Fagus Sylvatica L. (Fagu + sylvatica_l)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Impact of Elevated PCO2 on Mass Flow of Reduced Nitrogen in Trees,

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2006
Xi-Ping Liu
Abstract To analyze the effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration (PCO2) on the mass flow of reduced nitrogen (N) in the phloem and xylem of trees, juvenile beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) were grown in phytotrons and exposed to ambient and elevated PCO2 (plus 687.5 mg/m3 CO2) for three growing seasons. Elevated PCO2 significantly decreased the mass flow of N from the shoot to roots of beech by significantly reducing the concentration of soluble amino compounds in the phloem, even if the area of conductive phloem of cross-sectional bark tissue was significantly increased, because of less callus deposition in the sieve elements. In spruce, the downward mass flow of reduced N also tended to be decreased, similar to that in beech. Resembling findings in the phloem, N mass flow from roots to shoot in both tree species was significantly diminished owing to significantly reduced concentrations of amino compounds in the xylem and a lower transpiration rate. Therefore, the mass flow of reduced N between shoots and roots of trees was mainly governed by the concentrations of soluble amino compounds in the phloem and xylem in relation to the loading of reduced N in both long-distance transport pathways. (Managing editor: Ya-Qin Han) [source]


Soil nutrient supply and biomass production in a mixed forest on a skeleton-rich soil and an adjacent beech forest

JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2002
Dirk Hölscher
Abstract In the natural forest communities of Central Europe, beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) predominates in the tree layer over a wide range of soil conditions. An exception with respect to the dominance of beech are skeleton-rich soils such as screes where up to 10 broad-leaved trees co-exist. In such a Tilia-Fagus-Fraxinus-Acer-Ulmus forest and an adjacent mono-specific beech forest we compared (1) soil nutrient pools and net nitrogen mineralization rates, (2) leaf nutrient levels, and (3) leaf litter production and stem increment rates in order to evaluate the relationship between soil conditions and tree species composition. In the mixed forest only a small quantity of fine earth was present (35 g l,1) which was distributed in patches between basalt stones; whereas a significantly higher (P < 0.05) soil quantity (182 g l,1) was found in the beech forest. In the soil patches of the mixed forest C and N concentrations and also concentrations of exchangeable nutrients (K, Ca, Mg) were significantly higher than in the beech forest. Net N mineralization rates on soil dry weight basis in the mixed forest exceeded those in the beech forest by a factor of 2.6. Due to differences in fine earth and stone contents, the volume related soil K pool and the N mineralization rate were lower in the mixed forest (52 kg N ha,1 yr,1, 0,10 cm depth) than in the beech forest (105 kg N ha,1 yr,1). The leaf N and K concentrations of the beech trees did not differ significantly between the stands, which suggests that plant nutrition was not impaired. In the mixed forest leaf litter fall (11,%) and the increment rate of stem basal area (52,%) were lower than in the beech forest. Thus, compared with the adjacent beech forest, the mixed forest stand was characterized by a low volume of patchy distributed nutrient-rich soil, a lower volume related K pool and N mineralization rate, and low rates of stem increment. Together with other factors such as water availability these patterns may contribute to an explanation of the diverse tree species composition on Central European screes. Bodennährstoffangebot und Biomasseproduktion in einem Mischwald auf einem stark skeletthaltigen Standort und in einem benachbarten Buchenwald In den natürlichen Waldgesellschaften Mitteleuropas dominiert die Buche (Fagus sylvatica L.) über ein weites Spektrum an bodenchemischen Standortsbedingungen. Eine Ausnahme in Bezug auf die Buchendominaz bilden stark skeletthaltige Standorte, wie etwa Blockhalden, wo bis zu 10 Laubbaumarten gemeinsam vorkommen. In solch einem Tilia-Fagus-Fraxinus-Acer-Ulmus -Wald und einem benachbarten Buchenreinbestand haben wir (1) die Bodennährstoffvorräte und Stickstoffmineralisationsraten, (2) den Blattnährstoffstatus und (3) die Blattproduktion und die Stammzuwachsraten vergleichend untersucht, um die Beziehung zwischen den Bodenbedingungen und der Baumartenzusammensetzung zu charakterisieren. In dem Mischwald fanden wir nur eine geringe Menge an Feinboden (35 g l,1), die sich in Taschen zwischen den Basaltsteinen befand, wohingegen ein signifikant (P < 0.05) höherer Gehalt an Feinboden (182 g l,1) in dem Buchenwald vorhanden war. In den Bodentaschen des Mischwaldes waren die C- und N-Konzentrationen und auch die Konzentrationen an austauschbar gebundenem K, Ca und Mg signifikant höher als im Buchenwald. Die Netto-N-Mineralisation pro Gewichtseinheit im Mischwald überstieg diejenige im Buchenwald um den Faktor 2,6. Wegen der unterschiedlichen Anteile an Feinboden und Skelett waren der volumenbezogene K-Vorrat und die volumenbezogene N-Mineralisationsrate im Mischwald (52 kg N ha,1 yr,1, 0,10 cm Tiefe) geringer als im Buchenwald (105 kg N ha,1 yr,1). Die Blattnährstoffgehalte von Buchen unterschieden sich zwischen den beiden Beständen nicht signifikant, was darauf hinweist, dass die Pflanzenernährung nicht beeinträchtigt war. Der herbstliche Blattstreufall (11,%) und die Zuwachsraten der Stammquerflächen (52,%) waren im Mischwald geringer als im Buchenwald. Im Vergleich mit dem benachbarten Buchenwald wies der Mischwald somit einen geringen Gehalt an sehr ungleichmäßig verteiltem, nährstoffreichen Boden, geringere volumenbezogene K-Vorräte und N-Mineralisationsraten und geringe Stammzuwächse auf. Gemeinsam mit anderen Faktoren, wie etwa der Wasserverfügbarkeit, können diese Muster zu einer Erklärung der Baumartenvielfalt auf mitteleuropäischen Blockstandorten beitragen. [source]


