Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of black spruce differ between wetland and upland forests

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 972-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan J Robertson ◽  
Linda E Tackaberry ◽  
Keith N Egger ◽  
Hugues B Massicotte
Keyword(s):  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Soil Heterogeneity ◽  
Moisture Gradient ◽  
Habitat Specificity ◽  
Comprehensive Information ◽  
Genotype Variation ◽  
Pcr Rflp ◽  
Ecm Fungi ◽  
Diverse Community

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) communities of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) seedlings were characterized from three habitats spanning a moisture gradient in central British Columbia: black spruce dominated wetlands, black spruce – tamarack wetlands, and black spruce – lodgepole pine uplands. Morphological and molecular (PCR-RFLP) analyses indicated a diverse community of root-associated ECM fungi consisting of 33 morphotypes and 65 genotypes. ECM abundance varied significantly between habitats for six morphotypes. Although many occurred in all three habitats, some occurred in only one or two, and some genotypes had distributions that suggested habitat specificity across the moisture gradient. Intraspecific variation (defined as genotype variation within morphotypes) ranged from one to seven genotypes, depending on ECM morphotype. Both morphological and molecular analyses showed that ECM diversity was greater in upland than in wetland habitats and greater in black spruce – tamarack wetlands than in black spruce dominated wetlands (α ≤ 0.05). Morphological assessment captured contributions to diversity by both abundant and less abundant ECM morphotypes, whereas molecular analysis revealed patterns of genetic variation and habitat distribution at a finer resolution. The study presents the first comprehensive information on black spruce ECM and suggests that ECM community composition and richness varies across the moisture gradient in response to soil heterogeneity and alternate hosts (tamarack and lodgepole pine).

scholarly journals Cold hardiness of white spruce, black spruce, jack pine, and lodgepole pine needles during dehardening

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1116-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Pengxin Lu ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Visual Assessment ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Pine Needles ◽  
Late Winter

Conifer winter damage results primarily from loss of cold hardiness during unseasonably warm days in late winter and early spring, and such damage may increase in frequency and severity under a warming climate. In this study, the dehardening dynamics of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex. Loud), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) were examined in relation to thermal accumulation during artificial dehardening in winter (December) and spring (March) using relative electrolyte leakage and visual assessment of pine needles and spruce shoots. Results indicated that all four species dehardened at a similar rate and to a similar extent, despite considerably different thermal accumulation requirements. Spring dehardening was comparatively faster, with black spruce slightly hardier than the other conifers at the late stage of spring dehardening. The difference, however, was relatively small and did not afford black spruce significant protection during seedling freezing tests prior to budbreak in late March and early May. The dehardening curves and models developed in this study may serve as a tool to predict cold hardiness by temperature and to understand the potential risks of conifer cold injury during warming–freezing events prior to budbreak.

scholarly journals Splitting in Fire-Killed Trees in the Boreal Forest of Alberta

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-174
Author(s):  
Nobutaka Nakamura ◽  
Paul M. Woodard ◽  
Lars Bach
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Solar Angle

Abstract Tree boles in the boreal forests of Alberta, Canada will split once killed by a stand-replacing crown fire. A total of 1,485 fire-killed trees were sampled, 1 yr after burning, in 23 plots in 14 widely separated stands within a 370,000 ha fire. Sampling occurred in the Upper and Lower Foothills natural subregions. The frequency of splitting varied by species but averaged 41% for all species. The order in the frequency of splitting was balsam fir, black spruce, white spruce and lodgepole pine. The type of splitting (straight, spiral, or multiple) varied by species, as did the position of the split on the tree bole. Aspect or solar angle was not statistically related to the type or occurrence of splitting.

scholarly journals Effects of winter warming on cold hardiness and spring budbreak of four boreal conifers

Botany ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Steve Colombo ◽  
Pengxin Lu ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Experimental Warming ◽  
Freezing Damage

Compared with the effects of spring frosts on opening buds or newly flushed tissues, winter freezing damage to conifers, owing to temperature fluctuations prior to budbreak, is rare and less known. In this study, changes in cold hardiness (measured based on electrolyte leakage and needle damage) and spring budbreak were assessed to examine the responses of four boreal conifer species — black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), white spruce (Picea glauca) (Moench) Voss), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex. Loud.) — to different durations of experimental warming (16 °C day to –2 °C night with a 10 h photoperiod, except for night temperatures during November warming (+2 °C)). Seedlings showed increased responses to warming from November to March, while the capacity to regain the cold hardiness lost to warming decreased during the same period. This suggests an increasing vulnerability of conifers to temperature fluctuations and freezing damage with the progress of chilling and dormancy release from fall to spring. Both lodgepole pine and jack pine initiated spring growth earlier and had greater responses to experimental warming in bud phenology than black spruce and white spruce, suggesting a greater potential risk of frost/freezing damage to pine trees in the spring.

