Metabolic and structural responses of pine buds under climate chamber conditions

Scots pine ( Pinus sylvetris L.) plants, about 2 m high, were placed in controlled conditions for 2 weeks in January, April and November. During the experiments made in January, the conditions in the climate chambers simulated either a gradual or abrupt advancement of spring. In April they simulated either the advancement of the season or its reversal back to January. In November the plants were transferred to conditions that resembled spring. In January, pieces of buds collected at the end of the experiment were also fixed for electron microscope studies.
Isolation of the ribosomes and the determination of their in vitro translation capacity revealed that in January the response to environmental changes was evident. An increase in synthesized proteins was caused by a rise in the translation capacity of ribosome assemblies rather than by an increase in their quantity. The cellular ultras-structure changed in conformity with the changes characteristic of the spring. In April, the plants transferred to the climate chambers maintained their ability to synthesize proteins, but the buds were judged to be under stress. In November die ability of the buds to respond to environmental changes was retarded or inhibited.     

Purification of Acetyl Coenzyme A: Deacetylacephalosporin C O-Acetyltransferase from Acremonium chrysogenum

Acetyl CoA: deacetylcephalosporin C O-acetyltransferase, which catalyzes the final step of the biosythetic pathway to cephalosporin C, was stabilized by a buffer solution containing 7-aminocephalosporanic acid and purified over 1300-fold from Acremonium chrysogenum. The purified enzyme has a molecular weight of 55,000 as measured by gel filtration. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed two subunit bands corresponding to molecular weights of 27,000 and 14,000. The enzyme has an isoelectoric point at pH 4.0 and optimum activity at pH 7.5.     

Ultraviolet penetration of pine trees and insect virus survival

Solar UV light entering Lodgepole pine,Pinus contorta (Loud.) canopy was measured by radiometer and polysulphone film. It was found to be much attenuated among lower branches and nuclear polyhedrosis virus exposed there was significantly more infective to Pine beauty moth,Panolis flammea (D.+S.) than virus from upper branches. S. J. Warden died April 1989     

Heat budget and fire behaviour associated with the opening of serotinous cones in two Pinus species

Abstract. We have constructed a heat budget for the transient heating of cones showing that there is a logarithmic relationship between the time (sec) to serotinous cone opening, releasing viable seeds, or cone ignition and temperature (°K) in the convective column above a fire. The rate of opening at a given temperature is controlled by a thermal time constant which is the ratio of the thermal resistance of a cone to convection, to the heating capacity of a cone by conduction. The observed times to cone opening and ignition fit the logarithmic relationship as predicted by the heat budget model. In order to understand the fire behaviour that results in cone opening and ignition, we changed the variables of temperature and time to the fire behaviour variables of fire intensity (kW/m) and fire rate of spread (m/min). Cones borne high in the canopy open in fires with low rates of spread and high fuel consumption, where intensity = rate of spread × fuel consumption × heat of ignition, but not when the rate of spread is high and fuel consumption low.     

Correction of crown disorders ofPinus caribaea var.hondurensis by application of zinc

Summary Trees of a highland provenance ofPinus caribaea var.hondurensis Barr. and Golf. in an unhealthy stand on Melville Is., Australia displaying symptoms of needleless shoots, short needles, premature needle fall, resin exudation from the stem, fasciation of the stem tip tip dieback and multiple leadering were markedly improved by the application of Zn. Other plantings of highland provenances ofP. caribaea var.hondurensis in the lowland tropics with similar disorders may benefit from Zn application.     

Applications of a thermal imaging technique in the study of the ascent of sap in woody species

We present applications of infrared thermograph to the direct observation of water transport in stems of woody species. Presently, the method gives only qualitative information on the path of sap movement along the stem, and therefore, does not replace any of the common quantitative methods of sap flow measurement. Nevertheless, the thermal imaging technique provides a novel approach to the study of the ascent of sap and could have a role in supporting more quantitative methods. Thermography permits visualization of the thermal variations of a fairly large area of the stem in real time, and hence, is well suited for spatial analysis of sap movement. Three experiments were carried out during the summers of 1991 and 1992, with the following objectives: to define the sap flow distribution in the active annual rings; to identify grain anomalies in the sap wood; and to study the consequences of induced embolism on the path of sap flow. Altogether, we tested more than 10 woody species (broad-leaves and conifers) either in natural conditions or in the nursery. We found considerable differences in the spatial distribution of sap flow not only between species and individuals but also within a single tree. Grain anomalies or embolized zones in the xylem, which are easily demonstrated, often further modify the path of sap flow. The irregularity of sapwood dimensions and of sap flow among tree rings requires careful evaluation of the positioning of the probes when using methods for quantitative measurements.     

