Influence of thawing rate and fungal infection by Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii on freezing injury in red spruce (Picea rubens) needles

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 918-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel K. Manter ◽  
William H. Livingston
Keyword(s):  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Bud Break ◽  
Freezing Damage ◽  
Northeastern North America ◽  
Plastic Bags ◽  
Thawing Rate ◽  
Spruce Needles ◽  
Needle Loss

Red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) decline has been observed in northeastern North America for the last 30 years. A major inciting stress involved in this decline is freezing injury of foliage. The objectives of this study were the following: (i) to examine how photosynthesis, needle electrolyte leakage, chlorophyll loss, needle reddening, needle loss and bud break respond to single freezing events down to −45 °C on 3-year-old seedlings; (ii) to test if faster thawing rates increase the amount of freezing injury; and (iii) to measure how Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii Bubák inoculations interact with freeze-injured needles. Two trials, one of 60 seedlings and one of 80 seedlings, were conducted. The second trial had half the seedlings covered with plastic bags for doubling the thawing time. Photosynthesis, as measured by gas exchange, was consistently the most sensitive measure, detecting nonvisible injury on uncovered seedlings (p < 0.05) at −25 °C. Measurements detecting freezing damage on covered, slower thawing seedlings were photosynthesis, chlorophyll loss, and percent budbreak. Faster thawing rates increased the amount of injury ca. 2- to 3-fold after freezing to −35 or −45 °C for all measures. Infection by R. kalkhoffii increased 40–83% after freezing needles to −40 or −45 °C. Fungal inoculations caused ca. 40–60% reduction in photosynthesis on needles frozen to −40 or −45 °C. This study suggests that two new factors can increase freezing injury on red spruce needles: a faster thawing rate and fungal (R. kalkhoffii) infection. These results are consistent with the growing knowledge that freezing injury is a complex phenomenon in red spruce.

Landscape-scale spatial patterns of winter injury to red spruce foliage in a year of heavy region-wide injury

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynne E Lazarus ◽  
Paul G Schaberg ◽  
Gary J Hawley ◽  
Donald H DeHayes
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Deposition ◽  
Sun Exposure ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Freezing Damage ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Slope Steepness ◽  
Patterns Of Injury

Red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) winter injury is caused by freezing damage that results in the abscission of the most recent foliar age-class. Injury was widespread and severe in the northeastern United States in 2003 and was assessed at multiple elevations at 23 sites in Vermont and adjacent states. This paper presents a spatial analysis of these injury assessments. Relationships between winter injury on dominant and codominant spruce trees and elevation, latitude, longitude, slope, and aspect were investigated with least squares regression and geographically weighted regression. Results of these analyses indicate that injury increased (1) with elevation; (2) from east to west; (3) with the degree to which plots faced west, except at the highest elevations, where injury was uniformly severe; (4) with increases in slope steepness at higher elevations, or with decreases in slope steepness at lower elevations; and (5) with the degree to which plots faced south, except at the highest elevations in northern locations, where injury was uniformly severe. Because injury was greater in areas that have historically received higher levels of acid and nitrogen deposition — western portions of the study region, west-facing slopes, and higher elevations — observed patterns of injury support the hypothesis that acidic and (or) nitrogen deposition act on a landscape scale to exacerbate winter injury. Greater injury on south-facing slopes suggests that sun exposure exacerbates injury or its expression.

Effects of chronic N fertilization on foliar membranes, cold tolerance, and carbon storage in montane red spruce

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1351-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G Schaberg ◽  
Donald H DeHayes ◽  
Gary J Hawley ◽  
Paula F Murakami ◽  
G Richard Strimbeck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cold Tolerance ◽  
N Fertilization ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Control Plot ◽  
Membrane Stability ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Cell Membrane Stability ◽  
Induced Changes

