Many studies have estimated approximately ranges of thresholds of low soil temperature in the growth and ecophysi-ological traits of trees, but difficultly determined the exact values. To resolve the problem, black sp...Many studies have estimated approximately ranges of thresholds of low soil temperature in the growth and ecophysi-ological traits of trees, but difficultly determined the exact values. To resolve the problem, black spruce （Picea mariana） and jack pine （Pinus banksiana） seedlings were exposed to 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35℃ soil temperature in greenhouses. After 90 days of the treatment, net photosynthetic rate （A）, stomatal conductance （gs）, transpiration rate （E）, water use efficiency （WUE） and specific leaf area （SLA） were measured. This study showed that all the traits had an asymmetrical peak relationship with changing soil temperature, the relationship was well simulated using a cubic curvilinear model, and the exact thresholds could be derived from the second derivative of the model. The results revealed that the thresholds varied among ecophysiological traits and between tree species. In black spruce, the thresholds were 14.1, 14.7, 10.7, 14.4 and 16.2℃ forA, gs, E, WUE and SLA; 15.4, 10.4, 14.7, 16.9 and 10.5℃ for the corresponding traits in jack pine. The lowest thresholds of E in black spruce and gs in jack pine were an indicator representing the minimum requirement of soil temperature for the regular processes of ecophysiology. The highest thresholds of SLA in black spruce and WUE in jack pine suggest they are the most sensitive to decreasing soil temperature and may play an important role in the acclimation. The averaged thresholds were at 14.0 and 13.6℃ for black spruce and jack pine, suggesting that the sensitivity of both species to low soil temperature was quite close.展开更多
Background:Black spruce(Picea mariana(Mill.)BSP)-forested peatlands are widespread ecosystems in boreal North America in which peat accumulation,known as the paludification process,has been shown to induce forest grow...Background:Black spruce(Picea mariana(Mill.)BSP)-forested peatlands are widespread ecosystems in boreal North America in which peat accumulation,known as the paludification process,has been shown to induce forest growth decline.The continuously evolving environmental conditions(e.g.,water table rise,increasing peat thickness)in paludified forests may require tree growth mechanism adjustments over time.In this study,we investigate tree ecophysiological mechanisms along a paludification gradient in a boreal forested peatland of eastern Canada by combining peat-based and tree-ring analyses.Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in tree rings are used to document changes in carbon assimilation rates,stomatal conductance,and water use efficiency.In addition,paleohydrological analyses are performed to evaluate the dynamical ecophysiological adjustments of black spruce trees to site-specific water table variations.Results:Increasing peat accumulation considerably impacts forest growth,but no significant differences in tree water use efficiency(iWUE)are found between the study sites.Tree-ring isotopic analysis indicates no iWUE decrease over the last 100 years,but rather an important increase at each site up to the 1980 s,before iWUE stabilized.Surprisingly,inferred basal area increments do not reflect such trends.Therefore,iWUE variations do not reflect tree ecophysiological adjustments required by changes in growing conditions.Local water table variations induce no changes in ecophysiological mechanisms,but a synchronous shift in iWUE is observed at all sites in the mid-1980 s.Conclusions:Our study shows that paludification induces black spruce growth decline without altering tree water use efficiency in boreal forested peatlands.These findings highlight that failing to account for paludification-related carbon use and allocation could result in the overestimation of aboveground biomass production in paludified sites.Further research on carbon allocation strategies is of utmost importance to understand the carbon sink capacity of these widespread ecosystems in the context of climate change,and to make appropriate forest management decisions in the boreal biome.展开更多
