Conifer decline in the north-east of France: Characteristic changes in chloroplast protein pattern and absence of anti-oxidative defense capability point to an involvement of ozone

A method yielding intact and biologically active chloroplasts from needles of mature spruce ( Picea abies L. cv. Karsten) or fir ( Abies alba Mill.) growing in the field is presented. Using this method, chloroplasts were prepared from yellow and green needles of declining spruce and fir from two forest areas of the Vosges mountains (north-east of France). Both quantitative and qualitative changes could be shown in the two-dimensional chloroplast protein pattern of yellowing needles, as compared to that of apparently healthy needles. We observed that an accumulation of photosystem II D1-protein in the thylakoids was associated with needle decline. Furthermore, a lack of resistance capability against free radical attack was observed in yellow needles. We have attempted to correlate our observations with pollutant levels and we propose that, in the forest areas studied, O₃ is one of the main factors involved in conifer decline. It also appears from our results that decline and senescence are distinct phenomena.     

PCR-RFLP analysis of cpDNA in the genus Abies

 We used PCR-RFLP analysis of the chloroplast DNA of the genus Abies (family Pinaceae), to determine if the method could be employed to detect inter-specific variation in this genus and to study how the variation was distributed in different regions of the genome. Ten different chloroplast DNA regions, consisting of coding and non-coding DNA sequences, were amplified with specific primers in ten different Abies taxa. The amplification products were digested with several restriction enzymes. The results showed that the chloroplast genome is highly variable in most of the investigated taxa and contains multiple variable regions that appear to be distributed throughout the whole genome. Species-diagnostic markers were found for four of the ten investigated species. Unexpectedly, intra-specific variation was also detected in four species. It is likely that further studies, including larger sample sizes and/or more powerful methods for the detection of chloroplast DNA variation, will reveal additional variation for this genus. Received: 2 September 1998 / Accepted: 17 September 1998     

缙云山亚热带栲树林优势种群间联结性研究

本文根据2×2联列表,应用方差分析、X2统计量度量、Ochiai指数、Dice指数和Jaccard指数等系列技术,测定了四川缙云山栲树林的13个优势种群间的联结性。并以半矩阵、全矩阵和星座图等形式表达测定结果。研究表明,缙云山栲树林的种间联结测定使用上述系列技术效果很佳。运用方差分析可揭示出多物种整体间联结性,X2检验表示出各种对联结的显著性程度和性质,Ochiai指数、Dice指数和Jaccard指数标量出种对的联结程度和相伴随出现的机率。同时表明,缙云山栲树林种间联结较复杂,栲树(Castanopsis fargesii)与杜英(Elaeocarpus decipiens )间为极显著正联结,而与大头茶(Gordonia acuminata)间为极显著负联结,与小叶栲(Castanopsis carlesii var.spinulosa)间为显著负联结。表明亲缘关系较近、对环境要求相同、对环境反应相似的种群相伴随出现的机率较大,其联结的性质却不因此而定。     

Environmental responses of Pinus ponderosa and associated species in the south-western USA

Abstract Aim We addressed four objectives: (1) Determine the regional responses of species, size classes and a vegetation type to climate and parent material predictors, including their distributions in environmental space and the relative contributions of the predictors to explained variation. (2) Determine whether size classes of a species respond similarly to climate and parent material. (3) Assess the extent to which the predicted regional distribution of a vegetation type can be approximated by the distribution of its diagnostic species and vice versa. The establishment of a consistent relationship between the distribution of a vegetation type and its diagnostic species would facilitate change detection, management and conservation planning by allowing the use of one distribution to generate the other when data availability is limited. (4) Examine landscape‐scale environmental variability in predicted species and vegetation type distributions. Location South‐western USA (Arizona, New Mexico and southern Colorado). Methods Ecological response surface models were developed using a data base of 1409 vegetation plots to analyse biotic–environmental relationships of (1) Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson and Abies concolor (Gord. & Glend.) Lindl. Ex Hildebr. size classes, (2) P. ponderosa, A. concolor and Quercus gambelii Nutt. combined size classes, and (3) a P. ponderosa forest type widely distributed in the south‐western USA. Results and main conclusions Pinus ponderosa and A. concolor models generally were judged to be successful. Quercus gambelii models were judged unsuccessful, which may result from the influence of variables not modelled, such as soil moisture, disturbance, biotic factors and other site limiting factors. Size classes differed in the range of environmental conditions associated with high occurrence probabilities within and between species, reflecting differences in the effects of climate variability and anthropogenic changes, such as fire suppression, on the distribution of each size class. Pinus ponderosa alliance was predicted to be distributed over a narrower range of environmental conditions than P. ponderosa species models, therefore limiting the use of this vegetation type as a surrogate for the distribution of the dominant species, and vice versa. Maps of combinations of environmental variables that produced a high probability of P. ponderosa occurrence showed that some landscapes predicted to contain the species exhibited diverse environmental conditions over short distances. The use of regional environmental relationships to characterize areas with high local environmental variability may facilitate identification of areas of potential rapid biotic change.     

Genetic evidence for host specificity in the hemi-parasitic Viscum album L. (Viscaceae)

Nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) ITS sequences and partial sequences of three non-coding chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) introns and spacers were used to assess genetic variation within and among three presumed host races of the hemi-parasite Viscum album L. Currently, identification of host races occurs via the host trees, and morphological differences are minute at best. cpDNA and nrDNA ITS sequences revealed little sequence variation, but the variation found consistently supported the distinction of three host races. cpDNA and ITS sequences were not incongruent, as assessed by the incongruence length difference test. A combined analysis supported the sister group relationship between mistletoes from deciduous trees and fir.     

