REGENERATION OF SALAL (GAULTHERIA SHALLON) IN THE CENTRAL COAST RANGEFORESTS OF OREGON

Regeneration of salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh.) by seedling establis hment and vegetative expansion was examined under various forest condi tions in the central Coast Range of Oregon. Size and expansion rate of individual clonal fragments were negatively correlated with overstory stand density (p less than or equal to 0.039). As overstory basal are a increased from 25 to 75 m(2)/ha, mean annual growth percentage of cl one rhizome systems decreased from 23.7 to 0.0% and mean total rhizome length decreased from 102 to 0.89 m. Interclonal competition in dense clumps of salal apparently causes rhizomes to die and clones to fragm ent. In these patches, rhizome biomass and density, aerial stem biomas s and density, and total biomass were negatively correlated with overs tory density (p less than or equal to 0.01). For example, in clearcuts , salal clumps had up to 177.7 m rhizome/m(2) and 346 stems/m(2), wher eas patches under dense overstories had as few as 10.6 m rhizome/m(2) and 19 stems/m(2). Aerial stem populations had uneven-age distribution s of aerial stems in all overstory conditions. This structure is appar ently maintained through annual production of new ramets. Salal seedli ng establishment rates were significantly affected by study site locat ion, overstory density, and substrate (p less than or equal to 0.05). Two-year survival was highest on rotten logs and stumps in thinned sta nds.