去叶对水曲柳和落叶松苗木当年生长及细根动态的影响

叶片被取食会导致树木生长发育和生理代谢发生显著的变化。目前对细根动态如何对叶片损失做出响应的了解仍然有限。以生物量分配和高生长策略不同的水曲柳(Fraxinus mandschurica)和落叶松(Larix gmelinii)苗木为研究对象, 进行了不同强度的人为去叶处理(叶面积去除0% (对照)、40%和80%), 采用微根管技术对细根(直径≤2 mm)生产和死亡的季节动态进行了定量观测, 同期测定了地上部分(苗高和地径)的生长。结果表明: 1)去叶降低了两树种苗高(统计上均不显著)和地径的生长, 但是对苗高生长的影响小于地径。随着去叶强度的提高, 苗木地上生长受到的影响加大, 生长季末期水曲柳苗高比对照降低3.3%-12.1%, 地径降低5.7%-23.1%; 而落叶松苗高和地径降低相对较少(< 12%)。2)去叶显著地减少了水曲柳和落叶松细根现存量(p< 0.001), 其相对增长量((去叶后现存量高峰-去叶当日现存量)/去叶当日现存量)随着去叶强度的加大而降低。3)与对照相比, 去叶后两树种细根生产量显著减少(p< 0.05), 而细根死亡量在不同处理间没有显著差异。综合来看, 去叶对水曲柳地上部分(特别是地径)生长影响较大, 而对落叶松地下部分(主要是新根)生长影响较大。研究结果为理解冠层碳供应对根系动态影响的种间差异及其机制提供了必要的理论依据。

Effects of defoliation on current-year stem growth and fine root dynamics in Fraxinus mandschurica and Larix gmelinii seedlings

Aims Defoliation by insects leads to significant changes in tree growth and physiological metabolism. However, how fine root dynamics would respond to defoliation is still poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to: 1) compare the responses of height and stem collar diameter to defoliation in manchurian ash (Fraxinus mandschurica) and Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) seedlings; 2) quantify the effects of defoliation on the seasonal dynamics of fine root production and mortality in the two species.
Methods Manchurian ash and Dahurian larch seedlings, with different biomass allocation and height growth strategy, were used to investigate the effects of different levels of artificial defoliation (0% (control), 40% and 80% leaf area removal) on the growth of aboveground (height and stem collar diameter) and belowground (production and mortality of fine roots (diameter ≤ 2 mm)). Minirhizotron approach was employed to determine the seasonal dynamics of fine roots, and seedling height and stem collar diameter were measured concurrently.
Important findings The results showed that: 1) defoliation reduced the growth of seedling height (but statistically not significant) and stem collar diameter in both species, with a stronger effect on the stem collar diameter. Effects on aboveground growth by defoliation were enhanced by increasing defoliation intensity in both species. Compared with the control seedlings, the height and collar diameter of ash were reduced by 3.3% to 12.1% and 5.7% to 23.1%, respectively, while the height and collar diameter of larch were only slightly reduced (< 12%). 2) Defoliation significantly reduced live fine roots in both species (p < 0.001), with the reduction in relative growth rate of fine roots being enhanced with defoliation intensity. 3) Defoliation significantly reduced fine root production in both species (p < 0.05), had not apparent effect on fine root mortality. We conclude that defoliation imposes significant effects on aboveground growth (especially stem collar diameter) in ash and belowground growth(particularly root production) in larch. Our findings provide some insights into the inter-specific difference in the response of fine root dynamics to canopy carbon supply.