Genetic discontinuity revealed by chloroplast microsatellites in eastern North American Abies (Pinaceae)

Development of conservation strategies for Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) in the southern Appalachian Mountains depends in part on recognition of the extent to which Fraser fir is genetically distinct from the closely related balsam (A. balsamea) and intermediate (A. balsamea var. phanerolepis) fir. These sibling species have exhibited intergrading, clinal variation in morphological, chemical, and genetic characteristics in prior research. Chloroplast microsatellite markers were polymerase chain reaction amplified from genomic DNA samples of 78 individuals representing the geographic ranges of Fraser, balsam, and intermediate fir. Gene diversity levels at two loci ranged among taxa from 0.65 to 0.84. Allele frequencies demonstrated significant differentiation among taxa, with R(ST) values of 0.36 and 0.10. Haplotype diversity and D(SH) were highest for balsam fir and lowest for intermediate fir. A haplotype network analysis based on allele size distribution for the two loci revealed two distinct clusters of haplotypes and population-specific haplotypes. Ninety-two percent of the haplotypes in one cluster were from balsam fir and intermediate fir, and 84% of the haplotypes in the other cluster were from Fraser fir and intermediate fir. The genetic differentiation of chloroplast DNA markers provides justification for the recognition of Fraser fir as a distinct Management Unit (MU) for conservation purposes, regardless of its taxonomic classification.     

栲树种群的年龄结构及其生长特征

为了了解栲树的更新方式和更新动态,研究了栲树的生长特征和种群年龄结构.结果表明：栲树种群的年龄结构呈“间歇型”,经历了两个死亡高峰,并存在一个长达30年的断层;栲树的生长受光照的影响,具有很强的可塑性;由于林下光照弱且在垂直空间上不存在差异,栲树生长5～8年后进入生长的第1个抑制期,其年高生长速度可小于0.1 m,并可维持10年;栲树生长的第1个抑制期的起始时间对应着种群第1个死亡高峰期的结束时间,而其结束时间对应着种群第2个死亡高峰期的起始时间,表明栲树生长特征是影响其种群年龄结构的关键因素.     

Differences in forest composition in two boreal forest ecoregions of Quebec

Abstract. In order to describe and compare the post‐fire succession patterns of the two ecological regions (mixed‐wood and coniferous ecoregions) of northwestern Quebec, 260 forest stands were sampled with the point‐centred plot method. The mixed‐wood ecological region belongs to the Abies balsamea‐Betula papyrifera bioclimatic domain whereas the coniferous ecological region belongs to the Picea mariana‐moss bioclimatic domain. In each plot, tree composition was described, surficial deposits and drainage were recorded, and fire history was reconstructed using standard dendro‐ecological methods. Ordination techniques (Correspondence Analysis and Canonical Correspondence Analysis) were used to describe the successional patterns of forest vegetation and to correlate them with the explanatory variables. The results showed the importance of surficial deposits, the time since fire and the ecoregion in explaining the variation of stand composition. Abies balsamea tends to increase in importance with an increase in time since fire, and this trend is more pronounced in the mixed‐wood region. Even when controlling both for surficial deposits and time since fire, differences in successional trends were observed between the two ecoregions. As all the species are present in both ecoregions and as they are all observed further north, our results suggest that both the landscape configuration and fire regime parameters such as fire size and fire intensity are important factors involved in these differences.     

濒危植物元宝山冷杉结实特性与种子繁殖力初探

元宝山冷杉是仅产于广西中部元宝山的珍稀濒危植物, 天然更新能力差。调查表明, 不同植株的球果产量、单果种子的数量均有差异, 球果长短、大小与种子数量、种子质量(饱满率)存在显著正相关。风干种子千粒重为16.9581 g, 含水量为12.85%。元宝山冷杉种子的吸水过程分为三个阶段, 第一阶段是0~1 小时, 为急剧的吸水阶段;第二阶段是1~10 小时, 吸水基本停滞;第三阶段是10~339 小时, 又是急剧的吸水阶段, 吸水量递增。用0.1%靛蓝溶液测定种子生活力, 按以往判别松科植物的标准判断, 其生活力极低。饱满种粒在培养箱中发芽率为18.9%, 场圃发芽率6.8%。以往判断方法是否不适用元宝山冷杉, 需作进一步的探讨和研究。种子发芽率低, 是冷杉自然更新不良、种群难以延续和扩展的重要因素。     

Fossil History and Modern Distribution of the Genus Abies (Pinaceae)

The plants of the genus Abies are dominant and key species in dark conifer forest in the Northern Hemisphere. There are 52 species, 1 subspecies and 12 varities of genus Abies in the world. The history and modern distribution ofAbies were discussed at present paper. The genus has 3 modern distributional centers: South Europe, North America and East Asia. These areas are also rich in fossil records. The vertical distribution regions of Abies are from sea level to 4 700m, concentrated in 1 000 - 2 000 m (15 species ) and 2 500 - 4 000 m ( 13 species ). In China, the genus distributes in 20 provinces, especially abundant in the Hengduan Mountians. Meanwhile endemic and relic phenomea are obvious in this genus. There are 7 relical species with both limited individuals and limited distributed regions. Based on the fossil records and the newest phylogenetic data, the following hypothesis was proposed: Abies originated from the mid- and high altitude of the Northern Hemisphere in the Middle Cretaceous and it was dispersed forward to the south area in the Eocene due to global climate cooler down. The distribution of Abies was deeply impacted by geological events such as upleft of Himalaya, Alps, Rocky Mountains, the occurrence of Aisan Monsoon as well as Quaternary glaciers. Finally the currentdistribution pattern appeared at the Quaternary. The genus Abies has similar fossil history and modern distribution pattern with Cathaya and Pseudolarix.