太行山南段油松群落物种多样性研究

油松是太行山区重要的植树造林树种。本文以太行山南段为研究区域,采用随机取样法对武乡、黎城、襄垣、平顺、壶关、屯留6个地区油松的物种多样性与群落多样性进行了分析比较。结果表明:(1)6个地区油松群落中共有种子植物34科70属81种,包含乔木4科4属5种、灌木7科12属15种、草本23科54属61种;(2)太行山南段油松群落种子植物属的区系成分类型多样,以温带成分占绝对优势;(3)武乡、黎城、襄垣、平顺、壶关5个地区油松群落的物种多样性表现出较为一致的变化趋势,即草本层灌木层乔木层,而屯留的不同功能群物种多样性表现为草本层=灌木层乔木层;(4)6个地区油松群落多样性从高到低依次为平顺黎城襄垣武乡屯留壶关;(5)油松群落多样性和物种多样性水平受群落演替进程、地理环境、人为干扰等诸多因子的协同作用。     

Underplanting degraded exotic Pinus with indigenous conifers assists forest restoration

We propose that nonharvest plantations could provide important opportunities for restoration of indigenous forest cover and related ecosystem services. We assessed the relative performance of three Podocarpaceae (podocarps) species planted into a degraded Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) plantation, central North Island, New Zealand. We hypothesised that the degraded pine plantation overstorey could provide suitable conditions for the development of a podocarp‐dominated forest structure within ca. 50 years of underplanting and that podocarp growth would differ depending on the species suitability to the site. Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) significantly outperformed both Totara (Podocarpus totara) and Kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) in height and diameter growth. Rimu was now the structurally dominant tree where it occurred rather than pine. Per annum scaled carbon storage within Rimu stands was significantly greater than the Totara, Kahikatea or Pine stands. All podocarp species had attained a greater stand density compared to the pine overstorey. Possible reasons for the differing podocarp growth performance include different light requirements, response to soil nutrients, elevational distributions and frost susceptibility. There were significant differences in understorey species richness among the different stands of podocarp species. Underplanting accelerated successional development by incorporating late‐successional indigenous canopy dominants within the forest succession and overcame limitations imposed on forest succession at the site from its isolation from indigenous forest tree seed sources.     

Binding of RDX to Cell Wall Components of Pinus sylvestris and Picea glauca and Three-Year Mineralisation Study of Tissue-Associated RDX Residues

Contamination of soils with the explosive hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX, Research Department Explosive) as a result of military applications is a large-area problem globally. Since coniferous trees dominate the vegetation of large areas of military land in Central Europe, particularly in Germany, the long-term fate of ¹⁴C-RDX in the conifers Scots pine and Dwarf Alberta spruce was studied. Acetic acid was the most effective solvent for the removal of extractable RDX residues from homogenates of RDX-laden tree material (85%, 80–90% and 64–80% for roots, wood and needles, respectively). On average, only a fifth of RDX-derived ¹⁴C was bound in non-extractable residues (NER). Within the main cell wall compartments, lignin was the dominant binding site for NER (needles: 32–62%; roots: 38–42%). Hemicellulose (needles: 11–18%; roots: 6–11%) and cellulose (needles: 12–24%; roots: 1–2%) were less involved in binding and a considerable proportion of NER (needles: 15–24%; roots: 59–51%) was indigestible. After three-year incubation in rot chambers, mineralisation of tree-associated ¹⁴C-RDX to ¹⁴CO₂ clearly dominated the mass balance in both tree species with 48–83%. 13–33% of ¹⁴C-RDX-derived radioactivity remained in an unleachable form and the remobilisation by water leaching was negligible (< 2%).