VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Chamaecyparis thyoides | Atlantic White-Cedar 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
The light brown, straight-grained wood of Atlantic white-cedar is
lightweight, buoyant, and easily worked [25,37,46].  It is fragrant,
repels insects, and is resistant to decay [41,46].  Atlantic white-cedar
has been logged heavily since the Revolutionary War [19,24] for fuels,
ship-building, shingles, milled lumber, charcoal, household items,
barrels, pails, tubs, water tanks, and duck decoys [25,46].

The wood of Atlantic white-cedar is currently used for telephone poles,
posts, pilings, ties, siding, boat railing, decking, lawn furniture,
paneling, and ice cream buckets [16,46].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Browse:  Atlantic white-cedar is a preferred deer browse in many areas
[26].  In lowland sites of New Jersey, deer often browse plants during
the winter [26].  Seedlings are especially favored [25] and may be
killed by intense deer use [26].  Meadow mice occasionally browse the
stems and often girdle seedlings [25].  Trees serve as territorial
marking posts for black bears in parts of the South [47].


PALATABILITY : 
Atlantic white-cedar browse is highly palatable to white-tailed deer
[26].  Fruit is evidentally low in palatability for most birds and
rodents [45].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
Atlantic white-cedar provides cover for a variety of birds and mammals.
The yellow-throated warbler, prairie warbler, and hooded warbler nest
close to the ground in Atlantic white-cedar stands [42].  Cavities
provide nesting areas for the pileated woodpecker [42].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Atlantic white-cedar has potential value for rehabilitating certain
disturbed wetland habitats.  It has been planted at Tennessee Valley
Authority impoundments along shorelines within the fluctuation zone
[1].

Atlantic white-cedar can be propagated from seed.  Cleaned seed averages
460,000 per pound (1,014,000/kg) [25].  Atlantic white-cedar can also be
propagated from cuttings [16].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Atlantic white-cedar is attractive and hardy and is often planted as an
ornamental [9].  More than 19 cultivars are now available [16,33].
Atlantic white-cedar is used locally as a Christmas tree in parts of the
South [46].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Timber harvest:  Wetland drainage and heavy cutting has greatly reduced
Atlantic white-cedar, and in many areas harvested stands have been
maintained in an immature and degraded condition [24,25,46].  Harvesting
on a commercial scale is now generally limited to parts of North
Carolina [41].

Silviculture:  Atlantic white-cedar often reestablishes in dense stands
after clearcutting [19].  Following clearcutting in the Great Dismal
Swamp, seed stored in the upper 1 inch (2.5 cm) of peat germinated at a
rate of more than 3,574,840 per acre (8,640,000/ha) [19].  The following
guidelines have been recommended for harvested Atlantic white-cedar
sites:  (1) remove most of the slash, (2) allow periodic fires, (3)
control deer browsing if necessary, and (4) prevent the establishment of
competing vegetation [41,48].

Damage/disease:  Atlantic white-cedar is resistant to disease and decay,
and has few insect pests [25].  It is susceptible to windthrow and
storm-caused breakage [25].

Related categories for Species: Chamaecyparis thyoides | Atlantic White-Cedar