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Mid-Holocene Hemlock Decline in Eastern North America Linked with Phytophagous Insect Activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Najat Bhiry  and
Louise Filion
Najat Bhiry
Affiliation:
Centre d'etudes nordiques and Département de géographie, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4
Louise Filion
Affiliation:
Centre d'etudes nordiques and Département de géographie, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4
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Abstract

Macrofossil evidence indicates that the mid-Holocene hemlock [Tsuga canadensis L. (Carr.)] decline that occurred over a wide area in eastern North America was associated with phytophagous insect activity. In situ hemlock macrofossils and insect remains found in a paludified dunefield at the northern limit of hemlock testify that two defoliation events occurred at 4910 ± 90 and 4200 ± 100 yr B.P., respectively. The sharp coincidence of remains from hemlock needles with chewing damage typical of hemlock looper feeding, head capsules from the hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria) and the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana), absence of hemlock fruiting remains, and tree-ring anomalies in fossil hemlocks that died prematurely (<165 yr) suggest that defoliation affected hemlock reproductive capacity and pollen productivity, or more likely caused mass mortality. Our findings indicate that defoliation can affect ecosystems for centuries, especially when long-lived tree species are involved.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 312 - 320
Copyright
University of Washington

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