Comparisons of genetic diversity in white spruce (Picea glauca) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) seed orchards with natural populations

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 943-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J.W Godt ◽  
J L Hamrick ◽  
M A Edwards-Burke ◽  
J H Williams

Genetic diversity within a white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seed orchard (consisting of 40 clones) and a jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) seed orchard (31 clones) was assessed and compared with genetic diversity in natural populations within the source area for the orchards. Genetic diversity was determined at 18 allozyme loci for seven white spruce populations and 27 loci for five jack pine populations, and the two orchards. Gene diversity maintained within the seed orchards (He = 0.157 for white spruce and 0.114 for jack pine) was similar to that found within the source area for each species (He = 0.164 and 0.114 for white spruce and jack pine, respectively). However, nine white spruce alleles and 12 jack pine alleles identified in the source area were not present in the seed orchards. These alleles occurred at low frequencies in the natural populations (mean frequency = 0.023 and 0.014 for white spruce and jack pine, respectively). Mean genetic identities between the seed orchards and their natural populations were high (>0.99), indicating that common allele occurrences and frequencies were similar between the orchards and their source area. One allele in the white spruce orchard and two in the jack pine seed orchard did not occur within the natural population samples. Simulations indicated that randomly reducing the number of clones within the seed orchards would decrease allelic richness slightly but would have little effect on overall gene diversity.

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1116-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Pengxin Lu ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang

Conifer winter damage results primarily from loss of cold hardiness during unseasonably warm days in late winter and early spring, and such damage may increase in frequency and severity under a warming climate. In this study, the dehardening dynamics of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex. Loud), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) were examined in relation to thermal accumulation during artificial dehardening in winter (December) and spring (March) using relative electrolyte leakage and visual assessment of pine needles and spruce shoots. Results indicated that all four species dehardened at a similar rate and to a similar extent, despite considerably different thermal accumulation requirements. Spring dehardening was comparatively faster, with black spruce slightly hardier than the other conifers at the late stage of spring dehardening. The difference, however, was relatively small and did not afford black spruce significant protection during seedling freezing tests prior to budbreak in late March and early May. The dehardening curves and models developed in this study may serve as a tool to predict cold hardiness by temperature and to understand the potential risks of conifer cold injury during warming–freezing events prior to budbreak.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Klos ◽  
G. Geoff Wang ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang ◽  
Ed W. East

Abstract Kozak's variable exponent taper equation was fitted for balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.), trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss), black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.), and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) in Manitoba. Stem taper variability between two ecozones (i.e., Boreal Shield and Boreal Plains) were tested using the F-test. Regional differences were observed for trembling aspen, white spruce, and jack pine, and for those species, separate ecozone-specific taper equations were developed. However, the gross total volume estimates using the ecozone-specific equations were different from those of the provincial equations by only 2 percent. Although the regional difference in stem form was marginal within a province, a difference of approximately 7 percent of gross total volume estimation was found when our provincial taper equations were compared with those developed in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These results suggest that stem form variation increases with spatial scale and that a single taper equation for each species may be sufficient for each province.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 1516-1524
Author(s):  
Denis Belley ◽  
Isabelle Duchesne ◽  
Steve Vallerand ◽  
Julie Barrette ◽  
Michel Beaudoin

The increased pressure on timber supply due to a reduced forest land base urges the development of new approaches to fully capture the value of forest products. This paper investigates the effects of knowing the position of knots on lumber volume, value, and grade recoveries in curve sawing of 31 white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and 22 jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) trees. Internal knot position was evidenced by X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging, followed by the application of a knot-detection algorithm allowing log reconstruction for use as input in the Optitek sawing simulation software. Comparisons of the three levels of sawing optimization (sweep up, shape optimized, and knot optimized) revealed that considering internal knots before log sawing (e.g., knot optimized) generated 23% more lumber value for jack pine and 15% more for white spruce compared with the traditional sweep-up sawing strategy. In terms of lumber quality, the knot-optimized strategy produced 38% more pieces of grade No. 2 and better in jack pine and 15% more such pieces in white spruce compared with the sweep-up strategy. These results indicate a great potential to increase manufacturing efficiency and profitability by implementing the CT scanning technology, which should aid in developing a strong bioeconomy based on an optimized use of wood.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dainis Ruņģis ◽  
Solveiga Luguza ◽  
Endijs Bāders ◽  
Vilnis Šķipars ◽  
Āris Jansons

