scholarly journals Effect of mature spruce forest on canopy interception in subalpine conditions during three growing seasons

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-446
Author(s):  
Martin Jančo ◽  
Pavel Mezei ◽  
Andrej Kvas ◽  
Michal Danko ◽  
Patrik Sleziak ◽  
...  

Abstract The interception process in subalpine Norway spruce stands plays an important role in the distribution of throughfall. The natural mountain spruce forest where our measurements of throughfall and gross precipitation were carried out, is located on the tree line at an elevation of 1,420 m a.s.l. in the Western Tatra Mountains (Slovakia, Central Europe). This paper presents an evaluation of the interception process in a natural mature spruce stand during the growing season from May to October in 2018–2020. We also analyzed the daily precipitation events within each growing season and assigned to them individual synoptic types. The amount and distribution of precipitation during the growing season plays an important role in the precipitation-interception process, which confirming the evaluation of individual synoptic situations. During the monitored growing seasons, precipitation was normal (2018), sub-normal (2019) and above-normal (2020) in comparison with long-term precipitation (1988–2017). We recorded the highest precipitation in the normal and above-normal precipitation years during the north-eastern cyclonic synoptic situation (NEc). During these two periods, interception showed the lowest values in the dripping zone at the crown periphery, while in the precipitation sub-normal period (2019), the lowest interception was reached by the canopy gap. In the central crown zone near the stem, interception reached the highest value in each growing season. In the evaluated vegetation periods, interception reached values in the range of 19.6–24.1% of gross precipitation total in the canopy gap, 8.3–22.2% in the dripping zone at the crown periphery and 45.7–51.6% in the central crown zone near the stem. These regimes are expected to change in the Western Tatra Mts., as they have been affected by windstorms and insect outbreaks in recent decades. Under disturbance regimes, changes in interception as well as vegetation, at least for some period of time, are unavoidable.

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
WJ Ryan ◽  
D Pratchett ◽  
BL McIntyre

In June 1980, 190 Kimberley Shorthorn steers from five properties in the Kimberley were divided into three age categories. Half were sent to Chapman Research Station (CRS) in the agricultural area of Western Australia and the remainder stayed at Ord Regeneration Research Station (ORRS) in the Kimberley. Animals in both locations grazed for either one or two pasture growing seasons and a third group was fed a concentrate ration based on grain after the first growing season. Cattle lost between 20-30 kg in handling and transport south which, together with the reduced initial grazing season, led to gains of only 50 kg while those in the north gained around 100 kg. In the second grazing season at both locations animals gained around 140 kg. Animals at ORRS laid down more fat than those at CRS. Animals fed on concentrate rations in the agricultural area grew significantly faster, but had poorer food conversion and were leaner compared with those fed in the Kimberley.


Biologia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Bartík ◽  
Martin Jančo ◽  
Katarína Střelcová ◽  
Jana Škvareninová ◽  
Jaroslav Škvarenina ◽  
...  

AbstractIn our paper we deal with the changes in the rainfall interception process of a climax spruce forest in the growing season (approximately from May to October) during its die-back. Experimental data were collected at the research plot of Červenec situated in the West Tatras at an elevation of 1,420 m a.s.l. in the years from 2013 to 2015. Net precipitation was monitored at three localities in both living and dead forests: canopy gap, dripping zone at crown periphery and central zone of a crown. Gross precipitation was recorded at an open forest area (with a diameter of 1–2 tree heights). The comparison of net precipitation in the stands revealed the highest values in the dripping zone at crown periphery of the living forest due to its increase by occult (horizontal) precipitation and transport of rainfall captured in the crown to its periphery. The values in the growing season of 2014 exceeded also gross precipitation. The total interception loss (total gross – net precipitation in % of gross precipitation) the canopy gap during the monitored period was 10.1% in the living and 18.3% in the dead stand, in the dripping zone at crown periphery it was 1.7% in the living and 20.5% in the dead stand, and in the central zone of a crown it was 70.6% in the living and 59.9% in the dead stand. Forest die-back had an effect on the distribution of precipitation under canopy. The comparison of mean interception values at three localities of the living and dead stands revealed significant differences between the stands in all cases (


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jozef Vakula ◽  
Milan Zúbrik ◽  
Juraj Galko ◽  
Andrej Gubka ◽  
Andrej Kunca ◽  
...  

Abstract In the period from 1992 to 2013, more than 3.8 million m3 of spruce wood from an area of 55 thousand ha of forests in the Kysuce region (Western Carpathians) was affected by bark beetles. This region has had the highest volume of salvage fellings in Slovakia. While before 1991, bark-beetle outbreak usually occurred after snow and wind disturbances, since 1992 they have occurred in the years with extremely warm and dry growing seasons and the years following them. These years were also characterised by high volumes of wood affected by honey fungus (Armillaria spp.), which only rarely took part in the calamities before 1992. Extreme deterioration of the situation occurred after 2003. In fragmented and sparse stands, the volume of wood damaged by wind increased. Artificial origin of spruce stands, their high occurrence, high age and even-agedness are likely pre-disposing factors of spruce forest decline. Bark beetles have become the most important factor of spruce decline. The most important factors driving the bark beetle attack on forest stands in the period 1973–2013 were the amount of unprocessed wood in the previous year; the amount of wood affected by honey fungus, precipitation total, and average temperature in the current growing season. Another important factor that complicated the situation was also the inferior quality of forest management.


