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Species
Robinia pseudoacacia var. rectissima (L.) Raber
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License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/19891648 |
More info for the terms: hardwood, litter, restoration, tree
The wood of black locust is heavy, strong, and durable [85,113,156,165,311] and shrinks little upon drying [303]. Its strength is due to high lignin content [142]. Consequently, the wood of black locust is valuable for a variety of uses, such as fenceposts [3,31,97,113,165,311,313,344], railroad ties ([165,313], review by [167]), insulator pins ([3], review by [167]), mine timbers ([3], review by [167]), shipbuilding ([3,311], review by [167]), furniture [3], handles [165], barrel staves (review by [145]), boxes and crates, pulp, and fuelwood (review by [167]).
Black locust has been widely planted for windbreaks and shelterbelts ([97,277], review by [167]), as woody biomass for energy production [23], and as a street or ornamental tree ([97], reviews by [145,167]). It has also been widely planted for honey production ([344], reviews by [145,167,181]). One author claims that black locust plantations provide the basis for Hungary's commercial honey industry (review by [181]).
The nitrogen-fixing abilities of black locust have prompted its planting in nurseries and plantations to assist the growth of other desired trees ([59], review by [167]). Black walnut [286], southern catalpa (Catalpa bignoides) [114], and hardwoods in Indiana [49] have shown improved growth when planted with black locust. In Canada, black walnuts interplanted with black locust had higher foliar nitrogen content than those not planted with black locust [326]. However, the wide-spreading crown and prolific root sprouts of black locust may suppress or kill slow-developing interplanted tree seedlings in some plantation settings [256].
Black locust was once a favored tree for restoration or rehabilitation because its extensive root system holds and stabilizes the soil surface, it sprouts vigorously and prolifically, it increases soil fertility through nitrogen fixation [180], and it forms a leaf litter that protects the soil [9,180,291]. Its main use has been in the rehabilitation of former surface mine sites ([3,16,51,113,159,238,267], reviews by [167,204]) and for erosion control ([31,97,121,176,313], review by [157]), but it is also used to rehabilitate contaminated soils [52,267], depleted soils [27], gravel pits [113], and logged areas [267] and to stabilize railroad embankments (review by [145]) and highway edges (review by [302]).
In both its native and nonnative range in North America, mortality is caused by insects and disease ([117,281,303], review by [167]). Black locust is highly susceptible to witches' broom disease caused by the virus Chlorogenus robiniae (review by [167]), as well as fungal diseases leading to heart rot ([117], review by [167]). In South Carolina hardwood stands, 13.5 % of poletimber-sized and 30.4 % of sawtimber-sized black locust had hardwood cankers [4]. In the Great Plains, black locust was susceptible to stem decay fungi; about 25% of the 40-year-old windbreak black locust planted in Oklahoma was infected with stem decay fungi (review by [274]).
In the United States and Canada, the most serious insect threat to black locust is the locust borer ([113], reviews by [26,167]). This species is often the cause of rapid population declines in plantation settings in black locust's native [27,121,281] and nonnative ranges ([36], review by [86]), and a major reason that planting black locust has fallen out of favor in the United States [121]. An Element Stewardship Abstract for black locust suggests that rapidly growing trees more than 10 years old are not usually attacked by locust borer (review by [66]). However, another author states that locust borers require the furrowed bark of older trees for egg laying. Consequently, young trees with smooth bark are not impacted [365]. On mined sites in Illinois, planted black locust declines attributed to the locust borer were seen within 15 years of planting, and after 60 years, all black locust were dead [281]. In a dense, early-successional black locust stand in western North Carolina, 21% of the black locust stems were standing dead, and 18% had greater than 50% crown dieback, primarily from damage by the locust borer [234]. Locust borer infestations not only cause mortality, but may inhibit growth ([121], review by [167]) and reproduction [59]. Locust borer infestations may be higher when trees are stressed due to poor soils ([27], review by [167]) or dense stand conditions [234].
Other potential insect pests in the native range of black locust include locust leaf miners ([117,365], review by [167]) and the locust twig borer (review by [167]). Outside of its native range in the Northern Great Plains, black locust is susceptible to the carpenterworm and ash and honey-locust plant bugs (review by [86]). Roots of the black locust are parasitized by root-knot and root-lesion nematodes in nurseries in the Northern Great Plains ([284], review by [274]).
A lack of mortality-inducing insects or diseases outside of North America is one reason black locust plantations remain popular throughout the world. In 1980, there were approximately 2.5 million acres (1 million ha) of planted black locust across the globe (review by [181]).
Robinia pseudoacacia is native to southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zeleand and Asia and is considered an invasive species in many areas.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/19891648 |
Population
Population Trend
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/19891648 |