To facilitate the need to expand the utility of the SILVAH oak module to outside of northwestern Pennsylvania, USDA Forest Service Research Silviculturists are examining the rate at which new oak seedlings develop their root systems under different light regimes and the size of root system required by a seedling before it will begin vigorous height growth. In spring 2001 sound oak acorns were planted in several recently harvested Stone Valley Forest stands (the PSU Stone Valley Forest represents the Ridge & Valley Ecoregion of Pennsylvania). Oak seedlings derived from the planted acorns will be destructively sampled over the next seven to ten years. Variables of interest include shoot length & mass, root/shoot ratio, number & size of leaves, root collar diameter, taproot length & mass, number of first-order lateral roots, and presence of mycorrhizae.

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