This article focuses on modelling and mapping the productivity of black (Picea mariana) and white spruce (Picea glauca) plantations across the Black Brook forest management area in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada, ...This article focuses on modelling and mapping the productivity of black (Picea mariana) and white spruce (Picea glauca) plantations across the Black Brook forest management area in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada, encompassing about 200,000 ha. This effort involved establishing 3500 50 m2 survey plots, each informing about: plantation age (15 to 43 years), planted species type, stem count, tree height, basal area, and wood volume. All of this was supplemented with location-specific productivity predictors, i.e., xy location and specifications pertaining to soil type, soil drainage (established through digital elevation modelling by way of the depth-to-water index DTW), and years since thinning (pre-commercial and commercial), and. The DTW index, as it emulates the elevation rise away from open water features such as streams, rivers and lakes, allowed the re-mapping of existing soil borders by topographic position and drainage association. Non-linear regression analysis revealed that plantation height, basal area and volume all increased with plantation age, as to be expected. Pre-commercial thinning in plantations <30 years old had a positive while the more recent commercial thinning still had the negative effect on standing wood volume and mean annual volume increment (MAI). White spruce MAI generally exceeded black spruce (MAI) by a factor of 1.25. Poor and excessive soil drainage reduced MAI. Best growth performances occurred on plantations established on well-drained calcareous soils. The best-fitted results so obtained allowed for generating black and white spruce MAI maps across the forest management area by ridge-to-valley soil and DTW location at 10 m resolution. These maps were subsequently used for site-by-site silvicultural evaluation and ranking purposes.展开更多
Lichen woodlands (LW) located in the closed-crown boreal forest are not a successional stage moving towards a closed black spruce feathermoss stand (FM), but an alternative stable state, due to their previous forest h...Lichen woodlands (LW) located in the closed-crown boreal forest are not a successional stage moving towards a closed black spruce feathermoss stand (FM), but an alternative stable state, due to their previous forest history, and the occurrence of LWs located nearby closed-crown FM stands. Therefore, afforestation in those LWs through site preparation and plantation could shift back LW into FM stands. We implemented an experimental design with different combinations of silvicultural treatments in both site types (LW, FM). We monitored the evolution of plant diversity and the physiology of three bio-indicators (Picea mariana, Kalmia angustifolia, Rhododendron groenlandicum) in different microsites created by the silvicultural treatments. The return to the initial composition was noticed only two years after treatments, especially in the LW stands, thus indicating a higher level of early ecosystem resilience in LWs compared to FM stands. Mean species cover, especially in the FM stands, decreased the most in the skid trails created by logging, probably due to a lack of acclimation of bryophytes to open stand conditions. Conversely, ericaceous shrubs and lichens found in the LWs were already acclimated to open stand conditions, which give to LWs a restructuring advantage compared to FM plant communities after silvicultural treatments. Overall, FM and LW short-term resilience was similar, indicating equally efficient ecosystem reorganization in both stands. The comparable early resilience in managed LW and FM stands, in terms of plant biodiversity, contradicts the presumed fragility of LW stands, especially in this case where LWs are assumed to be an alternative stable state created by compound disturbances. Silvicultural treatments maintained the functional group diversity in LWs, a key element for ecosystem resilience. Therefore, this study support the idea that plantation following site preparation in LWs could be a valuable management strategy to reach several objectives, such as increasing forest carbon sinks.展开更多
Plants acclimate to nitrogen (N) or moisture stress by respectively increasing photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) or water use efficiency (WUE), in order to maximize their relative growth rate (RGR). These two phe...Plants acclimate to nitrogen (N) or moisture stress by respectively increasing photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) or water use efficiency (WUE), in order to maximize their relative growth rate (RGR). These two phenotypic adaptations have opposite effects on specific leaf area (SLA). Thus, intraspecific variations in the SLA-RGR relationship should reflect the relative importance of N vs. moisture stress in plants. In this study, we measured needle gas exchanges and N concentrations in order to derive PNUE and WUE, as well as SLA and RGR of black spruce (Picea mariana) seedlings growing on a rapidly drained site in the presence or absence of Kalmia angustifolia. The eradication of Kalmia had resulted in a ~140% increase in seedling growth over a 6 year period. We found a negative SLA-RGR relationship where Kalmia had been eradicated, and a positive one where Kalmia had been maintained. Kalmia eradication resulted in higher WUE when measurements were made directly on the seedlings, and in lower PNUE when twigs were rehydrated prior to gas exchange measurements. Our data suggest that the bigger seedlings on Kalmia-eradicated plots increase RGR by decreasing SLA, as a means of coping with moisture stress. By contrast, increasing SLA on noneradicated plots may be a means of coping with nutrient stress exerted by Kalmia. The SLA-RGR relationship could potentially be used to identify the limiting resource for black spruce seedlings in different environments.展开更多
