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Picea seedlings show apparent acclimation to drought with increasing altitude in the eastern Himalaya

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Abstract

We measured plant structural and physiological responses of two sympatric Picea species, Picea likiangensis (Franchet) E. Pritzel var. balfouriana and Picea asperata Masters var. retroflexa to altitude close to the treeline in the eastern Himalaya. Most measured tree characteristics differed between different altitudes, between different ages, and between shaded and un-shaded treatments. Both P. likiangensis and P. asperata had lower foliage area/stem cross-sectional area ratios, smaller specific leaf areas, higher root mass/foliage area ratios, and less negative δ13C at 3,900 m than at 3,600 m altitude, and in the un-shaded treatment than in the shaded treatment. The 7- and 9-year-old seedlings also showed lower foliage area/stem cross-sectional area ratios, higher root mass/foliage area ratios and less negative δ13C than younger seedlings. Shading resulted in an increase of biomass accumulation at all altitudes. A close relationship, independent of altitude, was observed between δ13C and specific leaf area, suggesting that internal resistance could limit CO2 diffusion to the site of carboxylation. The results indicate that, in spite of greater water availability, trees at higher altitudes show quite a number of apparent acclimations to drought.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the Program of “100 Distinguished Young Scientists” and “Knowledge Innovation Engineering” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KSCX2-SW-115), the China National Major Fundamental Science Program (No. G2002CB111504) and the Outstanding Young Scientist Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30125036). F.B. received support from the Finnish Academy of Sciences and the Foundation of Helsinki University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 610041, Chengdu, P.R. China

    Chunyang Li

  2. Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, 10091, Beijing, P.R. China

    Shirong Liu

  3. Department of Forest Ecology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 28, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Frank Berninger

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  1. Chunyang Li
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  2. Shirong Liu
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  3. Frank Berninger
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Correspondence to Chunyang Li.

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Li, C., Liu, S. & Berninger, F. Picea seedlings show apparent acclimation to drought with increasing altitude in the eastern Himalaya. Trees 18, 277–283 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-003-0304-9

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