Diagnosis of zinc deficiency in seedlings of a tropical eucalypt (Eucalyptus urophylla S. T. Blake)

Abstract

A glasshouse experiment was undertaken to establish the internal Zn requirement for shoot growth of Eucalyptus urophylla, a fast-growing commercial plantation species widely planted in tropical regions of the world. A Zn-deficient sand was supplemented with ten rates of Zn and seedlings were harvested after three months. In Zn-deficient plants the new growth was dwarfed with small, necrotic leaves and short internodes. Foliar Zn concentrations declined markedly with leaf age in both Zn-deficient and Zn-adequate plants. The critical Zn concentration for the diagnosis of Zn deficiency also fell with leaf age. Zinc concentrations in the youngest fully expanded leaf ranged from 8–11 μg Zn g⁻¹ dry weight in plants with severe symptoms to 30–37 μg Zn g⁻¹ dry weight in non-deficient plants. The critical Zn concentration for the diagnosis of Zn deficiency at 90% of maximum shoot growth in the same leaf was 21 μg Zn g⁻¹ dry weight. This value is nearly twice that reported for several other species of eucalypts and may indicate a higher internal demand for Zn in tropical than in temperate eucalypts.