Temperature Regulation of the Development of Frost Hardiness in Pinus radiata D. Don

The development of frost hardiness in seedlings of P. radiata was followed using a photoperiod of 9 h and a constant day temperature of 12°C. The seedlings were preconditioned to a night temperature of 6.5°C for 35 days and 4°C for 7 days. The temperature was then reduced to -4°C for 66 days in one hardening treatment (designated 12/-4°C) and to 3°C for 136 days in another (designated 12/3°C). At the end of those periods, the night temperature was increased back to 6.5°C for a further 15 days. Frost hardiness was determined at regular intervals by exposing the seedlings to a series of artificial frosts. During the low temperature regime, frost hardiness developed continuously in seedlings from both treatments, from -5 to -9.5°C in the 12/3°C treatment and to -16.5°C in the 12/-4°C treatment. The rate of development of frost hardiness was constant at constant temperatures. Using a temperature response model, specific rates of hardening were estimated for both this and an earlier experiment, and found to be approximately linear against temperature. The analysis establishes that temperature controls the hardening process of P. radiata by regulating the rate of development of frost hardiness. Frost hardiness was also shown to be related to thermal time. Before this relationship could be useful in predicting frost hardiness of field-grown seedlings, the relative contribution of the photoperiod-induced and temperature-induced hardening in natural environments needs to be more clearly defined.