基金supported by the Lakehead University Graduate Fellowship, Nature Science and Engineer Research Council Scholarship of Canada (NSERC) PGS A,the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30872000)K. C. Wong Education Foundation of Hong Kong (2008) and the funding initiative of Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences to the author and NSERC research grant to Qing-Lai Dang
文摘Many studies have estimated approximately ranges of thresholds of low soil temperature in the growth and ecophysi-ological traits of trees, but difficultly determined the exact values. To resolve the problem, black spruce （Picea mariana） and jack pine （Pinus banksiana） seedlings were exposed to 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35℃ soil temperature in greenhouses. After 90 days of the treatment, net photosynthetic rate （A）, stomatal conductance （gs）, transpiration rate （E）, water use efficiency （WUE） and specific leaf area （SLA） were measured. This study showed that all the traits had an asymmetrical peak relationship with changing soil temperature, the relationship was well simulated using a cubic curvilinear model, and the exact thresholds could be derived from the second derivative of the model. The results revealed that the thresholds varied among ecophysiological traits and between tree species. In black spruce, the thresholds were 14.1, 14.7, 10.7, 14.4 and 16.2℃ forA, gs, E, WUE and SLA; 15.4, 10.4, 14.7, 16.9 and 10.5℃ for the corresponding traits in jack pine. The lowest thresholds of E in black spruce and gs in jack pine were an indicator representing the minimum requirement of soil temperature for the regular processes of ecophysiology. The highest thresholds of SLA in black spruce and WUE in jack pine suggest they are the most sensitive to decreasing soil temperature and may play an important role in the acclimation. The averaged thresholds were at 14.0 and 13.6℃ for black spruce and jack pine, suggesting that the sensitivity of both species to low soil temperature was quite close.
基金Scholarships to J.B.were provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC-CGS M)the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Nature et technologies(FRQNT)funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through discovery grants to M.G.andÉB。
文摘Background:Black spruce(Picea mariana(Mill.)BSP)-forested peatlands are widespread ecosystems in boreal North America in which peat accumulation,known as the paludification process,has been shown to induce forest growth decline.The continuously evolving environmental conditions(e.g.,water table rise,increasing peat thickness)in paludified forests may require tree growth mechanism adjustments over time.In this study,we investigate tree ecophysiological mechanisms along a paludification gradient in a boreal forested peatland of eastern Canada by combining peat-based and tree-ring analyses.Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in tree rings are used to document changes in carbon assimilation rates,stomatal conductance,and water use efficiency.In addition,paleohydrological analyses are performed to evaluate the dynamical ecophysiological adjustments of black spruce trees to site-specific water table variations.Results:Increasing peat accumulation considerably impacts forest growth,but no significant differences in tree water use efficiency(iWUE)are found between the study sites.Tree-ring isotopic analysis indicates no iWUE decrease over the last 100 years,but rather an important increase at each site up to the 1980 s,before iWUE stabilized.Surprisingly,inferred basal area increments do not reflect such trends.Therefore,iWUE variations do not reflect tree ecophysiological adjustments required by changes in growing conditions.Local water table variations induce no changes in ecophysiological mechanisms,but a synchronous shift in iWUE is observed at all sites in the mid-1980 s.Conclusions:Our study shows that paludification induces black spruce growth decline without altering tree water use efficiency in boreal forested peatlands.These findings highlight that failing to account for paludification-related carbon use and allocation could result in the overestimation of aboveground biomass production in paludified sites.Further research on carbon allocation strategies is of utmost importance to understand the carbon sink capacity of these widespread ecosystems in the context of climate change,and to make appropriate forest management decisions in the boreal biome.
