海拔梯度对祁连山青海云杉林乔木层和土壤层碳密度的影响

以祁连山西水林区青海云杉典型林分为研究对象,按照青海云杉分布界限海拔2500—3300 m,采用梯度格局法,研究祁连山青海云杉林乔木层和土壤层碳密度沿海拔梯度的空间分布特征,以期为准确估算祁连山青海云杉林碳储量变化影响因素提供科学依据。结果表明:(1)青海云杉林生物量平均值为115.83 t/hm~2,碳密度平均值为60.23 t/hm~2。生物量整体随海拔梯度增加表现为先增加后波动降低的趋势,在海拔2800 m处达到最高值(197.10 t/hm~2),海拔3300 m处达到最低值(7.66t/hm~2),且不同海拔梯度间差异显著。林分各器官生物量分配格局在各海拔处均表现为干根枝叶。(2)土壤有机碳含量平均值为54.80 g/kg,变化范围为31.49—76.96 g/kg。随着土壤层次的增加,除海拔3200 m和3300 m的土壤有机碳含量未表现出规律变化外,其他海拔梯度则均呈现出逐渐降低趋势。土壤有机碳密度在海拔2900 m最高,为245.40 t/hm~2,在海拔2700 m处最低,为130.24 t/hm~2;海拔2500—2700 m表现为平缓降低趋势,在2800 m处急剧上升,且海拔2800—3200 m呈现无显著性轻度波动变化,在海拔3300 m又急剧降低。(3)青海云杉林生态系统平均总碳密度为255.15 t/hm~2,乔木层和土壤层占总碳密度的比例分别为23.61%和76.39%,且不同海拔梯度间存在极显著差异。土壤有机碳密度与海拔、年均降水量、土壤有机碳含量、土壤全氮呈显著正相关,与年夏季平均气温呈显著负相关;乔木层碳密度与年夏季气温、林分密度、胸高断面积呈显著正相关,与海拔和土壤全氮呈显著负相关。(4)祁连山青海云杉林乔木层和土壤层碳密度均随海拔梯度变化受水热条件组合的改变而呈现规律变化,以中部海拔区段2800—3200 m碳密度较高。     

川西高原不同坡向云、冷杉树轮对快速升温的响应差异

在川西高原松潘县二道海林区的东南坡、西北坡和扎日寺林区的东坡用零信号法建立4条云、冷杉树轮年表,通过年轮 气候响应分析、多因素方差分析等方法研究不同坡向树木生长对快速升温的响应差异.结果表明： 快速升温(1980年)后,东坡紫果云杉生长显著加速(0.011 a^-1),而西北坡紫果云杉生长则显著降低(-0.006 a^-1),东南坡紫果云杉和西北坡岷江冷杉生长降低,但不显著.随着快速升温,不同坡向云、冷杉径向生长与气候因子的关系均出现显著变化.快速升温后,生长季温度对东坡紫果云杉径向生长的促进作用显著增加,对东南坡和西北坡紫果云杉径向生长的抑制作用也显著增加,但生长季温度对西北坡岷江冷杉径向生长的影响在升温前后变化不明显.5月降水量对东坡紫果云杉径向生长由升温前的抑制作用变为升温后的显著促进作用,而对东南坡和西北坡紫果云杉径向生长的抑制作用显著增加,5月降水量对西北坡岷江冷杉径向生长的影响在升温前后变化不明显.树轮与帕尔默干旱指数响应分析表明,快速升温后,不同坡向的土壤湿度变化是造成树轮响应差异的重要原因.多因素方差分析表明,坡向与温度、降水的综合作用是影响紫果云杉径向生长的重要因素.因此,在模拟预测树木生长对气候变暖的响应动态时,应考虑不同坡向与温度、降水的综合作用.     

