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Seasonal variation in the tissue water relations of Picea glauca

Oecologia volume 92, pages 410–415 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

Seasonal variation in water relations of 3-yearold white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) shoots, monitored with pressure-volume curves over 28 months, was closely related to shoot phenology and was sensitive to environmental fluctuations during both summer growth and winter dormancy. Turgor maintenance capacity was lowest during rapid shoot elongation from late May to early July; this was indicated by the lowest total turgor pressures, the highest (least negative) osmotic potentials at full turgor and the turgor loss point, the smallest differences between osmotic potentials at full turgor and the turgor loss point, the highest relative water contents at turgor loss and a linear decline in cell elasticity with decreasing turgor pressure. This suggests that the high susceptibility of white spruce seedlings to growth check after transplanting is largely attributable to the poor turgor maintenance capacity of this species in early summer.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Y. Teng

    Present address: Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, M5S 3B3, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Affiliations

  1. Ontario Forest Research Institute, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 1235 Queen Street East, P.O. Box 969, P6A 5N5, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada

    S. J. Colombo & Y. Teng

Authors
  1. S. J. Colombo
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  2. Y. Teng
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Colombo, S.J., Teng, Y. Seasonal variation in the tissue water relations of Picea glauca . Oecologia 92, 410–415 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317468

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317468

Key words

  • Bud development
  • Cell elasticity
  • Osmotic potential
  • Turgor