We evaluated the influence of protracted low-level nitrogen (N) fertilization on foliar membrane-associated calcium (mCa), sugar and starch concentrations, membrane stability, winter cold tolerance, and freezing injury of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) trees growing in six experimental plots on Mount Ascutney, Vermont. For 12 consecutive years before this evaluation, each plot received one of three treatments: 0, 15.7, or 31.4 kg N·ha–1·year–1 supplied as NH4Cl. In comparison with trees from control plots, the current-year foliage of trees from N-addition plots had lower mCa concentrations, higher levels of electrolyte leakage, reduced cold tolerance, and greater freezing injury. Levels of mCa, membrane stability, and cold tolerance did not differ between N treatments, but trees in high-N treated plots experienced greater freezing injury. Although no differences in carbohydrate nutrition were detected in September, foliar sugar and starch concentrations from trees in N-treated plots were higher than control plot trees in January. We propose that foliar mCa deficiencies reduced cell membrane stability, decreased cold tolerance, and increased freezing injury for trees in N addition plots relative to controls. Declines in mCa may also help account for increases in respiration previously measured. Because soil, root, and mycorryhizal conditions were not evaluated, it is unknown how treatment-induced changes in these compartments may have influenced the alterations in foliar mCa and physiological parameters measured in this study.

A study of fungal endophytes of needles of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and red spruce (Picea rubens) in New Brunswick, Canada, using culture and electron microscope techniques

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 3513-3516 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Johnson ◽  
Norman J. Whitney
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Fungal Endophytes ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Intercellular Spaces ◽  
Parenchyma Cells ◽  
Spruce Needles ◽  
Petiole Segment

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the interiors of surface-sterilized needles of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and red spruce (Picea rubens) in New Brunswick, Canada. Four different fungi were isolated frequently. One species, designated X-W, was isolated exlusively from the petiole segment of red spruce needles. There was no difference in the variety of species isolated from fir needles from two sites, but a difference in frequency of species did exist. Micrographs of the interior of balsam fir needles showed hyphae occupying intercellular spaces and adhering to the outer walls of parenchyma cells. No penetration of cells by either fungus was observed.

Red spruce bud mortality at Whiteface Mountain, New York

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian L. Hadley ◽  
Robert G. Amundson ◽  
J. A. Laurence ◽  
R. J. Kohut
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Foliar Nitrogen ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Terminal Bud ◽  
Whiteface Mountain ◽  
Terminal Buds

Terminal bud mortality for shoots produced between 1982 and 1989 was measured for midcanopy branches of mature red spruce trees (Picea rubens Sargent) at two elevations on Whiteface Mountain, New York, U.S.A. Average terminal bud mortality ranged from 15 to 45% in different years, and there was no evidence for a biotic cause of bud mortality. Between branches on different trees, there was a negative correlation between frequency of terminal bud mortality for shoots produced between 1987 and 1989 and the percent change in current-year foliage biomass between 1987 and 1990. Branches with a high frequency of terminal bud mortality also tended to have a high proportion (> 50%) of 1990 shoots developed on adventitious branchlets. In late November 1990, terminal buds from most trees at 710–1120 m elevation were susceptible to freezing injury between −31 and −38 °C when cooled at 4 °C/h under laboratory conditions. Typical winter minimum temperatures at 700–1100 m elevation on Whiteface Mountain are within this range. In a recent controlled study of red spruce seedlings, high foliar nitrogen was associated with an increased risk of freezing injury to terminal buds in autumn. We found that red spruce on Whiteface Mountain had higher foliar nitrogen levels compared with red spruce at a much lower elevation in Maine. Based on these results, we advocate further research on the relationship between foliar nitrogen and bud freezing sensitivity in high elevation red spruce. Key words: Picea rubens, red spruce, bud mortality, freezing injury, nitrogen, red spruce decline.

