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A Tribute: Robert John van den Driessche, Tree Physiologist, 1933-2018
Journal: Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Manuscript ID cjfr-2018-0351
Manuscript Type: Tribute
Date Submitted by the Author: 27-Aug-2018
Complete List of Authors: Hawkins, Barbara; University of Victoria
Keyword: tree physiology, tree nutritition, forest regeneration, forest nursery practise, obituary
Is the invited manuscript for consideration in a Special
Issue? :Not applicable (regular submission)
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1 A Tribute: Robert John van den Driessche, Tree Physiologist, 1933-2018
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5 B.J. Hawkins
6 Centre for Forest Biology, University of Victoria, PO Box 3020, STN CSC, Victoria, B.C.
7 Canada, V8W 3N5
8 Ph: 250-721-7117
9 Email: [email protected]
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32 Abstract:
33 Robert (Bob) John van den Driessche passed away on July 19, 2018 leaving a legacy of research
34 in tree physiology and nutrition that will continue to influence forest regeneration in British
35 Columbia for years to come. This tribute outlines Bob’s career in the context of forest history in
36 the province, and the many significant contributions Bob made to our understanding of conifer
37 seedling nutrition and stress tolerance.
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40 Keywords:
41 Tree physiology, tree nutrition, forest regeneration, forest nursery practice, obituary
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43 Article:
44 Robert John van den Driessche was born in Worcestershire, England in 1933. He attended
45 Rendcomb College, a progressive boarding school for boys, in Gloucestershire from 1945-1952,
46 and after National Service in the Suez Canal zone in Egypt, spent three years at the University
47 College of North Wales, Bangor, graduating with a B.Sc. in Forestry in 1957. He then moved to
48 the University of Toronto and obtained a M.Sc.F. in 1958 under the co-supervision of Profs. Ken
49 Armson (Order of Canada) and Jack Farrar. Robert conducted his PhD work in tree seedling
50 physiology with Prof. Philip Wareing, OBE, FRS at the University College of Wales,
51 Aberystwyth during a two-year leave from the B.C. Forest Service, and obtained his doctorate in
52 1965.
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54 Robert (“Bob”, to his colleagues) joined the B.C. Forest Service Research Division in 1959 as a
55 nursery practice research officer, and was the second research scientist in Canada to work full-
56 time on stock production (Glerum 1990). Bob began his career working out of the Mesachie
57 Lake Research Station, an active centre of forest research. His appointment was part of a wave of
58 new personnel hired after the 1956 Sloan Report criticized the B.C. government for its poor
59 performance in forest regeneration. In his Royal Commission Report, the Honourable Gordon
60 Sloan stated that the 7 million trees planted on the coast in 1955 were totally inadequate (Sloan
61 1956). Furthermore, almost all of the trees planted at that time were a single species, Douglas-fir.
62 Sloan suggested an annual planting program of 38.4 million seedlings was required to meet
63 reforestation needs and to reclaim the backlog NSR (not satisfactorily restocked land) on the
64 coast (Brown 1995). Forestry research had been hard hit by the depression and by World War II,
65 and there were few resources allocated to forest regeneration challenges (Schmidt and Parminter
66 2006). To address the concerns, the B.C. Forest Service expanded research in forest regeneration
67 and tree breeding in the late 1950s (Schmidt and Parminter 2006) and Bob was recruited as part
68 of that expansion.
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70 Bob and his colleagues faced a considerable challenge. Despite Sloan’s objective of 38.4 million
71 seedlings, by 1962, on average only 6.9 million 2-0 Douglas-fir seedlings were grown each year
72 (van den Driessche 1963), and survival was poor. All planting stock was bareroot stock, and
73 seedling size and quality were highly variable (van den Driessche 1963). Nursery locations were
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74 not chosen for soil quality, and the lack of soil nutrients, poor drainage and unsuitable soil pH
75 negatively affected seedling quality (B. Devitt, Aug. 7, 2018, pers. comm.). Bob tackled the
76 challenge head-on, preparing a report on optimal sowing times in 1962 (van den Driessche
77 1962), and publishing his first manuscript on nursery experiments with Douglas-fir in 1963 (van
78 den Driessche 1963). This paper outlined improved sowing density and fertilization practises,
79 leading to increased seedling size - themes that resonated throughout his work for five decades.
