Foliar injury symptoms and pigment concentrations in red spruce saplings in the southern Appalachians

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1119-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian P. Andersen ◽  
Samuel B. McLaughlin ◽  
W. Kelly Roy
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Southern Appalachians ◽  
Foliar Injury ◽  
Pigment Analysis ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Local Site ◽  
Chlorophyll A And B ◽  
Pigment Concentrations

The frequency and percent surface area covered by necrotic flecking on red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) needles from sapling-sized trees were examined on nine research sites on three mountains in the southern Appalachians. Foliar pigment analysis was conducted on trees from two of the nine research sites. Flecking increased with foliar age on all sites, and on two of the mountains the area covered by flecks increased with elevation. Above 1720 m on Clingman's Dome, foliar flecking was found to constitute >8% of the upper needle surface area of 1-year-old needles. Chlorophyll a and b concentrations increased with foliar age and were greater in trees growing at the mid-elevation site (1720 m) than at the high-elevation site (1935 m) on Clingman's Dome. Pigment concentrations did not correspond to foliar flecking frequency at these two sites. Foliar flecking appears to increase over winter, and its widespread occurrence throughout the southern Appalachians suggests that regional rather than local site-related phenomena are involved.

Ice damage in spruce–fir forests of the Black Mountains, North Carolina

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1487-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. S. Nicholas ◽  
S. M. Zedaker
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Southern Appalachians ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Ecosystem Monitoring ◽  
Fraser Fir ◽  
Average Decrease ◽  
Ice Storms ◽  
Second Growth

Spruce–fir ecosystem monitoring was initiated in 1985 in the southern Appalachians, United States, after reports of a red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) decline in the northeast. Ice storms during the winter of 1986–1987 had a severe impact on spruce–fir forests in the Black Mountains of North Carolina, the location of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in eastern North America. Mortality rates were higher for red spruce than for Fraser fir (Abiesfraseri (Pursh.) Poir.), 8.1 and 2.4%, respectively. Recent ice damage was apparent in 12.4% of surviving overstory stems, with red spruce having a 17% average decrease in height. Frequency of damage to stems tended to increase with increasing elevation. Little is known about the successional dynamics of southern high elevation montane second-growth forests. Our results suggest that ice storms may be an important cause of damage and mortality.

Winter injury to red spruce at Mount Moosilauke, New Hampshire

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 1380-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Peart ◽  
Matthew B. Jones ◽  
Peter A. Palmiotto
Keyword(s):  
New Hampshire ◽  
Freezing Tolerance ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Bud Break ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Foliar Injury ◽  
Weak Tendency

We report the severity and detailed spatial patterns of winter injury to red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) in the winter of 1988–1989 and assess support for the desiccation and freezing hypotheses. Foliar injury was quantified at three elevations (840, 990, and 1140 m) and on east- and west-facing slopes in the spruce-fir zone at Mount Moosilauke, New Hampshire. Overall, 29% of current-year foliage on red spruce trees was killed by winter injury. Injury increased with elevation. There was a weak tendency for winter injury to be higher on the sun-exposed south sides of crowns, but substantial injury also occurred on shaded foliage. Injury increased markedly with height in crown at high elevation, but decreased with height at low elevation. The results appear inconsistent with desiccation as the main cause of winter injury. Elevational trends in foliar injury are consistent with the freezing hypothesis, but the strong trends in foliar injury by height within trees cannot be fully explained without further data on spatial variation in microclimate and freezing tolerance. Failure to break bud was assessed on the same spatial scales as foliar injury. Bud break was least in trees and crown sections with severe foliar injury. No evidence for winter injury was found on balsam fir (Abiesbalsamea (L.) Mill.). The results support the hypothesis that winter injury may contribute to the current decline of red spruce in the northern Appalachians.

An analysis of climate and competition as contributors to decline of red spruce in high elevation Appalachian forests of the Eastern United states

Oecologia ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. B. McLaughlin ◽  
D. J. Downing ◽  
T. J. Blasing ◽  
E. R. Cook ◽  
H. S. Adams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Appalachian Forests

Synchronie large-scale disturbances and red spruce growth decline

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1361-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Reams ◽  
Paul C. Van Deusen
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Southern Appalachians ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Growth Reduction ◽  
Usda Forest Service ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
Growth Decline

Tree-ring data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory & Analysis and other independent sources were used to study coincidence of changes in growth and large-scale disturbances. Numerous studies report that mean radial growth of red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) declined synchronously throughout its range in the early 1960s. We use red spruce tree-ring data from most of the major studies to show that the synchronicity of red spruce growth decline is likely the outcome of the large-scale disturbances that occurred throughout the northeastern red spruce ecosystem in the late 1930s to early 1950s. Large-scale disturbances are either not detectable or not present in the same time interval in the southern Appalachians. This appears to correspond to an absence of a 1960s radial growth reduction in this region.