Are mixed-species stands more productive than single-species stands: an empirical test of three forest types in British Columbia and Alberta

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1227-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
H YH Chen ◽  
K Klinka ◽  
A -H Mathey ◽  
X Wang ◽  
P Varga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Thuja Plicata ◽  
Larix Occidentalis ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Stand Volume

Stand volumes were determined for naturally established, even-aged, single- and mixed-species stands involving three combinations of shade-tolerant and shade-intolerant conifers on similar sites: (i) western redcedar – western hemlock (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don – Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), (ii) lodgepole pine – western larch (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. – Larix occidentalis Nutt.), and (iii) lodgepole pine – black spruce (Pinus contorta – Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP). Stand volume was significantly increased with site index and breast-height age in all three studies. Stand volume was also related to relative stand density in the lodgepole pine – black spruce study. When both species were shade tolerant (hemlock–redcedar), stand volume increased linearly with the proportion of hemlock; the mixed-species stands had intermediate volume compared with single-species stands. The combination of two shade-intolerant species (pine–larch) had lower stand volume than that anticipated from single-species stands, implying that one species may inhibiting the growth of the other. Mixtures of shade-intolerant and shade-tolerant species with different growth patterns (spruce–pine) may be more productive than single-species stands in specific ecological contexts and developmental stages. The effect of one species on the productivity of another species is tree-species and site specific: at maturity, even-aged, mixed-species coniferous stands are not necessarily more productive than single-species stands.

Ectomycorrhizal community effects on hybrid spruce seedling growth and nutrition in clearcuts

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 983-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Kranabetter
Keyword(s):  
Picea Glauca ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Picea Sitchensis ◽  
Community Effects ◽  
Close Spacing ◽  
Growth And Nutrition ◽  
Nitrogen Concentrations ◽  
Ecm Fungi ◽  
Diverse Community ◽  
Hybrid Spruce

A diverse community of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi is generally considered beneficial to forest ecosystems, but the function of ECM communities should be considered within an ecological context. The growth of hybrid spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss × Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carrière) seedlings was compared after transplanting into recent clearcuts, where soil moisture and nitrogen are typically readily available. The seedlings had either a "forest" ECM community (taken from forest gap edges) or a "pioneer" ECM community (taken from disturbed road edges) and were planted at wide and close spacing. After 3 years, morphotype distribution and abundance (64% community similarity between "forest" and "pioneer" seedlings) overlapped considerably, but height growth was 25% greater for the "pioneer" seedlings. There was a reduction in diameter at close spacing, with little difference in competition effects between ECM communities. There were no differences detected in foliar nitrogen concentrations and no evidence of nitrogen or phosphorus deficiencies. The advantage of fungi such as Amphinema byssoides, Thelephora terrestris, and Laccaria laccata might be the proliferation of fine roots that allows for the fullest utilization of abundant soil resources. The results suggest that the ECM communities arising after clearcut disturbances are well adapted to these initial soil conditions.Key words: ectomycorrhiza, disturbance, diversity, productivity, competition, Picea glauca.

Pathogenicity of Polyporustomentosus and P. tomentosus var. circinatus on seedlings of 11 conifer species

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-131
Author(s):  
Roy D. Whitney ◽  
Wendy P. Bohaychuk
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Conifer Species ◽  
Laboratory Conditions

Polyporustomentosus Fr. caused significantly higher disease ratings than P. tomentosus var. circinatus Fr. in seedlings of 6 of 11 conifer species under laboratory conditions. Both fungi caused highest disease ratings on seedlings of ponderosa pine (Pinusponderosa Laws.), followed by lodgepole pine (Pinuscontorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.), white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss), black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), and tamarack (Larixlaricina (Du Roi) K. Koch).

Seedling growth and water use of boreal conifers across different temperatures and near-flooded soil conditions

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 2292-2300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane M. Wolken ◽  
Simon M. Landhäusser ◽  
Victor J. Lieffers ◽  
Uldis Silins
Keyword(s):  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Seedling Growth ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
High Water ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Flooded Soil

To test the hypothesis that seedling growth and water use increase with soil temperature and improved soil aeration and vary with species, we evaluated the above- and below-ground growth and water use of seedlings of four northern boreal conifer species: black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), tamarack ( Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) grown under different temperature and near-flooded soil conditions. Seedlings were grown in specialized pots that maintained the water table level at either 15 cm (high water table treatment: very wet) or 30 cm (low water table treatment: moderately wet) below the soil surface, and whole-seedling transpiration was assessed. Soil temperature (5, 10, or 20 °C) was controlled with a water bath surrounding the pots. Although some species were sensitive to the high water table treatment, soil temperature was the driver of seedling growth and water use. We ranked the ability of the seedlings of the species to tolerate the cold soil conditions examined as black spruce > lodgepole pine > tamarack > white spruce. The ranking of the ability to tolerate near-flooded conditions was tamarack and lodgepole pine > black spruce > white spruce.

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