© 2007 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Needle longevity, photosynthetic rate and nitrogen concentration of eight spruce taxa planted in northern Japan
Masazumi Kayama (1, 2), Satoshi Kitaoka (1, 3), Wenjie Wang (1, 4), Dongsu Choi (1, 5) and Takayoshi Koike (1, 6, 7)
1. Hokkaido University Forests, FSC, Kita 9 Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0809, Japan / 2. Present address: Kyushu Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 4-11-16 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-0862,
Japan / 3. Present address: Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Hitsujigaoka 7, Toyohira, Sapporo
062-8516, Japan / 4. Present address: Key Laboratory of Forest Plant Ecology, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, P.R. China
/ 5. Present address: Institute of Symbiotic Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu 183-8509,
Japan / 6. Present address: Department of Forest Science, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan / 7. Corresponding author (tkoike@for.agr.hokudai.ac.jp) / Received September 13, 2006; accepted February 5, 2007; published online August 1, 2007
Summary
Growth characteristics of Picea glehnii Masters, P. jezoensis (Sieb. et Zucc) Carr., P. jezoensis var. hondoensis (Mayr) Rehder and P. shirasawae Hayashi from Japan, P. abies (L.) Karst. from Europe and P. glauca Voss, P. mariana Britt., Sterns and Pogg. and P. rubens Sarg. from North America were compared. The trees were grown in similar conditions at the Tomakomai Experimental Forest of
Hokkaido University in northern Japan. Tree growth, needle biomass, longevity, photosynthetic rate, nitrogen concentration
and specific leaf area (SLA) were measured, and photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency was calculated. Picea jezoensis, P. jezoensis var. hondoensis, P. abies and P. glauca had high growth rates, high photosynthetic rates in young needles, high needle nitrogen concentrations and short needle life
spans. In contrast, P. glehnii, P. shirasawae, P. mariana and P. rubens had low growth and photosynthetic rates, low needle nitrogen concentrations, long needle life spans and maintained a high
photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency in older needles. Examination of relationships between several growth parameters of
the eight taxa revealed positive correlations between SLA and mass-based photosynthetic rate and between SLA and mass-based
nitrogen concentration, whereas mass-based photosynthetic rate and mass-based nitrogen concentration were negatively correlated
with needle longevity. The species differed greatly in growth characteristics despite being grown in similar conditions.
Keywords:
fast- and slow-growing species, needle life span, photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency, Picea, specific leaf area.