Effects of tomato mosaic Tobamovirus infection on red spruce seedlings

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 973-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
George D. Bachand ◽  
John D. Castello ◽  
Michail Schaedle ◽  
Stephen V. Stehman ◽  
William H. Livingston
Keyword(s):  
Freezing Tolerance ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Shoot Length ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Bud Break ◽  
Freezing Damage ◽  
Root Volume ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Tissue Reduction

Height, weight, root volume, shoot length, needle length and weight, and total chlorophyll content were measured for both control and tomato mosaic Tobamovirus (ToMV)-inoculated red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) seedlings in each of five, 3-month growth periods. Mean bud-break rating was determined for each seedling in growth period 5. In January 1995 the freezing tolerance of control and ToMV-infected seedlings was determined. Approximately 85% of the inoculated seedlings became infected with ToMV, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of young root tissue. Reduction in seedling height, weight, root volume, bud break, and mean shoot length of infected seedlings was observed when compared with control seedlings. The rate of increase over time in height, weight, and root volume was lower (54, 57, and 52%, respectively) in infected seedlings compared with control seedlings. Additionally, needles of infected seedlings were less susceptible to freezing damage than those of control seedlings. However, virus infection had no effect on the freezing tolerance of roots.

Winter desiccation and solar radiation in relation to red spruce decline in the northern Appalachians

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian L. Hadley ◽  
Andrew J. Friedland ◽  
Graham T. Herrick ◽  
Robert G. Amundson
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
New England ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Light Period ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Radiation Load ◽  
Northern New England ◽  
Spruce Needles

Exposure to direct solar radiation was correlated with needle death within individual high-elevation red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) shoots following winter injury episodes at six sites in 1980 and 1989. We observed extensive visible needle damage to red spruce in northern New England between March and May of 1989 and determined that it was preceded by desiccation. In an independent growth chamber experiment, red spruce needles were heated to above freezing when exposed to strong illumination in calm subfreezing air. Rapid needle cooling occurred when the radiation load was suddenly reduced at the end of each light period, and needles desiccated severely within 10 days. These separate observations are consistent with three hypotheses: injury results from (i) desiccation, (ii) rapid needle cooling, (iii) freezing injury caused by a reduction in cold hardiness due to solar heating. These three mechanisms are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

scholarly journals MINERAL NUTRITION OF RED SPRUCE SEEDLINGS IN AN ACIDIC FOREST SOIL

HortScience ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 1158e-1159
Author(s):  
Baerbel Hoelldampf ◽  
Allen V Barker
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Nutrition ◽  
Nitrogen Nutrition ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Nitrogen Form ◽  
Forest Plants ◽  
Spruce Needles ◽  
Complete Nutrient Solution

Coniferous forest trees showing chlorosis and dieback appear to be deficient in Ca and Mg. These deficiencies may be induced by nitrogenous nutrients borne in the atmosphere. This study assessed the roles of nitrogen nutrition and soil on nutrient accumulation by red spruce (Picea rubens, Sarg.) and radishes (Raphanus sativus, L.). Plants were grown in the greenhouse in acid O or A horizons (Typic Haplorthod) collected from a red spruce forest. Plants were grown with a complete nutrient solution with 15 mM N of which NH4 was 0, 3.75, 7.5, 11.25, or 15 mM with the remainder being NO3-. After 120 days, the spruce needles became chlorotic with 11.25 or 15 mM NH4. Radishes exhibited NH4-toxicity after 28 days. Radishes were larger in the O horizon than in the A horizon. As NH4 was increased, radishes had lesser dry weights and accumulated less foliar Ca. Foliar Ca also was lower in spruce with the higher NH4. Magnesium concentrations in leaves of red spruce and radishes were not affected significantly by increasing NH4 supply. Radishes are suitable indicator plants to study the effect of nitrogen form on mineral nutrition of spruce because each species responded similarly to the treatments.

Phenotypic Variation in Climate-Associated Traits of Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) along Elevation Gradients in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

Castanea ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
John R. Butnor ◽  
Brittany M. Verrico ◽  
Kurt H. Johnsen ◽  
Christopher A. Maier ◽  
Victor Vankus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Variation ◽  
Appalachian Mountains ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Elevation Gradients ◽  
Southern Appalachian Mountains ◽  
Southern Appalachian
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