Quantitative wood anatomy as a stress indicator at Picea abies stands in the Ore Mountains

Mgr. Alina Samusevich

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

The aim of the research was to evaluate the potential of wood anatomy parameters as stress indicators on base of changing cell characteristics and the proportion of earlywood/latewood in spruce trees damaged by pollution influence. The research was carried out in the Ore Mountains (Czech Republic). Sites were located along the gradient of forest damage after 1995/1996 cold winter (heavy, medium, and slightly damaged sites). All the stands were the pure spruce stands with 50-60-year-old trees. The research also took the advantage of the annually measured data from 1996 – 2013 on tree vitality, tree nutrition and air pollution. Analyses showed the effect of stress on lumen area and the amount of tracheids in the tree ring. The difference in reaction dynamics between individual parameters was recorded. The length of stands regeneration was shown to be from 1 to 3 years, depending on the pollution rate. At heavily polluted sites 1-year lag in growth reaction to stress was observed. Fluorine content in 2nd needle age class (F2) was highly significant parameter explaining the highest proportion of data variability and could be considered as a reliable stress indicator for young spruce stands in the Ore Mountains. Different methods for earlywood/latewood demarcation (fixed and flexible thresholds) were tested to identify the most precise thresholds suitable for Picea abies (L.) Karst. growing in the analysed environment. T-test analyses revealed the significant correspondence between visual identification of earlywood/latewood transition and demarcation based on standard Mork’s index and flexible density threshold derived as 80% of the maximum latewood density. The calibration of Mork’s index for Norway spruce was done as well. Index value equal or higher than 0.83 was shown to be enough to determine latewood cells in Norway spruce trees growing in temperate conditions.

Keywords

wood anatomy, cell wall thickness, radial cell diameter, lumen width, latewood proportion, air pollution, Picea abies (L.) Karst., Ore Mountains

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 14. 7. 2020

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: doc. Ing. Aleš Zeidler, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Doctoral programme / odbor:
Forestry Engineering / Wood Processing and Forest Machinery