Carbon isotopic composition of forest soil respiration in the decade following bark beetle and stem girdling disturbances in the Rocky Mountains

Bark beetle outbreaks are widespread in western North American forests, reducing primary productivity and transpiration, leading to forest mortality across large areas and altering ecosystem carbon cycling. Here the carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) of soil respiration (δ_J) was monitored in the decade after disturbance for forests affected naturally by mountain pine beetle infestation and artificially by stem girdling. The seasonal mean δ_J changed along both chronosequences. We found (a) enrichment of δ_J relative to controls (<1 ‰) in near‐surface soils in the first 2 years after disturbance; (b) depletion (1‰ or no change) during years 3–7; and (c) a second period of enrichment (1–2‰) in years 8–10. Results were consistent with isotopic patterns associated with the gradual death and decomposition of rhizosphere organisms, fine roots, conifer needles and woody roots and debris over the course of a decade after mortality. Finally, δ_J was progressively more ¹³C‐depleted deeper in the soil than near the surface, while the bulk soil followed the well‐established pattern of ¹³C‐enrichment at depth. Overall, differences in δ_J between mortality classes (<1‰) and soil depths (<3‰) were smaller than variability within a class or depth over a season (up to 6‰).     

A method for determining the apoplastic water volume of conifer needles

A method for direct estimation of percentage apoplastic water volume (% APO) in conifer needles is described. The method presented here, and designated the pressure-needle (P-N) method, measures the relative water content of the needles to develop a curve similar to the pressure-volume (P-V) curve. P-V and P-N curves were developed for Picea pungens Engelm. cv. Hoopsi, Pinus sylvestris L., Abies gradis (Dougl.) L., and Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb) Franco. The % APO estimated by the two procedures varied as much as 2-fold, while other parameters were similar. The P-V method generated consistently higher and more variable % APO than the P-N method, due to the inclusion of the apoplastic water of the stem in the P-V method. For conifers, the P-N method offers a more accurate and precise method for determining % APO.     

Phylogeography of a northeast Asian spruce, Picea jezoensis, inferred from genetic variation observed in organelle DNA markers

Range-wide genetic variation of the widespread cold-temperate spruce Picea jezoensis was studied throughout northeast Asia using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA and paternally inherited chloroplast DNA markers. This study assessed 33 natural populations including three varieties of the species in Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea. We depicted sharp suture zones in straits around Japan in the geographical distribution pattern of mitochondrial haplotypes (GST=0.901; NST=0.934). In contrast, we detected possible extensive pollen flow without seed flow across the straits around Japan during the past population history in the distribution pattern of chloroplast haplotypes (GST=0.233; NST=0.333). The analysis of isolation by distance of the species implied that by acting as a barrier for the movement of seeds and pollen, the sharp suture zones contributed considerably to the level of genetic differentiation between populations. Constructed networks of mitochondrial haplotypes allowed inference of the phylogeographical history of the species. We deduced that the disjunction with Kamchatka populations reflects range expansion and contraction to the north of the current distribution. Within Japan, we detected phylogeographically different types of P. jezoensis between Hokkaido and Honshu islands; P. jezoensis in Honshu Island may have colonized this region from the Asian continent via the Korean peninsula and the species in Hokkaido Island is likely to have spread from the Asian continent via Sakhalin through land bridges. Japanese endemism of mitochondrial haplotypes in Hokkaido and Honshu islands might have been promoted by separation of these islands from each other and from the Asian continent by the straits during the late Quaternary.     

Interactions between extraradical ectomycorrhizal mycelia, microbes associated with the mycelia and growth rate of Norway spruce (Picea abies) clones

Despite their ecological relevance, field studies of the extraradical mycelia of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are rare. Here we examined in situ interactions between ECM mycelia and host vigour. Ectomycorrhizal mycelia were harvested with in-growth mesh bags buried under Norway spruce (Picea abies) clones planted in 1994 in a randomized block design. Mycelial biomass was determined and fungal species were identified by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region. Microbial community structure in the mycelium was investigated by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling. Compared to slow-growing spruce clones, fast-growing clones tended to support denser mycelia where the relative proportions of Atheliaceae fungi and PLFAs indicative of Gram-positive bacteria were higher. Ascomycetes and PLFAs representative of Gram-negative bacteria were more common with slow-growing clones. In general, the ECM mycelial community was similar to the ECM root-tip community. Growth rate of the hosts, the ECM mycelial community and the microbes associated with the mycelium were related, suggesting multitrophic interactions between trees, fungi and bacteria.     