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81 Seedling production in the province increased slowly in the early 1960s, with only 18 million
82 seedlings grown by 1965. That year, an annual target of 75 million seedlings was adopted
83 (Brown 1995). In response, Bob accelerated his work to improve nutrient availability in nurseries
84 (van den Driessche and Wareing 1966, van den Driessche 1968), and by 1969, he had acquired a
85 sufficient body of knowledge to publish the first British Columbia Forest Nursery Handbook
86 (van den Driessche 1969). This publication characterized Bob’s approach to practical problems,
87 where he designed experiments based on a thorough understanding of the literature and sought to
88 understand the physiological mechanisms underlying seedling response to experimental
89 treatments. The results were recommendations based on physiological principles, backed up by
90 experiments and scientific literature, for all aspects of seedling production - from stratification
91 and sowing through to dormancy and lifting. This handbook led the field in North America for
92 many years and was not supplanted until the USDA Forest Nursery Manual: Production of
93 Bareroot Seedlings was published in 1984, in which Bob wrote the chapter on soil fertility (van
94 den Driessche 1984a).
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96 Bob’s early work focused primarily on improving the quality of bareroot seedlings, particularly
97 Douglas-fir and Sitka spruce. By 1970, however, there was a growing appreciation that bareroot
98 stock production could not meet the annual goal of 75 million seedlings and a move to container
99 stock was advocated (Robinson 1970). Collaborative studies between the B.C. and Canadian
100 Forest Services investigated the “BC/CFS STYROBLOCK” system (Robinson 1970). Growing
101 tree seedlings in containers presented very different issues from field-grown bareroot stock,
102 including restricted rooting volume and inconsistency of nutrient supply. Bob’s was amongst the
103 earliest published research on container seedling nutrition (Brix and van den Driessche 1974),
104 which was, in part, based on his earlier work, and he continued to study and compare nursery
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105 practises for both container and bareroot stock over the ensuing years (e.g. van den Driessche
106 1982, 1988a, 1992). In 1970, the Forest Service Research Branch Laboratory was constructed on
107 North Rd. in Saanich, including greenhouse and laboratory facilities and a plant physiology
108 nursery (Schmidt and Parminter 2006) and Bob was active in the design and utilization of this
109 facility.
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111 Bob is best known for his extensive work on tree seedling nutrition. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and
112 potassium are the primary elements applied by all nurseries, and Bob studied all aspects of
113 frequency and rate of application (e.g. van den Driessche 1984a, 1984b, 1989), and formulation
114 of these elements (e.g. van den Driessche 1988a) for tree seedling crops grown in B.C. Bob
115 investigated optimal foliar concentrations for most essential mineral elements to maximize
116 seedling growth and survival (van den Driessche 1974, 1980,1988b, 1989) and his most highly
117 cited paper is on the prediction of mineral nutrient status of trees by foliar analysis (van den
118 Driessche 1974). He published more than 25 papers on tree nutrition and fertilization, and
119 contributed a chapter on nutrient storage and retranslocation in “Nutrition of Plantation Forests”
120 (Bowen and Nambiar 1984). His interest in the subject culminated in his editorship of the book
121 “Mineral Nutrition of Conifer Seedlings” (van den Driessche 1991). This text presented the most
122 current research in the field, including several chapters by Bob and co-authors (including his
123 wife, Pauline, an internationally renowned mathematician).
