PATTERNS OF FOLIAR INJURY TO RED SPRUCE ON WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN, NEW-YORK, DURING A HIGH-INJURY WINTER

Winter injury to red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) after the winter of 1 992-1993 was measured at an elevation of 1050 m at a site on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Approximately 21% o f the 1992 foliage was injured. Damage increased with height in the ca nopy (P < 0.0001), and was highest on the southern aspect (P < 0.0001) , followed by the western aspect, which sustained more damage than the northern and eastern aspects (P < 0.0001). Damage was highest on tree s whose canopy was fertilized with nitrogen, intermediate on ground-fe rtilized trees, and lowest on untreated trees, but differences were no t significant (P = 0.45) and were confounded with stand structure diff erences. The strong aspect and height patterns of damage confirm earli er work showing that solar radiation plays an important role in causin g the freezing injury that leads to winter damage in red spruce.