scholarly journals Asynchrony and Time-Lag between Primary and Secondary Growth of Norway Spruce Growing in Different Elevations

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 627
Author(s):  
Ondřej Nezval ◽  
Jan Krejza ◽  
Michal Bellan ◽  
Jan Světlík

Norway spruce is one of the most economically important coniferous species in Europe, but it has faced high mortality rates in the last few decades due to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Primary and secondary growth development may be affected by these non-optimal conditions. In this study, we aimed to analyze the timing, possible asynchrony and time-lag between the growth processes of Norway spruce. We used a novel methodological approach of primary (based on phenocamera picture evaluation) and secondary (dendrometers) growth detection. The combination of these novel approaches allowed us to compare these growth process in high temporal resolution. Measurements were performed in two experimental plots with contrasting climatic conditions (middle and higher elevations) in the years 2016–2019, during the presence of extreme climatic conditions. We demonstrated a significant elongation of the growing season, with a more pronounced effect at higher elevation. Compared to the long-term mean, we observed an additional 50 days with a temperature above 15 °C at the higher elevation plot. There were no found patterns in the time-shift of both growth processes between plots. On the other hand we observed asynchrony of radial growth and meristems growth. Radial growth began earlier than the phenology of apical meristems growth. The onset, end and duration of meristem growth differed between studied plots and years as well. The onset of radial growth did not follow the gradient of microclimatic parameters; however, the differences in climatic conditions between plots did cause a shift in the onset of meristem growth. The process of the radial growth was twice as long as for apical meristem development. On average, radial growth requires 71 days more than meristem phenology to reach full process completion. Our data confirmed that these growth processes are strongly affected by external weather conditions and the duration of the growing season. More advanced and detailed monitoring of these processes can provide more accurate data of the health status of trees in the forest.

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Cukor ◽  
Zdeněk Vacek ◽  
Rostislav Linda ◽  
Stanislav Vacek ◽  
Petr Marada ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of bark stripping caused by sika deer (Cervus nippon [Temminck]) on the production and structure of young Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) forest stands (41–43 years). Production parameters, structure, diversity, and the dynamics of radial growth in selected forest stands in relation to climatic conditions were evaluated. Similar to other production parameters, stand volumes showed lower values on research plots heavily damaged by bark stripping (290 m3 ha−1) compared to stands with lower tree stem damages (441 m3 ha−1). A significant decrease in stem volume was recorded for trees with stem circumference damage higher than 1/3 of the stem circumference. In most cases, the trees were damaged between the ages of 10–23 years, specifically the radial growth was significantly lowered in this period. The diameter increment of damaged trees dropped to 64% of the healthy counterparts in this period. Bark stripping damages reached up to 93% of the stem circumference with a mean damage of 31%. Stem rot was found on 62% of damaged trees. In our study area, with respect to the terms of climatic conditions, precipitation had a higher effect on radial growth of the Norway spruce compared to temperature. The main limiting climatic factor of tree growth was the lack of precipitation within a growing season, particularly in June of the current year.


Author(s):  
Valery P. Ivanov ◽  
◽  
Sergey I. Marchenko ◽  
Dmitry I. Nartov ◽  
Leonid P. Balukhta

