Growth pf Chinese tallow in a bottomland forest in Southern Mississippi
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
Chinese tallow tree [Triadica sebifera (L.) Small, formerly Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb.] is a monoecious and deciduous tree, native to central and southern China. As a nonnative invasive tree species, it has aggressively invaded forestlands in southeastern United States, particularly the low- and bottom-land forests along the coastal region of the Gulf of Mexico. This study, on the basis of a destructive sample of 11 tallow trees collected from a bottomland oak-gum-cypress forest in the southern Mississippi, developed a group of individual tree level models to reflect the growth of diameter, total height, and standing volume with age for Chinese tallow. Moreover, we used the destructive sample data to explore allometric relationships between diameter and total height of Chinese tallow. These results are useful to estimate and compare competition potential and establishment rate of tallow trees relative to other native trees threatened by its invasion and rapid establishment. Resource managers could use this information to design efficient treatments to control and mitigate further invasion of tallow.