Agroforestry Systems

, Volume 87, Issue 3, pp 507–516 | Cite as

Growth and photosynthetic responses of Canarium pimela and Nephelium topengii seedlings to a light gradient

  • Wenjie Yang
  • Fude Liu
  • Lingyan Zhou
  • Shiting Zhang
  • Shuqing An
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

We analyzed the growth and photosynthetic responses of Canarium pimela K. D. Koenig (Chinese black olive) and Nephelium topengii (Merr.) H. S. Lo. (Hainan shaozi) to a light gradient to recommend better procedures for optimizing seedling establishment and growth of both species in restoration and agroforestry practices. One-month-old seedlings were exposed to four irradiance levels (46, 13, 2 and 0.2 % full sunlight) inside shade cloth covered shadehouses for 1 year. With decreased sunlight both species displayed trends of decreased relative growth rate (RGR) and leaf area (LA), and increased specific leaf area and leaf area ratio (LAR). The mean values of light-saturated net photosynthetic rate (Pmax) in 46 and 0.2 % full sunlight were 10.11 and 3.44 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 for C. pimela and 6.26 and 3.47 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 for N. topengii, respectively. C. pimela had higher RGR in 46 and 13 % full sunlight than in 2 and 0.2 % full sunlight. Differences in growth rates can be explained by the different values of LA, LAR and leaf mass ratio, as well as by the different values of photosynthetic saturation irradiance and net photosynthetic rate (Pmax) between the two species. Both morphological and physiological responses to shading indicate N. topengii could be rated as “very shade-tolerant,” while C. pimela could be rated as “intermediately shade-tolerant”.

Keywords

Chinese black olive Ecophysiology Hainan shaozi Light environment Photosynthesis Seedling establishment Shade tolerance 

Abbreviation

AQE

Apparent quantum efficiency

Ic

Photosynthetic compensation irradiance

Is

Photosynthetic saturation irradiance

LA

Leaf area

LAR

Leaf area ratio

LMR

Leaf mass ratio

PAR

Photosynthetic available radiation

Pmax

Light-saturated rate of CO2 assimilation

Pn

Net photosynthetic rate

PPFD

Photosynthetic photon flux density

Rd

Dark respiration rate

RGRd

Relative growth rate in root collar diameter

RGRh

Relative growth rate in height

RGRm

Relative growth rate in mass

RMR

Root mass ratio

SLA

Specific leaf area

SMR

Stem mass ratio

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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors’ are grateful to Prof. Yide Li for assistance during the study. The authors’ acknowledge the staff of the Jianfengling Experimental Station (Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry) for their field assistance. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation of China (NO. 30570298 and 30430570) and Special Research Program for Public-Welfare Forestry (“Responses of forests to climate change and adaptive strategy of forestry in China”, Grant No. 200804001). The authors’ also thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the earlier version of the manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Wenjie Yang
    • 1
    • 2
  • Fude Liu
    • 1
    • 3
  • Lingyan Zhou
    • 1
  • Shiting Zhang
    • 1
  • Shuqing An
    • 1
  1. 1.Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Global Changes, School of Life ScienceNanjing UniversityNanjingChina
  2. 2.College of Horticulture and Forestry ScienceHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
  3. 3.Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment of Shandong ProvinceWater Resources Research Institute of Shandong ProvinceJinanChina

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