2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Charles E. Rose ◽  
Barry D. Shiver

Abstract A slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) successive rotation plantation study was established in 1978–1979 for the north Florida and south Georgia flatwoods. The second rotation duplicated the first rotation seed source, site preparation, planting method and density. The comparison between the two rotations is based on the mean dominant/codominant height differential across a range of soil types and ages. There is a significant rotation 1 minus rotation 2 mean dominant/codominant height difference across the sites for all ages. Rotation 1 is 1.9 and 5.4 ft higher for mean dominant/codominant height at ages 2 and 20. The height differential is generally more significant for the spodosol soil type than the nonspodosol soil type. Rotation 1 generally experienced more favorable precipitation, for both the amount and timing of the precipitation within a year, than rotation 2. Rotation 2 experienced drought events and high growing season average temperatures during the first two growing seasons, while rotation 1 was near normal for this period. The evidence suggests that a main contributor to the decrease in mean dominant/codominant height across the spectrum of plots and age classes is the generally less favorable climatic growing season conditions experienced by rotation 2 relative to rotation 1. South. J. Appl. For. 26(2):61–71.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 943
Author(s):  
Katri Nissinen ◽  
Virpi Virjamo ◽  
Antti Kilpeläinen ◽  
Veli-Pekka Ikonen ◽  
Laura Pikkarainen ◽  
...  

We studied the growth responses of boreal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) seedlings to simulated climate warming of an average of 1.3 °C over the growing season in a controlled field experiment in central Finland. We had six replicate plots for elevated and ambient temperature for each tree species. The warming treatment lasted for the conifers for three growing seasons and for the birch two growing seasons. We measured the height and diameter growth of all the seedlings weekly during the growing season. The shoot and root biomass and their ratios were measured annually in one-third of seedlings harvested from each plot in autumn. After two growing seasons, the height, diameter and shoot biomass were 45%, 19% and 41% larger in silver birch seedlings under the warming treatment, but the root biomass was clearly less affected. After three growing seasons, the height, diameter, shoot and root biomass were under a warming treatment 39, 47, 189 and 113% greater in Scots pine, but the root:shoot ratio 29% lower, respectively. The corresponding responses of Norway spruce to warming were clearly smaller (e.g., shoot biomass 46% higher under a warming treatment). As a comparison, the relative response of height growth in silver birch was after two growing seasons equal to that measured in Scots pine after three growing seasons. Based on our findings, especially silver birch seedlings, but also Scots pine seedlings benefitted from warming, which should be taken into account in forest regeneration in the future.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Jodie A. Crose ◽  
Misha R. Manuchehri ◽  
Todd A. Baughman

Abstract Three herbicide premixes have recently been introduced for weed control in wheat. These include: halauxifen + florasulam, thifensulfuron + fluroxypyr, and bromoxynil + bicyclopyrone. The objective of this study was to evaluate these herbicides along with older products for their control of smallseed falseflax in winter wheat in Oklahoma. Studies took place during the 2017, 2018, and 2020 winter wheat growing seasons. Weed control was visually estimated every two weeks throughout the growing season and wheat yield was collected in all three years. Smallseed falseflax size was approximately six cm in diameter at time of application in all years. Control ranged from 96 to 99% following all treatments with the exception of bicyclopyrone + bromoxynil and dicamba alone, which controlled falseflax 90%. All treatments containing an acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicide achieved adequate control; therefore, resistance is not suspected in this population. Halauxifen + florasulam and thifensulfuron + fluroxypyr effectively controlled smallseed falseflax similarly to other standards recommended for broadleaf weed control in wheat in Oklahoma. Rotational use of these products allows producers flexibility in controlling smallseed falseflax and reduces the potential for development of herbicide resistance in this species.