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125 A concern often related to nursery practises is the effect fertilization may have on seedling
126 phenology, cold hardiness and drought hardiness. Bob studied the interactions of fertilization,
127 and drought and cold tolerance, demonstrating that N and P fertilization had no significant effect
128 on cold hardiness (van den Driessche 1980) when the fertilization regime was well synchronized
129 with the phenological development of the seedlings (van den Driessche 1984a). Bob published
130 more than 15 papers on seedling drought and cold tolerance, including experiments testing new
131 methods of cold hardiness assessment (van den Driessche 1973, 1976).
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133 In addition to seedling nutrition and fertilization, Bob continued his work on bareroot production
134 practices, including work on root wrenching, several papers on seedbed and growing density, and
135 studies on the timing of lifting. He also published several papers on the physiology of rooted
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136 cuttings, the effects of soil compaction and a number of papers on basic processes and
137 mechanisms of seedling growth. The foresight of the B.C. Forest Service to combine the
138 knowledge of seedling physiology and nursery cultural practices gained through Bob’s work and
139 that of others, with an aggressive program of tree improvement contributed to the high seedling
140 survival (> 85%, Brown 1995) and growth rates achieved in B.C. by the late 1980s.
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142 In 1997, Bob retired from his position of Senior Tree Physiologist with the Ministry of Forests,
143 only to turn to greener research fields. He founded New Dendrology Inc. and continued to work
144 as an independent research consultant, mainly with poplar in Alberta. Bob wrote or co-authored
145 12 papers between 1997 and 2008 on the physiology and nutrition of poplars. During that time,
146 he was an Associate Editor for the journal New Forests and continued his teaching and service
147 contributions to the University of Victoria Centre for Forest Biology until 2013.
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149 Bob was a pioneer in the field of tree physiology, particularly tree seedling nutrition. The volume
150 of his work is impressive, with over 65 papers in the primary literature,10 government reports
151 (more than half being single-author contributions), plus symposium proceedings. Bob was
152 internationally respected and his impact is clearly evident, with more than 1230 articles by other
153 authors citing his work (Web of Science, Aug. 8, 2018). His papers are notable for their
154 thoroughness and attention to detail, their strong experimental design (a feature about which he
155 was adamant) and for their practical application to the forest nursery industry. As a B.C.
156 Registered Professional Forester, Bob was keenly aware of the applied nature of his work, but
157 his interest in the physiological mechanisms underlying seedling response to experimental
158 treatments was consistently demonstrated. His work is an outstanding example of how an
159 understanding of basic science can improve solutions to practical problems and continue to be
160 applied over decades. Applied work of this nature is unlikely to be conducted in academia, but is
161 too academic for industry and epitomizes the value of investment in long-term government
162 research programs. Bob’s dedication to his work and to improving forest regeneration success
163 shine through his impressive body of literature. The testament to his efforts is the ranks of young
164 trees growing vigorously across the green slopes of coastal British Columbia.
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168 Acknowledgements:
169 With thanks to the colleagues and family members who provided information, recollections and
170 suggestions for this tribute, including Mr. Bruce Devitt, Mr. Ev Van Eerden, Dr. Kevin Brown,
171 Dr. Sylvia L’Hirondelle and Dr. Pauline van den Driessche.
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173 Photo credit: Dr. Sylvia L’Hirondelle174
175 References:
176 Brix, H., and van den Driessche, R. 1974. Mineral nutrition of container-grown tree seedlings. In
177 Proceedings of the North American Containerized Forest Tree Seedling Symposium,
178 Denver, CO., 26-29 August 1974. Edited by R.W. Tinus, W.I. Stein, and W.E. Balmer.
179 Great Plains Agricultural Council, Publication 68, U.S. Government Print Office,
180 Washington, DC. pp. 77 - 94.
181 Bowen, G.D. and Nambiar, E.K.S. 1984. Nutrition of Plantation Forests. Academic Press,
182 London, UK. pp. 181-209.
183 Brown, R.G. 1995. Public influence on reforestation in British Columbia. Third Global
184 Conference on Paper & the Environment, London, England, March, 1995.
185 https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/publications/00134/index.htm
186 Glerum, C. 1990. Stock production research in Canada: a historical perspective. For. Chron. 66:
187 103-111.