Seasonal variation in nitrate reductase activity in needles of high-elevation red spruce trees

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.G. Tjoelker ◽  
S.B. McLaughlin ◽  
R.J. DiCosty ◽  
S.E. Lindberg ◽  
R.J. Norby
Keyword(s):  
Nitrate Reductase ◽  
Nitrate Reductase Activity ◽  
Reductase Activity ◽  
Nitrate Assimilation ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Acid Vapor ◽  
Assimilation Capacity

To assess seasonal and site variation in foliar nitrate reductase activity and its utility as a biochemical marker for the uptake of nitrogen oxide pollutants in high-elevation forests, we measured nitrate reductase activity in current-year needles of red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) saplings at two high-elevation stands (1935 and 1720 m) in the Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina. Measurements spanned two growing seasons between September 1987 and September 1988. Nitrate reductase activity peaked near 60 nmol•g−1•h−1 at both sites in September and October 1987 and August 1988 and declined 80% in November 1987 and 65% in September 1988. Although nitrate reductase activity was 30% greater in saplings at the higher site relative to the lower site in September and October 1987, activity dropped to approximately 10 nmol•g−1•h−1 at both sites in November 1987. No differences among sites were evident the following year. Comparing deposition of nitric acid vapor at a nearby site to nitrate reductase activity suggests that needle nitrate reductase activity is not an unequivocal marker for foliar uptake of nitrogen oxides during air pollutant episodes. The changes in soil nitrate levels in this system provide preliminary evidence that foliar nitrate assimilation may, in part, include nitrate taken up from the soil, as the highest activity occurred during periods of higher A-horizon nitrate concentrations in 1988. These measurements of nitrate reductase activity suggest that red spruce are capable of assimilating nitrate in foliage in the field and that the nitrate assimilation capacity varies throughout the year.

scholarly journals Small glaciers disappearing in the tropical Andes: a case-study in Bolivia: Glaciar Chacaltaya (16o S)

2001 ◽  
Vol 47 (157) ◽  
pp. 187-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edson Ramírez ◽  
Bernard Francou ◽  
Pierre Ribstein ◽  
Marc Descloitres ◽  
Roger Guérin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Tropical Andes ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
La Paz ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Near Future

AbstractGlaciar Chacaltaya is an easily accessible glacier located close to La Paz, Bolivia. Since 1991, information has been collected about the evolution of this glacier since the Little Ice Age, with a focus on the last six decades. The data considered in this study are monthly mass-balance measurements, yearly mappings of the surface topography and a map of the glacier bed given by ground-penetrating radar survey. A drastic shrinkage of ice has been observed since the early 1980s, with a mean deficit about 1 m a−1 w.e. From 1992 to 1998, the glacier lost 40% of its average thickness and two-thirds of its total volume, and the surface area was reduced by >40%. With a mean estimated equilibrium-line altitude lying above its upper reach, the glacier has been continuously exposed to a dominant ablation on the whole surface area. If the recent climatic conditions continue, a complete extinction of this glacier in the next 15 years can be expected. Glaciar Chacaltaya is representative of the glaciers of the Bolivian eastern cordilleras, 80% of which are small glaciers (<0.5 km2). A probable extinction of these glaciers in the near future could seriously affect the hydrological regime and the water resources of the high-elevation basins.

scholarly journals Glacier changes in the Pascua-Lama region, Chilean Andes (29° S): recent mass balance and 50 yr surface area variations

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1029-1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rabatel ◽  
H. Castebrunet ◽  
V. Favier ◽  
L. Nicholson ◽  
C. Kinnard
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
Chilean Andes

Abstract. Since 2003, a monitoring program has been conducted on several glaciers and glacierets in the Pascua-Lama region of the Chilean Andes (29° S/70° W; 5000 m a.s.l.), permitting the study of glaciological processes on ice bodies in a subtropical, arid, high-elevation area where no measurements were previously available. In this paper we present: (1) six years of glaciological surface mass balance measurements from four ice bodies in the area, including a discussion of the nature of the studied glaciers and glacierets and characterization of the importance of winter mass balance to annual mass balance variability; and (2) changes in surface area of twenty ice bodies in the region since 1955, reconstructed from aerial photographs and satellite images, which shows that the total glaciated surface area reduced by ~29% between 1955 and 2007, and that the rate of surface area shrinkage increased in the late 20th century. Based on these datasets we present a first interpretation of glacier changes in relation with climatic parameters at both local and regional scales.

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