Tree Physiology Advance Access originally published online on January 20, 2009
Tree Physiology 2009 29(3):445-456; doi:10.1093/treephys/tpn042
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© The Author 2009. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Open Access
Ectomycorrhizal root tips in relation to site and stand characteristics in Norway spruce and Scots pine stands in boreal forests
1 Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland
2 Corresponding author (helja-sisko.helmisaari{at}metla.fi)
3 Tartu University, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, Vanemuise 46, EE-51014 Tartu, Estonia
4 Finnish Forest Research Institute, Rovaniemi Research Unit, P.O. Box 16, FI-96301 Rovaniemi, Finland
5 Finnish Forest Research Institute, Parkano Research Unit, Kaironiementie 54, FI-39700 Parkano, Finland
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Abstract |
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Variations in ectomycorrhizal (EcM) short root tips of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in 16 stands throughout Finland were studied, and their relationships with latitude, organic layer C:N ratio, temperature sum and foliage biomass were determined. There were no significant differences in EcM root tip frequency (number per milligram of fine roots) or root tip mass between tree species or between northern and southern sites. The EcM root tip number per unit area of the organic layer plus the 0–30 cm mineral soil layer varied between 0.8 and 2.4 million per m2 for Norway spruce and between 0.7 and 2.9 million per m2 for Scots pine, and it was higher in the northern Scots pine stands than in the southern Scots pine stands. Over 80% of the EcM root tips of both species were in the organic layer and the upper 0–10 cm mineral soil layer. We related EcM root tips to foliage mass because these two components are the most important functional units in boreal tree physiology. Both species, especially the Scots pine trees, had more EcM root tips in relation to foliage mass in northern Finland than in southern Finland. Scots pine trees had more EcM root tips in relation to foliage mass than Norway spruce in the same climatic region. The EcM root tip:foliage biomass ratio of Norway spruce was positively related to the C:N ratio in the organic layer, whereas that of Scots pine was negatively related to the temperature sum. The number of EcM root tips per milligram of fine root biomass was constant, implying that trees of both species increase nutrient uptake by increasing fine root production and hence their total number of EcM tips and the area of soil occupied by mycelia. Both tree species responded to nitrogen (N) deficiency by maintaining more EcM tips per foliage unit, and this may be related to a higher proportion of N uptake in an organic form.
Keywords: C:N ratio, fine roots, foliage, mycorrhiza, nitrogen, Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris
Received August 28, 2008; Accepted November 17, 2008
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