Predicting tree growth processes is important due to the exceptional ecosystem role of forests, which carry out global climate regulation by sequestrating carbon, conserving drinking water, and providing habitat for living organisms. Trees are known to respond to any fluctuations in the environment. The research purpose is to identify weather and climatic factors that significantly affect the inhibition of growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in conditions of constant moisture deficit. The studies were carried out in the eastern part of the Bryansk region within the territory the Bryansk administrative district, in the educational and experimental forestry of the Bryansk State Engineering and Technological University and the Styazhnovskoye forest district. Methods of dendrochronology were used to assess the response of 93 pine trees to fluctuations in the external environment by changing the width of annual rings (available anatomical feature of a tree) using indices of radial growth. An original approach was proposed to analyze the reasons for a sharp decline in the annual radial growth under the influence of temperature and precipitation. The years with abnormally low increments (1963, 1972, 1985, 2002 and 2010) were identified against the background of the weather-climatic situation for 5 years before and after the fall in growth. Similar dynamics of absolute values of radial increments and their indices was established, which is caused by fluctuations of natural factors, manifestation of hereditary traits, etc. Significant differences were revealed between the growth rates at average multiyear values of January, May and August air temperatures with growth rates in the years of abnormally low radial growth, which are observed in pine against the background of colder January and warmer May and August of the current year, as well as under the condition of warmer January of the previous year. At the same time, no significant role of precipitation was detected. The obtained data, expanding the idea of the features of growth processes and formation of annual increments in diameter of Scots pine in the conditions of changing climate at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries, allowed us to suggest a possible manifestation of physiological features of the species, the homeostasis optimum zone of which is located in the conditions of colder boreal climate. This information expands our understanding of the features of growth processes and formation of annual increments in diameter of Scots pine in changing climatic conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 80-98
Author(s):  
I.L. Vakhnina ◽  
◽  
E.V. Noskova ◽  
◽  

Climatic characteristics of southeastern Transbaikalia from May to September (the growing season), that determine the accumulation of plant biomass and, hence, agrometeorological characteristics of the territory, are analyzed. The study showed that from 1959 to 2018, there was a significant increase in air temperature values on average for the year and for the growing season. According to the values of precipitation anomalies for the last completed dry phase of the cycle (1999–2011), their increase in comparison with the previous one (1963–1982) is noted. From 2012 till now, a phase of increased moisture has been recorded. The tree-ring chronologies constructed from trees growing in southeastern Transbaikalia can be used to reconstruct the parameters of heat and moisture supply of the territory and to analyze climatic changes over a period significantly exceeding the series of meteorological observations (up to 500 years). Keywords: air temperature, precipitation, drought and moisture indices, dendrochronology, radial growth


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1127
Author(s):  
Peter T. Soulé ◽  
Paul A. Knapp

Research Highlights: In this longitudinal study, we explore the impacts of changing atmospheric composition and increasing aridity on the radial growth rates of western juniper (WJ; Juniperus occidentalis Hook). Since we sampled from study locations with minimal human agency, we can partially control for confounding influences on radial growth (e.g., grazing and logging) and better isolate the relationships between radial growth and climatic conditions. Background and Objectives: Our primary objective is to determine if carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment continues to be a primary driving force for a tree species positively affected by increasing CO2 levels circa the late 1990s. Materials and Methods: We collected data from mature WJ trees on four minimally disturbed study sites in central Oregon and compared standardized radial growth rates to climatic conditions from 1905–2017 using correlation, moving-interval correlation, and regression techniques. Results: We found the primary climate driver of radial growth for WJ is antecedent moisture over a period of several months prior to and including the current growing season. Further, the moving-interval correlations revealed that these relationships are highly stable through time. Despite a trend toward increasing aridity manifested through significant increases in maximum temperatures during the summer growing season, WJ radial growth post-1960 exceeds growth pre-1960, especially during drought years. Our results support prior conclusions that increasing atmospheric CO2 increases water-use efficiency for this semiarid species, which allows the trees to continue to grow during climatic periods negatively associated with radial growth. Conclusions: Recent studies have shown that semiarid ecosystems are important for understanding global variations in carbon uptake from the atmosphere. As WJ woodlands cover an extensive region in western North America and have undergone rapid expansion during the 20th and 21st centuries, they may become an increasingly important carbon sink.


