• Background and Aims Burial is a recurrent stress imposed upon plants of coastal dunes. Woody plants are buried on open coastal dunes and in forested areas behind active blowouts; however, little is known about the burial responses and adaptive traits of these species. The objectives of this study were: (a) to determine the growth and morphological responses to burial in sand of seven woody plant species native to central Canadian coastal dunes; and (b) to identify traits that determine burial tolerance in these species. • Methods Field experiments were conducted to determine the responses of each species to burial. Saplings were exposed to burial treatments of 0, 10, 25, 50 and 75 % of their height. Burial responses were evaluated based on regressions of total biomass, height, adventitious root production and percentage allocation to shoot, root and adventitious root biomass on percentage burial. • Key ResultsPinus strobus and Picea glauca lacked burial tolerance. In response to the burial gradient, these species showed a strong linear decline in total biomass, minimal adventitious root production that peaked at moderate levels (25–50 % burial) and no change in allocation to shoots vs. roots. The tolerant species Juniperus virginiana, Thuja occidentalis and Picea mariana showed a quadratic response to burial, with little change in biomass up to 50 % burial, but a large decline at 75 %. These species produced abundant adventitious roots up to 50 % burial, but did not alter allocation patterns over the range of burial levels. Populus balsamifera and Salix cordata were stimulated by burial. These species showed linear increases in biomass with increasing burial, produced copious adventitious roots across the gradient and showed a clear shift in allocation to vertical shoot growth and adventitious root production at the expense of the original roots under high burial conditions. • Conclusions Adventitious root production and plastic resource allocation to biomass are adaptive traits of coastal dune woody plants in central Canada, and provide a basis for assessing burial tolerance in woody plants on coastal dunes throughout the world.

The zonation of coastal dune plant communities from the beach to their inland margin is recognized worldwide; however, the cause of this pattern remains controversial because of the covariance of several environmental factors, such as sand burial, salt spray, and microclimate, along a gradient perpendicular to the shoreline. To minimize the confounding influence of this complex shore–inland gradient and determine the direct effects of burial on plant community composition, we examined stands along a burial gradient that extended parallel to the Lake Huron coastline, produced by variable blowout activity amongst a series of parabolic dunes comprising the second ridge inland from the coast. We used the point-quarter method and 1 m × 1 m plots to quantify overstorey and understorey plant communities in each parabolic dune stand and determined species importance, here defined as the sum of density, frequency, and dominance for the overstorey and the sum of frequency and dominance only for the understorey. Correspondence analyses of the species importance – dune stand matrices elucidated a pattern of plant community composition on the primary ordination axis that was strongly related to an index of burial activity (r² = 0.40 and 0.87 for the overstorey and understorey, respectively). Burial was associated with changes in species richness and diversity, shifts in dominant species, and species replacement based on burial tolerance across the gradient. These data support the hypothesis that burial in sand dunes is a major causative factor of zonation, which can extend beyond the foredunes and include communities of woody species.Key words: coastal dunes, vegetation, zonation, woody plants, burial.

Individual-tree basal area increment (BAI) models were developed for major tree species in the boreal forest of Ontario, Canada. A composite distance-independent individual-tree BAI model was structured based on the log-linearized gamma base function using a dataset derived from a network of ∼1800 permanent growth plots. A suite of fixed effects covariates that included basal area of trees larger than the subject tree, diameter at breast height, stand basal area and latitude, along with ecological land classification ecosites used as a random effect parameter, were found to be significant covariates in the model. A model fitted with the intercept designated as a mixed-effects parameter had a smaller Akaike's information criterion compared with other competing models. The mixed-effects modelling approach allowed us to select the best suite of covariates by correctly specifying the covariance structure according to the hierarchy of the fitting data. Furthermore, inclusion of ecosite as a random effect parameter increased ecological resolution in the BAI model by localizing its prediction and improves compatibility between growth and yield modelling and other important management tools such as the forest resources inventory.

Black ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) plays a central role in several Native American teachings (including a Wabanaki creation story) and has long been used for basketry, yet relatively little is known about the species' ecology. The recent and ongoing invasion of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an invasive beetle killing millions of ash trees in eastern North America, threatens the future of black ash and the centuries-old basketry tradition. In recognition of the precarious state of this cultural keystone species, basketmakers, basket-tree harvesters, and researchers assembled to discuss traditional ecological knowledge and research advancements related to black ash. Here we provide an overview of basket-quality ash, synthesize current knowledge of black ash biology and ecology, and report findings from this successful tribal and scientific collaboration. Management recommendations were developed and future research needs outlined in hopes of sustaining an ecologically important tree species and maintaining a Native American tradition that has cultural and spiritual significance.