Forest ecosystems in Europe are expected to experience changes in temperature and water regimes associated with increased risks of extreme environmental events and disasters. Genetic diversity and relatedness has been linked to resilience of forest stands and landscapes. Genetic diversity indicators were compared between a Norway spruce population naturally regenerated after extensive windthrow and Norway spruce progeny populations derived from two seed orchards. In addition, genetic diversity in an undisturbed stand in a long established national park and a spruce genetic resource stand were analyzed. Populations were genotyped at 11 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. Average genetic diversity indicators were similar across populations. However, the total number of alleles, average number of alleles over all loci, effective number of alleles, average gene diversity, and average allelic richness were highest in the naturally regenerated population and lowest in one of the seed orchard progeny populations. The genetic diversity in progeny from seed orchards used for stand renewal is comparable to the genetic diversity in naturally regenerated stands. However, fluctuations in seed production between years can have a large impact on genetic diversity in seed orchard progeny. The use of improved Norway spruce germplasm deployed via clonal seed orchards for forest renewal can maintain similar levels of genetic diversity compared to naturally regenerated stands, while also increasing production and timber quality.


1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 2522-2528 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Koppenaal ◽  
T. J. Tschaplinski ◽  
S. J. Colombo

Water potential components and organic solutes were examined in shoots and roots of potted jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings after exposure to 7 days of water stress. The osmotic potential at the turgor loss point (ψπTLP) decreased in shoots and roots of water-stressed seedlings of both species, resulting in the maintenance of positive turgor at lower xylem water potentials (ψX) compared with nonstressed seedlings. Following water stress, ψπTLP of shoots and roots declined by 0.28 MPa and 0.14 MPa, respectively, in jack pine, and 0.19 MPa and 0.28 MPa, respectively, in white spruce. The osmotic potential at saturation (ψπ100) was significantly lower after water stress only in jack pine roots. Active osmotic adjustment during water stress was confirmed by higher concentrations of organic solutes in white spruce shoots (1.4 × increase relative to nonstressed plants) and roots (1.7 ×) and in the roots (2.2 ×) but not the shoots of jack pine. Carbohydrates, particularly fructose and glucose, were the primary organic solutes accumulating in both species. Tissue elasticity was greater in the roots than the shoots of both jack pine and white spruce regardless of treatment. Consequently, the relative water content at the turgor loss point was 22% and 18% lower in the roots than in the shoots of jack pine and white spruce, respectively. Osmotic adjustment in the roots and shoots of these two boreal conifers suggests that preconditioning planting stock by exposure to water stress may increase carbohydrate concentrations and enhance seedling drought tolerance. Key words: carbohydrate accumulation, drought tolerance, organic solutes, osmotic adjustment, Picea glauca, Pinus banksiana, water potential components.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 333-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ranger ◽  
K. K. Nkongolo ◽  
P. Michael ◽  
P. Beckett

Abstract Metal accumulation in soil and plant tissues has caused severe ecological damage in forest ecosystems in the Sudbury region. The main objective of the present study was to determine the levels of genetic diversity in jack and red pine populations growing in metal contaminated and uncontaminated areas. Newly introduced populations were compared to 40 to 60 old populations. For jack pine, the percentage of polymorphic loci (P %) ranged from 14.6% to 45.8% with a mean of 31.6%. Nei’s gene diversity (h) varied from 0.046 to 0.169 with an average of 0.100, and Shannon’s index (I) ranged from 0.070 to 0.250 with an average of 0.153. The level of genetic variation was much lower in the red pine populations. For this species, the level of polymorphic loci varied from 4.55% to 27.27%. The mean for Nei’s gene diversity and Shannon’s information index, were 0.034 and 0.053, respectively. The highest genetic diversity values were observed in new plantations being developed by the Sudbury reforestation program. Overall, the genetic distance among the Pinus banksiana populations revealed that all the populations analyzed were genetically close to each other. There was no association between metal accumulation and genetic diversity for both species.


