy does not play a direct role in hay-scented fern interference with black cherry seedling establishment in partially cut Allegheny hardwood stands.

The development of long (6‐20 m) tree roots was reconstructed from serial transverse sections taken 10‐20 cm apart. Measurements of primary xylem diameter showed that the tips of long roots of red maple (Acer rubrumL.) and paper birch (Betula papyriferaMarsh.) are initially small, but they increase in diameter with increasing distance from the stem. A repeating pattern of the width of the first annual ring marks length increments of long roots. The pattern of ring width is paralleled by a pattern of primary xylem diameter. Our interpretation is that primary xylem diameter increases during spring and early summer, stays constant during late summer and decreases in autumn. After injuries to large root tips, new large lateral tips are formed that replace the parent tip. Thus, a single long root is actually formed by a succession of these replacement roots. In a series of sections there may be sudden changes in primary xylem diameter as the successive sections pass from parent root to replacement root at points of injury. These changes in birch are associated with changes in a number of protoxylem poles.

Our ontogenetic analysis of paper birch root systems shows that the fate of a root tip is related to its relative primary xylem diam (PXD). Lateral root tips with an initial PXD less than about 25 % of the parent root PXD are ephemeral. Some tips having a PXD of more than about 25 % of the parent root PXD become the permanent portions of the root system, enlarging over time as they elongate. In seedling root systems, the primary root and first‐formed laterals are initially about the same size, and their PXD's all enlarge with increasing distance from the stem as the tips elongate to form the initial horizontal woody framework. Permanent lateral root branches with a large relative PXD develop after root tip injury, when the root tip is forced to grow in a curve, or from other unaccountable causes. Our observations show the importance of using relative diameters when classifying roots and when applying the concept of heterorhizy to paper birch root systems. Evidence points to the existence of some form of apical dominance in roots.

Extracts of the red alga Laurenciaintricata, collected in Bermuda, have yielded two new halogenated C-15 enynes, bermudenynol and its acetate. Spectroscopic evidence for the assignment of structures 1aand 1bto these compounds is presented. X-ray analysis verified the proposed structures and established their stereochemistry.