Characterization of microsatellite markers in Fagus sylvatica L. and Fagus orientalis Lipsky

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 1 2003
R. Pastorelli
Abstract Using an enrichment procedure, we cloned microsatellite repeats from European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and developed primers for the amplification of microsatellite markers. Six polymorphic loci were characterized which produced 3,21 alleles in 70 individuals from one Italian population, with an observed heterozygosity between 0.58 and 0.85. All six loci amplified fragments which were polymorphic in the closely related species, Fagus orientalis, also. Owing to their very high degree of variation, these markers should be very useful in gene flow studies of these species. [source]


Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in acid detergent fibre lignins of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) during the growth phase

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 4 2002
J. Dyckmans
Abstract To study the incorporation of carbon and nitrogen in different plant fractions, 3-year-old-beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seedlings were exposed in microcosms to a dual-labelling experiment employing 13C and 15N throughout one season. Leaves, stems, coarse and fine roots were harvested 6, 12 and 18 weeks after bud break (June to September) and used to isolate acid-detergent fibre lignins (ADF lignin) for the determination of carbon and nitrogen and their isotope ratios. Lignin concentrations were also determined with the thioglycolic acid method. The highest lignin concentrations were found in fine roots. ADF lignins of all tissues analysed, especially those of leaves, also contained significant concentrations of nitrogen. This suggests that lignin-bound proteins constitute an important cell wall fraction and shows that the ADF method is not suitable to determine genuine lignin. ADF lignin should be re-named as ligno-protein fraction. Whole-leaf biomass was composed of 50 to 70% newly assimilated carbon and about 7% newly assimilated nitrogen; net changes in the isotope ratios were not observed during the experimental period. In the other tissues analysed, the fraction of new carbon and nitrogen was initially low and increased significantly during the time-course of the experiment, whereas the total tissue concentrations of carbon remained almost unaffected and nitrogen declined. At the end of the experiment, the whole-tissue biomass and ADF lignins of fine roots contained about 65 and 50% new carbon and about 50 and 40% new nitrogen, respectively. These results indicate that significant metabolic activity was related to the formation of structural biopolymers after leaf growth, especially below-ground and that this activity also led to a substantial binding of nitrogen to structural compounds. [source]


