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Frost hardiness of nutrient-loaded two-year-old Picea abies seedlings in autumn and at the end of freezer storage

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Abstract

The effects of nutrient loading (NLOAD) on the frost hardening and dehardening of Picea abies (L.) Karst. seedlings were investigated under nursery conditions. Before NLOAD, second-year container seedlings were either short-day (SD) treated for 3 weeks in July or left for the natural photoperiod (CO). By mid-September, after 5 weeks of NLOAD, the fertilization of three foliar nutrient concentration levels (low = L-SD, medium = M-SD, and high = H-SD) for the SD-treated seedlings and one (medium = M-CO) for the CO-seedlings was completed. The NLOAD resulted in foliar nitrogen concentration 10.6, 16.1, 22.3, and 17.5 g kg−1 for L-SD, M-SD, H-SD and M-CO seedlings, respectively. The NLOAD had no effects on the morphology or dry mass variables of the seedlings, while SD-treatment reduced the dry mass of shoots, but not that of roots. The frost hardiness (FH) of different batches of the seedlings was assessed by the visual scoring of damage in their needles, stems and buds after their controlled exposure to freezing during frost hardening and dehardening. The low nutrient concentration in the SD-treated seedlings (L-SD seedlings) resulted in poor FH, to an even lower extent than that of the M-CO seedlings. The NLOAD did not affect the dehardening of the seedlings at the end of the freezer storage in the following spring.

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Acknowledgments

We should like to thank Kyösti Konttinen, Ritva Pitkänen and Riitta Toivonen for their valuable technical assistance in the experiments, Dr. Juha Lappi for his advice on the statistical analysis, and Dr. John A Stotesbury for revising the English language of the manuscript.

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  1. The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Suonenjoki Research Unit, Juntintie 154, 77600, Suonenjoki, Finland

    Jaana Luoranen, Markku Lahti & Risto Rikala

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  1. Jaana Luoranen
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  2. Markku Lahti
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  3. Risto Rikala
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Correspondence to Jaana Luoranen.

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Luoranen, J., Lahti, M. & Rikala, R. Frost hardiness of nutrient-loaded two-year-old Picea abies seedlings in autumn and at the end of freezer storage. New Forests 35, 207–220 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-007-9072-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-007-9072-5

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