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Patterns of Branch Growth and Death in Crowns of Sakhalin Spruce, Picea glehnii (F. Schmidt) Mast
- Source :
- Forests; Volume 8; Issue 1; Pages: 26, Forests, Vol 8, Iss 1, p 26 (2017)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2017.
-
Abstract
- The development of crown architecture strongly affects tree growth and survival. Growth and death of primary branches (those branching off from the main stem) and secondary branches (those from a primary branch) in the lowest part of the crown were investigated for Picea glehnii in an even-aged plantation. Probability of death of a primary branch decreased as the length between its basal location and the crown base (L-CB) increased (p = 0.04), but this probability was not significantly related to the relative photosynthetic photon flux density (rPPFD) above the primary branch (p = 0.18). The probability of producing one or more current-year shoots on a primary branch increased with increasing rPPFD above the primary branch (p = 0.01); however, this probability was unrelated to L-CB (p = 0.29). Secondary branches at the distal part of a primary branch produced more current-year shoots and exhibited a lower probability of death than proximal branches (p < 0.01), probably because rPPFD above the distal secondary branches was greater than the proximal branches (p < 0.01). Our results suggest that, while local light conditions are relevant to shoot production and shoot death on a primary branch, the death of an entire primary branch may be related to some morphological attributes concerning the length to the crown base.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
biology
Forestry
lcsh:QK900-989
Picea glehnii
biology.organism_classification
light intensity
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Light intensity
correlative inhibition
growth and death
Botany
Shoot
lcsh:Plant ecology
Sakhalin spruce
Mast (botany)
branch autonomy
Photosynthetic photon flux density
010606 plant biology & botany
Main stem
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19994907
- Volume :
- 8
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Forests
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....8693c65a38a4681dc381da9c93ea3a48