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.

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.

Red spruce decline on Whiteface Mountain, New York. II. Relationships between apical and radial growth decline

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1415-1421 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. LeBlanc ◽  
Dudley J. Raynal
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Spruce Decline ◽  
Growth Decline ◽  
Whiteface Mountain ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Crown Dieback ◽  
The Relationship

Understanding the relationship between apical and radial growth decline can contribute toward the evaluation of hypotheses regarding causal mechanisms of red spruce decline. The etiology of red spruce decline in montane spruce-fir forests of the northeastern United States includes loss of foliage at branch apices, crown dieback, and unreversed radial growth decline since the 1960s. Demographic analyses of crown damage and radial growth decline for red spruce on Whiteface Mountain, New York, indicate that large, canopy-emergent trees with exposed crowns exhibit greater decline than codominant trees within an intact canopy. In this paper, radial growth decline is shown to have been coincident with decreased apical growth and increased incidence of injury to terminal leaders. Incidence of leader mortality is greatest for canopy-emergent red spruce or trees with exposed crowns, similar to patterns described for radial growth. This relationship suggests that the post-1960 decline of red spruce on Whiteface Mountain is caused, at least in part, by stresses that act directly on the crown.

Tomato mosaic virus infection of red spruce on Whiteface Mountain, New York: prevalence and potential impact

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1340-1345 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Castello ◽  
George D. Bachand ◽  
Philip M. Wargo ◽  
Volker Jacobi ◽  
Donald R. Tobi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Tomato Mosaic Virus ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Virus Concentration ◽  
First Order ◽  
Virus Incidence ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Whiteface Mountain ◽  
Crown Dieback

Tomato mosaic tobamovirus (ToMV) was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the roots of red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) on Whiteface Mountain, New York. Both virus incidence and concentration in the roots of red spruce vary by site and were greater in trees with little to moderate crown dieback than in trees with severe dieback. There was no significant association between virus incidence or concentration in the roots of red spruce and elevation on Whiteface Mountain. Multiple regression analysis of virus concentration in the roots, as the dependent variable, was performed against nine selected crown and root variables. In the final regression model, the number of live second-order nonwoody roots per length of first-order nonwoody root and length of the live crown were positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with virus concentration in the roots. These results suggest a complex epidemiology and a potentially significant impact of ToMV infection on the growth of red spruce on Whiteface Mountain.

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.

Red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) foliar chemistry in Northern Vermont and New York, USA

1988 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Friedland ◽  
G. J. Hawley ◽  
R. A. Gregory
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Picea Rubens ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Foliar Chemistry

Red Spruce Death: Effects on Forest Composition and Structure on Whiteface Mountain, New York

1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 418 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Battles ◽  
Arthur H. Johnson ◽  
Thomas G. Siccama ◽  
Andrew J. Friedland ◽  
Eric K. Miller
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Whiteface Mountain

Element distribution in red spruce (Picearubens) fine roots; evidence for aluminium toxicity at Whiteface Mountain

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1132-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hedda Schlegel ◽  
Robert G. Amundson ◽  
Aloys Hüttermann
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Fine Roots ◽  
Aluminium Toxicity ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Element Distribution ◽  
Solution Chemistry ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Ion Distribution ◽  
Root Cortex ◽  
Whiteface Mountain

To determine the element distribution in fine roots of red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) at a high-elevation decline site on Whiteface Mountain, New York, fine-root samples were collected and analysed by X-ray microanalysis. Aluminium was found in very high concentrations in the root cortex, but could not be detected in stelar tissues. In contrast, magnesium was found only in the central cylinder in low amounts. The calcium concentration in the cortex was low, but was higher in the stele. Aluminium has been shown to interfere with cation uptake by blocking exchange sites in the cortical apoplast. Thus these results strongly suggest that the low foliar magnesium and calcium contents of the declining red spruce trees are driven by aluminium-induced inhibition of magnesium and calcium uptake. Soil solution chemistry, ion distribution in fine roots, and foliar ion contents at Whiteface Mountain were compared with equivalent data from other forest sites as well as with data from controlled studies on spruce seedlings. These data suggest that aluminium toxicity contributes to red spruce decline at Whiteface Mountain.

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.

Acid rain and soils of the Adirondacks. II. Evaluation of calcium and aluminum as causes of red spruce decline at Whiteface Mountain, New York

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2298-2298
Author(s):  
A.H. Johnson ◽  
T.N. Schwartzman ◽  
J.J. Battles ◽  
R. Miller ◽  
E.K. Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Acid Rain ◽  
Red Spruce ◽  
Spruce Decline ◽  
Whiteface Mountain

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