Botany ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Steve Colombo ◽  
Pengxin Lu ◽  
Qing-Lai Dang

Compared with the effects of spring frosts on opening buds or newly flushed tissues, winter freezing damage to conifers, owing to temperature fluctuations prior to budbreak, is rare and less known. In this study, changes in cold hardiness (measured based on electrolyte leakage and needle damage) and spring budbreak were assessed to examine the responses of four boreal conifer species — black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), white spruce (Picea glauca) (Moench) Voss), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex. Loud.) — to different durations of experimental warming (16 °C day to –2 °C night with a 10 h photoperiod, except for night temperatures during November warming (+2 °C)). Seedlings showed increased responses to warming from November to March, while the capacity to regain the cold hardiness lost to warming decreased during the same period. This suggests an increasing vulnerability of conifers to temperature fluctuations and freezing damage with the progress of chilling and dormancy release from fall to spring. Both lodgepole pine and jack pine initiated spring growth earlier and had greater responses to experimental warming in bud phenology than black spruce and white spruce, suggesting a greater potential risk of frost/freezing damage to pine trees in the spring.


2019 ◽  
pp. 297-307
Author(s):  
Yuqing Yang ◽  
Shongming Huang ◽  
Robert Vassov ◽  
Brad Pinno ◽  
Sophan Chhin

Climate-sensitive height–age models were developed for top height trees of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) in natural and reclaimed oil sands stands. We used stem analysis data collected from the Athabasca oil sands region in northern Alberta, Canada, and climate data generated by the ClimateWNA model. Height–age trajectories differed between top height trees in natural and reclaimed stands for jack pine and white spruce, but not for trembling aspen. At a given age, white spruce top height trees were taller and jack pine top height trees were shorter in reclaimed stands than those in natural stands, suggesting that it is easier to achieve similar forest productivity for oil sands sites reclaimed with white spruce stands than for sites reclaimed with jack pine stands. The principal climate variables were growing season (May to September) precipitation averaged over the previous 10 years for trembling aspen and jack pine and summer (June to August) precipitation averaged over the previous 10 years for white spruce. These variables had positive effects on the height–age trajectories.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan D Hangs ◽  
J Diane Knight ◽  
Ken CJ Van Rees

Little is known about the N uptake abilities of competitor species and planted seedlings in the boreal forest. The objective of this study was to determine the Michaelis–Menten kinetic parameters of NH4+ and NO3– for white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) seedlings, and three competitive common boreal forest early successional species: aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium L.), and cala magrostis (Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv.). Uptake kinetics were measured in hydroponic cultures and expressed as maximum uptake (Imax) and ion affinity (Km). The ranking of Imax values (pmol·cm-2·s–1) for NH4+ uptake was calamagrostis (84.6), fireweed (58.1), white spruce (20.7), aspen (12.5), and jack pine (10.9), and for NO3– uptake was calamagrostis (17.7), fireweed (12.5), aspen (5.8), white spruce (4.5), and jack pine (2.1). The ranking of Km values (µM) for NH4+ uptake was calamagrostis (125.9), fireweed (163.8), aspen (205.7), white spruce (217.1), and jack pine (270.5), and for NO3– uptake was calamagrostis (229.9), fireweed (274.6), aspen (336.5), white spruce (344.5), and jack pine (350.5). Calamagrostis exhibited the greatest uptake rates and affinity for NH4+ and NO3–, suggesting that silviculture practices that specifically reduce establishment of this grass should benefit the growth of planted seedlings.


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