Citation. Reiners, W. A. 1974. Foliage production by Thuja occidentalis L. from biomass and litter fall estimates. The American Midland Naturalist 92(2):340-345.   [1478  CC]

Abstract. Foliage production by members of Cupressaceae is difficult to measure by direct methods because of the growth and abscission pattern of the foliage sprays. An estimate of production was calculated for Thuja occidentalis by estimating foliage turnover as a ratio of litter fall to foliage biomass. Thuja foliage litter was 103 g/m2 in a T. occidentalis swamp in E-Central Minnesota. Total litter fall was 422 g/m2. A correction factor of 1.17 was derived from analyses of weight/area ratios of dead, fallen foliage fragments, and dried samples of live foliage. The ratio of corrected litter weight (120 g/m2) to an estimate of foliage biomass from an earlier study (563 g/m2) was 0.21.

Keywords. Thuja occidentalis, litter fall, foliage biomass