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Inter-specific competition and management modify the morphology, nutrient content and resorption in Scots pine needles

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Abstract

Influence of tree-to-tree competition on nutrient resorption is still not well understood. To contribute filling this gap, we assessed the effects of thinning (0, 20 and 30 % extraction of basal area) and canopy type (beech–pine vs. pine subplots) on needle dry weight, needle length, nutrient content and nutrient resorption (N, P and K) in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) needles of different cohorts, 8–9 years after thinning. Thinning and canopy type often concurrently affected needle morphology (e.g. lighter and shorter needles in 30 % thinning, heavier and longer needles in pine canopy on the first year of study) and nutrient content (e.g. decrease in N, P and K in 30 %; N, P and K higher in pine canopy on the first year of study). However, effects of thinning appeared only in older cohorts for N and P but were found in old and new cohorts for needle dry weight, needle length and K, indicating that some thinning effects remained after 8–9 years. Canopy effects on morphology and nutrient content were more frequent in recent cohorts, in relation to an increase in beech cover over time. While no clear effects of thinning on the nutrient resorption were observed, higher values were observed in the pine than in the mixed canopy, which could be related to a higher Scots pine stem growth in those patches. The observed differences between treatments will likely increase as the stand develops, probably leading to beech trees being dominant, and as future thinnings are carried out.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the “Departamento de Medio Ambiente” of the Government of Navarre, in particular, F. Puertas, for the experimental setting of silvicultural treatments, and the “Concejo” of Aspurz for permitting the access to the plots. We also thank D. Ciganda, J. Markina, X. Petrirena and E. Urmeneta for their help in the field work, and Euken Arriaga, Arkaitz Arretxe, Susana García, Iñigo Iriarte and Ieltxu Oteiza for their help in the laboratory and data processing. The research has been carried out in the framework of the AGL2006-08288 project (Economy and Competitiveness Ministry of the Spanish Government). I. Primicia was financially supported by the FPI programme from the Economy and Competitiveness Ministry of the Spanish Government and the European Social Fund (ESF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departmento de Ciencias del Medio Natural, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus de Arrosadía s/n, 31006, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    Irantzu Primicia, J. Bosco Imbert & Federico J. Castillo

  2. Gestión Ambiental de Navarra, S.A., Padre Adoain, 219 Bajo, 31015, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    M. Carmen Traver

  3. Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences-Prague, Kamýcka 129, 16521, Praha 6 Suchdol, Czech Republic

    Irantzu Primicia

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  1. Irantzu Primicia
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  2. J. Bosco Imbert
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  3. M. Carmen Traver
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  4. Federico J. Castillo
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Correspondence to J. Bosco Imbert.

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Communicated by A. Merino.

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Primicia, I., Imbert, J.B., Traver, M.C. et al. Inter-specific competition and management modify the morphology, nutrient content and resorption in Scots pine needles. Eur J Forest Res 133, 141–151 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-013-0753-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-013-0753-7

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