Author(s):  
V. Gamayunova ◽  
◽  
A. Kuvshinova ◽  

The article highlights the peculiarities of growing winter barley crops in the southern steppe zone of Ukraine and its importance in the grain balance of the state. The influence of biological characteristics of the crop and changes in climatic conditions on the productivity of winter barley in different weather factors of growing years is substantiated. The results of research conducted during 2016-2019 yrs on Southern chernozem in the Educational, Scientific and Practical Center of MNAU with four varieties of winter barley are presented. The research was devoted to improving the nutrition of crops based on the principles of resource conservation by using modern biopreparations in the main periods of vegetation of winter barley plants for foliar treatments of crops of varieties taken for study. Studies determined the influence of various types of biopreparations and the period of top dressing on the growth and development of winter barley plants, the formation of productivity in the context of varieties, technology elements and years of cultivation, which differed in climatic conditions. The positive impact of the use of biopreparations on the growth processes of plants and the yield of winter barley grain was established, the most productive varieties, the best biopreparations and the timing of foliar top dressing were determined. Adaptation of elements of winter barley cultivation technology to specific conditions is extremely relevant for the current state of management, since it allows not only to fully meet the needs of plants, but also to obtain the maximum possible productivity with minimal energy and material resources while preserving the environment. The agricultural technique of growing crops in the experiment was generally accepted and it met the recommendations for the southern steppe zone of Ukraine, except for the factors taken for study. The soil of the experimental plots is Southern chernozem, which has an average supply of mobile nutrients, the humus content in the soil layer of 0-30 CM was 2.9 - 3.2%, phosphorus content was -6.8-7.2. the experiment scheme included the following options: Factor A-Grade: 1. Dostoiny; 2. Valkyrie; 3. Oscar; 4. Jason; Factor B – foliar top dressing: 1. control (water treatment); 2. Azotophyte; 3.Mycofrend; 4. Melanoriz; 5. organic balance. Studies with the latter were conducted during 2018 yr and 2019 yr. The rate of use of drugs was 200 g/ha, and the working solution was 200 l/ha. Foliar top dressing of winter barley was carried out once during the spring tillering phase and twice during the growing season, in addition to tillering, also at the beginning of stooling. The sown area was 72m2, the accounting area was 30 m2, the repetition of the experiment was four times. The predecessor of winter barley was peas. The positive impact of foliar top dressing with modern growth-regulating preparations of winter barley plants on the growth processes of the crop and the level of grain yield was determined. Thus, the treatment of crops during the spring tillering phase led to an increase in the height of plants and an increase in their aboveground biomass. To an even greater extent, these indicators increased from double top dressing, namely, in addition to the tillering phase, also during the period of stooling phase of plants. The maximum amount of raw aboveground biomass was accumulated by plants during the earing phase. If 3310 g/m2 was formed during the treatment of crops with water (in the control), and on average, this indicator increased up to 4044 g/m2 or by 22.5% during double treatment for all the studied preparations and varieties. In the subsequent growing season of winter barley, the accumulation of biomass, on the contrary, significantly decreased due to the loss of moisture by plants during the grain ripening period, although the difference between the treated crops and the control remained. Optimization of plant nutrition of the studied varieties of winter barley had a positive effect on the grain yield levels. Productivity differed significantly in terms of varietal characteristics of winter barley, growth-regulating preparations, the number of foliar top dressing carried out by them, and the conditions of the growing year. The highest grain yield of the studied varieties of winter barley was formed by carrying out of two top-dressings during the spring tillering phase and the stooling phase. Obtaining the maximum yield levels it was provided by the preparation Organic-Balance on Valkyrie varieties of 5.63 t/ha, and on Oscar varieties it was 5.60 t/ha of grain in the option of double processing on average for two years of cultivation. The biopreparation Azotophit, which in comparison with the Organic Balance provided slightly lower yield levels, and for the decent variety-even higher than the Organic Balance, it was also determined to be effective in its ability to provide stable grain yield increases of the studied varieties of winter barley. Mycofrend and Melanoriz preparations were less effective in influencing on the yield of winter barley. According to the obtained research results, it is advisable for farms to recommend using Valkyrie and Oscar varieties when growing winter barley in the Southern steppe zone of Ukraine, and to optimize their nutrition, use foliar top dressing with Organic-Balance or Azotophit biopreparations twice during the growing season – during spring tillering and stooling.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aysan Badraghi ◽  
Radek Pokorný ◽  
Kateřina Novosadová ◽  
Justina Pietras ◽  
Michal V. Marek

