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Impact of Arceuthobium sichuanense infection on needles and current-year shoots of Picea crassifolia and Picea purpurea in Qinghai Province, China

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Abstract

Arceuthobium sichuanense is an aerial parasitic plant (dwarf mistletoe) which causes severe damage to spruce forests on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Picea crassifolia and Picea purpurea, two main host species of A. sichuanense, have different growth characteristics and elevational distributions. The effects of A. sichuanense infection on P. crassifolia and P. purpurea trees were evaluated by examining needle and current-year shoot morphology, needle water use efficiency and needle nitrogen concentration, with 30 needle samples, 30 current-year shoot samples and 10 A. sichuanense aerial shoot samples for each host species. The most apparent effects were significant reductions in both needle size and current-year shoot length. The high degree of correlation in foliar δ 15N values between the dwarf mistletoe and its host trees indicated that nitrogen in the dwarf mistletoe was derived entirely from its host. Percent reductions in needle and current-year shoot length were smaller for P. purpurea than for P. crassifolia, possibly suggesting that P. purpurea exhibits a lesser capacity to accommodate the parasitic effects of mistletoe infection by adjusting the growth of needles and current-year shoots. The reductions in needle nitrogen concentration and δ 13C values were lower in P. purpurea than in P. crassifolia, indicating that P. purpurea suffered more nitrogen and water stresses and exhibited lower vigor compared to P. crassifolia. Our results demonstrated that P. purpurea may suffer more negative effects induced by dwarf mistletoe infections at needle and branch levels than P. crassifolia.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the unreserved support of Mr. Yang, Z. Q. and his colleagues at Maixiu Forest Park, Qinghai, China. We thank Dr. Pei, M. H. (Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, UK) for valuable comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this manuscript. This work was supported by National Key Technology R&D Program for the 12th Five-year Plan No. 2012BAD19B0702 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos. 31300541 and 31400611.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, 110866, China

    Bo Xia

  2. Key Laboratory of Forests, Silviculture and Conservation, Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Bo Xia, Youqing Luo & Chengming Tian

  3. College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, 110866, China

    Liying Liu

  4. Sterling International, Inc., 3808 N. Sullivan Rd, Bldg 16, Spokane, WA, 99216, USA

    Qing-He Zhang

  5. Maixiu Forest Park, Huangnan, Qinghai Province, 811300, China

    Fuzhong Han

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  1. Bo Xia
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Correspondence to Youqing Luo.

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Xia, B., Liu, L., Zhang, QH. et al. Impact of Arceuthobium sichuanense infection on needles and current-year shoots of Picea crassifolia and Picea purpurea in Qinghai Province, China. Eur J Plant Pathol 147, 845–854 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-016-1048-x

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