scholarly journals Physiological and Environmental Causes of Freezing Injury in Red Spruce

2000 ◽  
pp. 181-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Schaberg ◽  
Donald H. DeHayes
Keyword(s):  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Environmental Causes

Nutrient status and winter hardiness of red spruce foliage

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 754-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Klein ◽  
Timothy D. Perkins ◽  
Helen L. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
Winter Hardiness ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Ion Leakage ◽  
Anthropogenic Nitrogen

Increased ecosystem loading with inorganic nitrogen compounds derived from anthropogenic sources has been proposed to prolong vegetative growth of spruce, rendering them more susceptible to winter injury. Severely nutrient-deficient 4-year-old red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) seedlings and adequately fertilized seedlings were provided with synthetic cloud water lacking or containing nitrate, ammonium, or both, for a full growing season, and then exposed to normal winter chilling. Needles from these seedlings were stressed at −25 or −30 °C, and freezing injury was measured as ion leakage. Cloud water condensates had no effect on hardiness of needles of either nutrient status. Initially nutrient-sufficient seedlings transferred to nutrient-deficient conditions also exhibited no change in hardiness. Severely nutrient-deficient seedlings had needles that were significantly more sensitive to winter injury than seedlings under nutrient-sufficient conditions. Improving the nutrient status of initially nitrogen-deficient seedlings reduced their sensitivity to freezing injury. Based upon experimental results and consideration of the amounts of inorganic nitrogen reaching upper-elevation conifer forests, there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that anthropogenic nitrogen supplies significantly reduce winter hardiness of spruce foliage. It is improbable that winter injury due to elevated anthropogenic nitrogen is a causal factor in contemporary forest decline.

Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Cold Hardiness and Freezing Injury Susceptibility

2001 ◽  
pp. 495-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald H. DeHayes ◽  
Paul G. Schaberg ◽  
G. Richard Strimbeck
Keyword(s):  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury

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.

scholarly journals Midwinter dehardening of montane red spruce during a natural thaw

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 2040-2044 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.R. Strimbeck ◽  
D.H. DeHayes ◽  
J.B. Shane ◽  
G.J. Hawley ◽  
P.G. Schaberg
Keyword(s):  
Cold Tolerance ◽  
Photosynthetic Capacity ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Field Site ◽  
Risk Of Injury ◽  
Warm Weather ◽  
Cold Tolerant ◽  
Net Assimilation

We documented 3 to 14 °C of dehardening in current-year foliage of 10 mature, montane red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) trees during a natural thaw from 12 to 21 January 1995. Mean cold tolerance was about −47 °C before the onset of thaw conditions, and individuals ranged from −38 to −52 °C. After 3 days of thaw, mean cold tolerance dropped to −39 °C, with a range of −32 to −44 °C. Trees did not regain prethaw levels of cold tolerance until sometime between 31 January and 9 February, or 10 to 20 days after subfreezing temperatures resumed. The least cold tolerant tree was at risk of injury when temperature at the field site fell to an estimated −33.8 °C on 6 February, and this same tree developed noticeably more injury than other trees when injury symptoms developed in late March. No evidence of dehardening was found in balsam fir (Abiesbalsamea (L.) Mill.) trees from the same stand. All red spruce trees also showed the potential for net assimilation of carbon during the thaw, as determined by measurement of photosynthetic capacity under laboratory conditions. From the abrupt and substantial dehardening and persistence of the dehardened state, we conclude that dehardening during periods of warm weather may be a significant factor in freezing injury and decline of montane red spruce populations.

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.

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.

Productivité et Stabilité Phénotypique de l'Épinette Rouge au Québec

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Beaulieu ◽  
A. Corriveau ◽  
G. Daoust
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Phenotypic Stability ◽  
Stability Parameters ◽  
Abandoned Farmland ◽  
Phenotypic Instability

Fifteen red spruce provenances were planted in 1959 on abandoned farmland in Quebec. Volume productivity and phenotypic stability parameters, 25 years after planting, are presented. Provenance-environment interaction is significant in red spruce. However, the importance of the phenotypic instability may have been influenced by the southern origin of some provenances and by an unequal damage caused by a yellowheaded spruce sawfly outbreak in one of the sites. Three provenances are of average stability and perform relatively well on all sites. They could be recommended for reforestation under certain conditions. However, the productivity of even these provenances is much lower than expected, probably owing to the susceptibility of the species to winter desiccation and severe frost damage when planted on exposed sites. Key words: Provenance-environment interaction, winter desiccation, bud freezing injury, provenances, combined regression analysis.

Patterns of foliar injury to red spruce on Whiteface Mountain, New York, during a high-injury winter

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Boyce
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Freezing Injury ◽  
Adirondack Mountains ◽  
Foliar Injury ◽  
Southern Aspect ◽  
Whiteface Mountain ◽  
A Site

Winter injury to red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) after the winter of 1992–1993 was measured at an elevation of 1050 m at a site on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Approximately 21% of the 1992 foliage was injured. Damage increased with height in the canopy (P < 0.0001), and was highest on the southern aspect (P < 0.0001), followed by the western aspect, which sustained more damage than the northern and eastern aspects (P < 0.0001). Damage was highest on trees whose canopy was fertilized with nitrogen, intermediate on ground-fertilized trees, and lowest on untreated trees, but differences were not significant (P = 0.45) and were confounded with stand structure differences. The strong aspect and height patterns of damage confirm earlier work showing that solar radiation plays an important role in causing the freezing injury that leads to winter damage in red spruce.

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.

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