Abstract This investigation examined the effects of two different carbon dioxide concentrations ([CO2]): Ambient (A, 385 μmol (CO2) mol−1) and elevated (E, A+385 μmol (CO2) mol−1)) on the tree-ring width and early to latewood proportion in Norway spruce for seven years (2006-2012). Further, to improve our understanding of the influence of climatic variables, we assessed the effects of precipitation and temperature. Our observations showed that spruce trees growing under elevated CO2 (EC) formed less early (p > 0.05) and latewood (p < 0.05) and hence smaller annual increments (p > 0.05) than trees in ambient CO2 (AC). Early to latewood proportion was nearly 73% and 75% in AC and EC, respectively. In both CO2 concentrations, the largest tree-rings and earlywood width was observed during 2009 and 2010, which is coincident with the highest precipitation in May (2010) and the highest air temperature in April (2009). Moreover, to determine the association between the latewood formation and air temperature during the second half of the growing season, and correlation between the earlywood formation and precipitation during the first half of the growing season we run Spearman’s correlation test, the determination coefficient values for latewood formation were r = 0.45 (AC) and r = 0.68 (EC), and for earlywood formation were r = 0.53 (AC) and r = 0.42 (EC), although coefficient values were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Also, our study indicated that temperature had stonger influence than precipitation in EC, but in AC precipitation had the strongest effect on radial growth.


Author(s):  
A N. Kabanov ◽  
◽  
S.A. Kabanova ◽  

Dendrochronological analysis was carried out in forest cultures of Pinus sylvestris of different ages growing in the green zone of Nur-Sultan city. It was found that the value of the annual radial growth is subject to a cycle with a period of 10-11 years. This is due to climatic conditions, in particular, with periods of solar insolation, which is confirmed by researches of other authors.


Author(s):  
N.V. Sergeev ◽  
◽  
A.Yu. Pivkin

The experience of cultivation of soybeans in SC "Agricultural machinery" of the Kaluga region on an area of 190 hectares shows that the soybean variety Alaska is sufficiently adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of this region, provides a high seed yield (up to 32 c / ha) and a high yield (up to 1344 kg / ha) relatively inexpensive protein. However, this variety has a long growing season (95-105 days) and therefore desiccation of crops is required for harvesting for seeds.


2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 956-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man-Yu DONG ◽  
Yuan JIANG ◽  
Hao-Chun YANG ◽  
Ming-Chang WANG ◽  
Wen-Tao ZHANG ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Koffi Djaman ◽  
Curtis Owen ◽  
Margaret M. West ◽  
Samuel Allen ◽  
Komlan Koudahe ◽  
...  

The highly variable weather under changing climate conditions affects the establishment and the cutoff of crop growing season and exposes crops to failure if producers choose non-adapted relative maturity that matches the characteristics of the crop growing season. This study aimed to determine the relationship between maize hybrid relative maturity and the grain yield and determine the relative maturity range that will sustain maize production in northwest New Mexico (NM). Different relative maturity maize hybrids were grown at the Agricultural Science Center at Farmington ((Latitude 36.69° North, Longitude 108.31° West, elevation 1720 m) from 2003 to 2019 under sprinkler irrigation. A total of 343 hybrids were grouped as early and full season hybrids according to their relative maturity that ranged from 93 to 119 and 64 hybrids with unknown relative maturity. The crops were grown under optimal management condition with no stress of any kind. The results showed non-significant increase in grain yield in early season hybrids and non-significant decrease in grain yield with relative maturity in full season hybrids. The relative maturity range of 100–110 obtained reasonable high grain yields and could be considered under the northwestern New Mexico climatic conditions. However, more research should target the evaluation of different planting date coupled with plant population density to determine the planting window for the early season and full season hybrids for the production optimization and sustainability.


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