Weed Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Muhammad Javaid Akhter ◽  
Per Kudsk ◽  
Solvejg Kopp Mathiassen ◽  
Bo Melander

Abstract Field experiments were conducted in the growing seasons of 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019 to evaluate the competitive effects of rattail fescue [Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C. Gmel.] in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and to assess whether delayed crop sowing and increased crop density influence the emergence, competitiveness, and fecundity of V. myuros. Cumulative emergence showed the potential of V. myuros to emerge rapidly and under a wide range of climatic conditions with no effect of crop density and variable effects of sowing time between the two experiments. Grain yield and yield components were negatively affected by increasing V. myuros density. The relationship between grain yield and V. myuros density was not influenced by sowing time or by crop density, but crop–weed competition was strongly influenced by growing conditions. Due to very different weather conditions, grain yield reductions were lower in the growing season of 2017 to 2018 than in 2018 to 2019, with maximum grain yield losses of 22% and 50% in the two growing seasons, respectively. The yield components, number of crop ears per square meter, and 1,000-kernel weight were affected almost equally, reflecting that V. myuros’s competition with winter wheat occurred both early and late in the growing season. Seed production of V. myuros was suppressed by delaying sowing and increasing crop density. The impacts of delayed sowing and increasing crop density on seed production of V. myuros highlight the potential of these cultural weed control tactics in the long-term management programs of this species.


1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 954-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.J. Samuelson ◽  
J.R. Seiler

The interactive influences of ambient (374 μL•L−1) or elevated (713 μL•L−1) CO2, low or high soil fertility, well-watered or water-stressed treatment, and rooting volume on gas exchange and growth were examined in red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) grown from seed through two growing seasons. Leaf gas exchange throughout two growing seasons and growth after two growing seasons in response to elevated CO2 were independent of soil fertility and water-stress treatments, and rooting volume. During the first growing season, no reduction in leaf photosynthesis of seedlings grown in elevated CO2 compared with seedlings grown in ambient CO2 was observed when measured at the same CO2 concentration. During the second growing season, net photosynthesis was up to 21% lower for elevated CO2-grown seedlings than for ambient CO2-grown seedlings when measured at 358 μL•L−1. Thus, photosynthetic acclimation to growth in elevated CO2 occurred gradually and was not a function of root-sink strength or soil-fertility treatment. However, net photosynthesis of seedlings grown and measured at an elevated CO2 concentration was still over 2 times greater than the photosynthesis of seedlings grown and measured at an ambient CO2 concentration. Growth enhancement by CO2 was maintained, since seedlings grown in elevated CO2 were 40% larger in both size and weight after two growing seasons.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sara Bernardo ◽  
Lia-Tânia Dinis ◽  
Nelson Machado ◽  
Ana Barros ◽  
Marta Pitarch-Bielsa ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Kaolin particle-film application is a well-known strategy to avoid fruit damage. However, its putative role in balancing berry ripening under a changing climate remains poorly explored. OBJECTIVE: We assessed kaolin treatment effect on several ripening berry components, hormonal balance and oenological parameters of the field-grown Touriga-Franca (TF) and Touriga–Nacional (TN) grapevine varieties at veraison (EL35) and ripening (EL38) during two growing seasons (2017 and 2018). RESULTS: Under the adverse summer conditions (two heatwave events) of 2017, kaolin application increased 211.2 %and 51.4 %the salicylic acid (SA) and abscisic acid (ABA) levels in TF berries at EL38, while no significant differences were observed in TN. Conversely, TF, and TN kaolin treated berries showed lower SA and ABA accumulation in 2018, respectively. Tartaric acid content increased about 17.2 %, and 24.2 %in TF and TN treated berries at stage EL35 in the 2017 growing season. Though kaolin treatment had no consistent effect on anthocyanins accumulation, flavonoids, ortho-diphenols and tannins increased in kaolin treated grapevines in 2017. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the key role of climate in triggering ripening related processes and fruit quality potential. Nevertheless, kaolin treated grapevines displayed an improved response to oxidative stress signals by increasing secondary metabolites accumulation in warm vintages. Kaolin application promoted different varietal responses, with a possible ripening delaying effect in TF, reinforcing its efficiency in alleviating severe summer stress impacts.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1726
Author(s):  
Nasr H. Gomaa ◽  
Ahmad K. Hegazy ◽  
Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef

Perennial shrub-annual plant interactions play key roles in desert regions influencing the structure and dynamics of plant communities there. In the present study, carried out in northwestern Saudi Arabia, we examined the effect of Haloxylon salicornicum shrubs on their associated understory annual species across four consecutive growing seasons, along with a record of the seasonal rainfall patterns. We measured density and species richness of all the annual species in permanent quadrats located beneath individual shrubs, as well as in the spaces between shrubs. During wet growing season H. salicornicum shrubs significantly enhanced the density and species richness of sub-canopy species, whereas in the relatively dry seasons they exerted negative effects on the associated species. In all growing seasons, the presence of shrubs was associated with enhanced soil properties, including increased organic carbon content, silt + clay, and levels of nutrients (N, P and K). Shrubs improved soil moisture content beneath their canopies in the wet growing season, while in the dry seasons they had negative effects on water availability. Differences in effects of H. salicornicum on understory plants between growing seasons seem due to the temporal changes in the impact of shrubs on water availability. Our results suggest the facilitative effects of shrubs on sub-canopy annuals in arid ecosystems may switch to negative effects with increasing drought stress. We discuss the study in light of recent refinements of the well-known “stress-gradient hypothesis”.


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