THE FATE OF THE DWARF SHOOT APEX IN BRISTLECONE PINE (PINUS LONGAEVA)

1985 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank W. Ewers ◽  
Rudolf Schmid
1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2280-2290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank W. Ewers

The dwarf shoot of the genus Pinus is normally regarded as a determinate short shoot, but the fate of the dwarf shoot apex after needle maturity and the origin of proliferated dwarf shoots remain controversial. To resolve these issues, 1- to 28-year-old dwarf shoots of P. longaeva were microscopically examined and experimentally manipulated. Eighty-eight percent of the lateral long shoots and all trunks had "proliferated dwarf shoots," or dwarf shoots that had become long shoots. On trunks 44.3% of the dwarf shoots had terminal buds, versus 6.6% on lateral long shoots. Most of these buds were microscopic, "interfoliar buds," derived from the original dwarf shoot apex. With advancing age of dwarf shoots there was no statistically significant change in the percentage of dwarf shoots with buds. The fate of the dwarf shoot apex depends upon the position of the dwarf shoot within its age-class and the type of long shoot. On lateral long shoots, only distal dwarf shoots have interfoliar buds and only these may spontaneously proliferate or be experimentally induced to proliferate into long shoots. Proximal dwarf shoots have a suberized apex. On trunks, both distal and proximal dwarf shoots often have buds and can thus proliferate. Dwarf shoot proliferations therefore arise predictably from interfoliar buds and not adventitiously.


2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Salzer ◽  
Malcolm K. Hughes

AbstractMany years of low growth identified in a western USA regional chronology of upper forest border bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva and Pinus aristata) over the last 5000 yr coincide with known large explosive volcanic eruptions and/or ice core signals of past eruptions. Over the last millennium the agreement between the tree-ring data and volcano/ice-core data is high: years of ring-width minima can be matched with known volcanic eruptions or ice-core volcanic signals in 86% of cases. In previous millennia, while there is substantial concurrence, the agreement decreases with increasing antiquity. Many of the bristlecone pine ring-width minima occurred at the same time as ring-width minima in high latitude trees from northwestern Siberia and/or northern Finland over the past 4000–5000 yr, suggesting climatically-effective events of at least hemispheric scale. In contrast with the ice-core records, the agreement between widely separated tree-ring records does not decrease with increasing antiquity. These data suggest specific intervals when the climate system was or was not particularly sensitive enough to volcanic forcing to affect the trees, and they augment the ice core record in a number of ways: by providing confirmation from an alternative proxy record for volcanic signals, by suggesting alternative dates for eruptions, and by adding to the list of years when volcanic events of global significance were likely, including the mid-2nd-millennium BC eruption of Thera.


1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valmore C. LaMarche

AbstractRemains of dead bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva Bailey) are found at altitudes up to 150 m above present treeline in the White Mountains. Standing snags and remnants in two study areas were mapped and sampled for dating by tree-ring and radiocarbon methods. The oldest remnants represent trees established more than 7400 y.a. Experimental and empirical evidence indicates that the position of the treeline is closely related to warm-season temperatures, but that precipitation may also be important in at least one of the areas. The upper treeline was at high levels in both areas until after about 2200 B.C., indicating warm-season temperatures about 3.5°F higher than those of the past few hundred years. However, the record is incomplete, relative warmth may have been maintained until at least 1500 B.C. Cooler and wetter conditions are indicated for the period 1500 B.C.-500 B.C., followed by a period of cool but drier climate. A major treeline decline occurred between about A.D. 1100 and A.D. 1500, probably reflecting onset of cold and dry conditions. High reproduction rates and establishment of scattered seedlings at high altitudes within the past 100 yr represents an incipient treeline advance, which reflected a general climatic warming beginning in the mid-19th century that has lasted until recent decades in the western United States. This evidence for climatic variation is broadly consistent with the record of Neoglacial advances in the North American Cordillera, and supports Antevs' concept of a warm “altithermal age” in the Great Basin.


IAWA Journal ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Baas ◽  
Rudolf Schmid ◽  
Bertie Joan van Heuven

Length-on-age curves are presented for tracheids of three stems of bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva). In the oldest stem tracheid length has steadily increased over the last 2200 years, and there are no signs of a levelling off. In the younger stems, which have the innermost rings dated 1484 and 1445 A.D., it appears that the 'juvenile' phase of steep increase in tracheid length of Pinus longaeva lasts several centuries. The methods of measuring tracheid length from narrow increment cores with a high percentage of damaged tracheids in macerations and in tangential sections using Ladell's method are compared. The wood anatomy of P. longaeva is described and found very similar to that of P. aristata. Both species differ in minor details from the related P. balfouriana. All three species share minute crystals in the epithelial and sheath cells of the resin ducts.


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