Acclimation of photosynthetic capacity to irradiance in tree canopies in relation to leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf mass per unit area

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 3 2002
P. Meir
Abstract The observation of acclimation in leaf photosynthetic capacity to differences in growth irradiance has been widely used as support for a hypothesis that enables a simplification of some soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer (SVAT) photosynthesis models. The acclimation hypothesis requires that relative leaf nitrogen concentration declines with relative irradiance from the top of a canopy to the bottom, in 1 : 1 proportion. In combination with a light transmission model it enables a simple estimate of the vertical profile in leaf nitrogen concentration (which is assumed to determine maximum carboxylation capacity), and in combination with estimates of the fraction of absorbed radiation it also leads to simple ,big-leaf' analytical solutions for canopy photosynthesis. We tested how forests deviate from this condition in five tree canopies, including four broadleaf stands, and one needle-leaf stand: a mixed-species tropical rain forest, oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl), birch (Betula pendula Roth), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr). Each canopy was studied when fully developed (mid-to-late summer for temperate stands). Irradiance (Q, µmol m,2 s,1) was measured for 20 d using quantum sensors placed throughout the vertical canopy profile. Measurements were made to obtain parameters from leaves adjacent to the radiation sensors: maximum carboxylation and electron transfer capacity (Va, Ja, µmol m,2 s,1), day respiration (Rda, µmol m,2 s,1), leaf nitrogen concentration (Nm, mg g,1) and leaf mass per unit area (La, g m,2). Relative to upper-canopy values, Va declined linearly in 1 : 1 proportion with Na. Relative Va also declined linearly with relative Q, but with a significant intercept at zero irradiance (P < 0·01). This intercept was strongly related to La of the lowest leaves in each canopy (P < 0·01, r2 = 0·98, n= 5). For each canopy, daily lnQ was also linearly related with lnVa(P < 0·05), and the intercept was correlated with the value for photosynthetic capacity per unit nitrogen (PUN: Va/Na, µmol g,1 s,1) of the lowest leaves in each canopy (P < 0·05). Va was linearly related with La and Na(P < 0·01), but the slope of the Va : Na relationship varied widely among sites. Hence, whilst there was a unique Va : Na ratio in each stand, acclimation in Va to Q varied predictably with La of the lowest leaves in each canopy. The specific leaf area, Lm(cm2 g,1), of the canopy-bottom foliage was also found to predict carboxylation capacity (expressed on a mass basis; Vm, µmol g,1 s,1) at all sites (P < 0·01). These results invalidate the hypothesis of full acclimation to irradiance, but suggest that La and Lm of the most light-limited leaves in a canopy are widely applicable indicators of the distribution of photosynthetic capacity with height in forests. [source]


Modelling Tree Roots in Mixed Forest Stands by Inhomogeneous Marked Gibbs Point Processes

BIOMETRICAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009
Stefanie Eckel
Abstract The aim of the paper is to apply point processes to root data modelling. We propose a new approach to parametric inference when the data are inhomogeneous replicated marked point patterns. We generalize Geyer's saturation point process to a model, which combines inhomogeneity, marks and interaction between the marked points. Furthermore, the inhomogeneity influences the definition of the neighbourhood of points. Using the maximum pseudolikelihood method, this model is then fitted to root data from mixed stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) to quantify the degree of root aggregation in such mixed stands. According to the analysis there is no evidence that the two root systems are not independent. [source]