Mitochondrial and chloroplast phylogeography of Picea crassifolia Kom. (Pinaceae) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent highlands

The disjunct distribution of forests in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and adjacent Helan Shan and Daqing Shan highlands provides an excellent model to examine vegetation shifts, glacial refugia and gene flow of key species in this complex landscape region in response to past climatic oscillations and human disturbance. In this study, we examined maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (nad1 intron b/c and nad5 intron 1) and paternally inherited chloroplast DNA (trnC-trnD) sequence variation within a dominant forest species, Picea crassifolia Kom. We recovered nine mitotypes and two chlorotypes in a survey of 442 individuals from 32 populations sampled throughout the species' range. Significant mitochondrial DNA population subdivision was detected (G(ST) = 0.512; N(ST) = 0.679), suggesting low levels of recurrent gene flow through seeds among populations and significant phylogeographical structure (N(ST) > GST, P < 0.05). Plateau haplotypes differed in sequence from those in the adjacent highlands, suggesting a long period of allopatric fragmentation between the species in the two regions and the presence of independent refugia in each region during Quaternary glaciations. On the QTP platform, all but one of the disjunct populations surveyed were fixed for the same mitotype, while most populations at the plateau edge contained more than one haplotype with the mitotype that was fixed in plateau platform populations always present at high frequency. This distribution pattern suggests that present-day disjunct populations on the QTP platform experienced a common recolonization history. The same phylogeographical pattern, however, was not detected for paternally inherited chloroplast DNA haplotypes. Two chlorotypes were distributed throughout the range of the species with little geographical population differentiation (G(ST) = N(ST) = 0.093). This provides evidence for highly efficient pollen-mediated gene flow among isolated forest patches, both within and between the QTP and adjacent highland populations. A lack of isolation to pollen-mediated gene flow between forests on the QTP and adjacent highlands is surprising given that the Tengger Desert has been a geographical barrier between these two regions for approximately the last 1.8 million years.     

Genetic diversity of Picea asperata populations based on RAPDs

The genetic diversity of ten natural populations of Picea asperata Mast. were studied using RAPD markers. A total of 160 reproducible fragments were produced from the ten primers used. The mean number of fragments detected per individual was 114.7. Altogether 120 fragments were polymorphic among the ten populations, none of them were found to be population-specific. Nei's expected heterozygosity (H (e)) ranged from 0.233 to 0.269, and the average was 0.247. The analysis of molecular variance revealed that the coefficient of gene differentiation among populations, based on F (ST) and the unbiased estimate PhiST, equaled 0.224 and 0.290, respectively. Such high values indicate that there is significant differentiation among populations, which could result from several factors, including restricted gene flow between populations (Nm = 0.866). Founder events may be another factor attributing to the high level of genetic differentiation. In addition, it was discovered that the geographic distribution is not correlated with the genetic distances among the populations of P. asperata.     

Free-air exposure systems to scale up ozone research to mature trees

Because seedlings and mature trees do not necessarily respond similarly to O(3) stress, it is critically important that exposure systems be developed that allow exposure of seedlings through to mature trees. Here we describe three different O(3) Free-Air Exposure Systems that have been used successfully for exposure at all growth stages. These systems of spatially uniform O(3) release have been shown to provide reliable O(3) exposure with minimal, if any, impact on the microclimate. This methodology offers a welcome alternative to chamber studies which had severe space constraints precluding stand or community-level studies and substantial chamber effects on the microclimate and, hence physiological tree performance.