188 Robinson, E.W. 1970. Plans and progress of artificial regeneration in British Columbia. For.
189 Chron. 46: 479-481.
190 Schmidt, R.L. and Parminter, J. 2006. An Early History of the Research Branch, British
191 Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range. B.C. Min. For., Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Tech.
192 Rep. 036.
193 Sloan, G. 1956. The Forest Resources of British Columbia: Report of the Commissioner. Queen's
194 Printer, Victoria, B.C. Vol 1. 416p.
195 van den Driessche, R. 1962. Continuous autumn and spring sowing of Douglas-fir. Report on
196 E.P. 561. Forest Science Program Reports on Experimental Projects. B.C. Ministry of
197 Forests. https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/experimental_projects.htm
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198 van den Driessche, R. 1963. Nursery experiments with Douglas fir. Comm. For. Rev. 42: 242-
199 van den Driessche, R. 1968. A comparison of growth responses of Douglas fir and Sitka spruce
200 to different nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels in sand culture. Can. J. Bot. 46:
201 531-537.
202 van den Driessche, R. 1969. Forest nursery handbook. B.C. For. Serv., Victoria, B.C. Res. Note
203 48. 44 p.
204 van den Driessche, R. 1973. Prediction of frost hardiness in Douglasf ir seedlings by measuring
205 electrical impedance in stems at different frequencies. Can. J. For. Res. 3: 256-264.
206 van den Driessche, R. 1974. Prediction of mineral nutrient status of trees by foliar analysis. Bot.
207 Rev. 40: 347-394.
208 van den Driessche, R. 1976. Prediction of cold hardiness in Douglas-fir seedlings by index of
209 injury and conductivity methods. Can. J. For. Res. 6: 51 1-51 5.
210 van den Driessche, R. 1980. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on Douglas-fir
211 nursery growth and survival after outplanting. Can. J. For. Res. 10: 65-70.
212 van den Driessche R. 1982. Early growth and survival of interior spruce stock. British Columbia
213 Ministry of Forests Research. Progress report EP 859.03
214 van den Driessche, R. 1984a. Soil fertility in forest nurseries. In Forest nursery manual:
215 production of bareroot seedlings. Edited by M.L. Duryea and T.D. Landis. Oreg. State
216 Univ., For. Res. Lab. Martinus Nijhoff/ Dr. W. Junk Publishers. Corvallis, OR., pp. 63-
217 74.
218 van den Driessche, R. 1984b. Seedling spacing in the nursery in relation to growth, yield, and
219 performance of stock. For. Chron. 60: 345-355.
220 van den Driessche, R. 1988a. Response of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco)
221 to some different fertilizers applied at planting. New For. 2: 89-110.
222 van den Driessche, R. 1988b. Seedlings using fertilizers of different solubilities and application
223 time, and their forest growth. Can. J. For. Res. 18: 172-180.
224 van den Driessche, R. 1989. Nutrient deficiency symptoms in container-grown Douglas-fir and
225 white spruce seedlings. FRDA Report 100. Pacific Forestry Centre and BC Ministry of
226 Forests, Victoria, B.C.
227 van den Driessche R. 1991. Mineral Nutrition of Conifer Seedlings. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
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228 van den Driessche R. 1992. Absolute and relative growth of Douglas-fir seedlings of different
229 sizes. Tree Physiol. 10: 141–152.
230 van den Driessche, R., and Wareing, P.F. 1966. Nutrient supply, dry-matter production and
231 nutrient uptake of forest tree seedlings. Ann. Bot. N.S. 30: 657-672.
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233
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Robert van den Driessche in the field
76x101mm (300 x 300 DPI)
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