Summary
Seedlings of four Pacific Northwest conifer species; Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), western redcedar (Thuja plicata), and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) were grown in solution culture at six levels of aluminium concentration (0, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm Al). The pH of these nutrient solutions was adjusted to be equivalent with that level induced by hydrolysis of the highest Al treatment (pH 3.5 of the 100 ppmAl treatment).
Divalent cation concentration in the roots of all four species decreased as Al activity increased. Potassium was the only nutrient that exhibited increased tissue concentrations as Al activity increased. Phosphorus and N in the seedlings had complex responses to increasing Al. Western hemlock and Sitka spruce root length was the main growth property found to be significantly affected by Al activity in the solutions.
Increasing Al concentrations in these acid nutrient solutions did not significantly affect biomass growth of any of the four species. Western hemlock and western redcedar were especially tolerant of these acid-Al conditions. These results have been related to western hemlock's low tissue requirements of Ca and Mg and western redcedar's ability to accumulate high tissue levels of Ca even in the presence of excess H and Al-cations.
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Ryan, P.J., Gessel, S.P. & Zasoski, R.J. Acid tolerance of Pacific Northwest conifers in solution culture. Plant Soil 96, 259–272 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02374769
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02374769