文摘This article focuses on modelling and mapping the productivity of black (Picea mariana) and white spruce (Picea glauca) plantations across the Black Brook forest management area in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada, encompassing about 200,000 ha. This effort involved establishing 3500 50 m2 survey plots, each informing about: plantation age (15 to 43 years), planted species type, stem count, tree height, basal area, and wood volume. All of this was supplemented with location-specific productivity predictors, i.e., xy location and specifications pertaining to soil type, soil drainage (established through digital elevation modelling by way of the depth-to-water index DTW), and years since thinning (pre-commercial and commercial), and. The DTW index, as it emulates the elevation rise away from open water features such as streams, rivers and lakes, allowed the re-mapping of existing soil borders by topographic position and drainage association. Non-linear regression analysis revealed that plantation height, basal area and volume all increased with plantation age, as to be expected. Pre-commercial thinning in plantations <30 years old had a positive while the more recent commercial thinning still had the negative effect on standing wood volume and mean annual volume increment (MAI). White spruce MAI generally exceeded black spruce (MAI) by a factor of 1.25. Poor and excessive soil drainage reduced MAI. Best growth performances occurred on plantations established on well-drained calcareous soils. The best-fitted results so obtained allowed for generating black and white spruce MAI maps across the forest management area by ridge-to-valley soil and DTW location at 10 m resolution. These maps were subsequently used for site-by-site silvicultural evaluation and ranking purposes.
基金funded by a Fonds de Recherche pour la Nature et des Technologies du Gouvernement du Québec(FQRNT)grant to D.Lord,and the Carbone boréal project.
文摘Lichen woodlands (LW) located in the closed-crown boreal forest are not a successional stage moving towards a closed black spruce feathermoss stand (FM), but an alternative stable state, due to their previous forest history, and the occurrence of LWs located nearby closed-crown FM stands. Therefore, afforestation in those LWs through site preparation and plantation could shift back LW into FM stands. We implemented an experimental design with different combinations of silvicultural treatments in both site types (LW, FM). We monitored the evolution of plant diversity and the physiology of three bio-indicators (Picea mariana, Kalmia angustifolia, Rhododendron groenlandicum) in different microsites created by the silvicultural treatments. The return to the initial composition was noticed only two years after treatments, especially in the LW stands, thus indicating a higher level of early ecosystem resilience in LWs compared to FM stands. Mean species cover, especially in the FM stands, decreased the most in the skid trails created by logging, probably due to a lack of acclimation of bryophytes to open stand conditions. Conversely, ericaceous shrubs and lichens found in the LWs were already acclimated to open stand conditions, which give to LWs a restructuring advantage compared to FM plant communities after silvicultural treatments. Overall, FM and LW short-term resilience was similar, indicating equally efficient ecosystem reorganization in both stands. The comparable early resilience in managed LW and FM stands, in terms of plant biodiversity, contradicts the presumed fragility of LW stands, especially in this case where LWs are assumed to be an alternative stable state created by compound disturbances. Silvicultural treatments maintained the functional group diversity in LWs, a key element for ecosystem resilience. Therefore, this study support the idea that plantation following site preparation in LWs could be a valuable management strategy to reach several objectives, such as increasing forest carbon sinks.
文摘Plants acclimate to nitrogen (N) or moisture stress by respectively increasing photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) or water use efficiency (WUE), in order to maximize their relative growth rate (RGR). These two phenotypic adaptations have opposite effects on specific leaf area (SLA). Thus, intraspecific variations in the SLA-RGR relationship should reflect the relative importance of N vs. moisture stress in plants. In this study, we measured needle gas exchanges and N concentrations in order to derive PNUE and WUE, as well as SLA and RGR of black spruce (Picea mariana) seedlings growing on a rapidly drained site in the presence or absence of Kalmia angustifolia. The eradication of Kalmia had resulted in a ~140% increase in seedling growth over a 6 year period. We found a negative SLA-RGR relationship where Kalmia had been eradicated, and a positive one where Kalmia had been maintained. Kalmia eradication resulted in higher WUE when measurements were made directly on the seedlings, and in lower PNUE when twigs were rehydrated prior to gas exchange measurements. Our data suggest that the bigger seedlings on Kalmia-eradicated plots increase RGR by decreasing SLA, as a means of coping with moisture stress. By contrast, increasing SLA on noneradicated plots may be a means of coping with nutrient stress exerted by Kalmia. The SLA-RGR relationship could potentially be used to identify the limiting resource for black spruce seedlings in different environments.
基金by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery grants to Q.L.Dang(Project No.203198-2013-RGPIN)Lakehead University Graduate Assistantships to J.Marfo.
