Hormonal responses to short-term and long-term water deficit in native Scots pine and Norway spruce trees

Mineral Nutrition of Naturally Growing Scots Pine and Norway Spruce under Limited Water Supply

“…The soil water availability at the experimental sites used in the study was characterized in detail in our previous study [ 18 ]. In short, based on the dynamics of soil water content relative to field capacity and site live ground cover, Site III (arid for pine) was more arid than Site II (normal for pine and arid for spruce), whereas Site I (normal for spruce) was moister than Site II.…”

“…In short, based on the dynamics of soil water content relative to field capacity and site live ground cover, Site III (arid for pine) was more arid than Site II (normal for pine and arid for spruce), whereas Site I (normal for spruce) was moister than Site II. The soil water content relative to field capacity decreased substantially across the soil profile at all three sites from the beginning (3 August) to the end (24 August) of the rainless period [ 18 ].…”

“…In pine, wood concentrations of seven out of eight elements (K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Zn, and Cu) were positively influenced by the rainless period ( Figure 2 A), whereas in spruce, higher concentrations of five elements (K, Ca, P, Fe, and Zn) were observed in the wood of plants grown in the arid plot, with two additional elements (Mg and Cu) demonstrating a positive interaction between site aridity and rainless periods ( Figure 2 B). When analysing the dynamics of leaf mass per area and osmotic pressure in the same pine and spruce plants [ 18 ], we observed that pine plants were impacted mainly by short-term water shortage during the rainless period, whereas in spruce plants, higher plot aridity was the main cause of decreased water supply. Therefore, we suppose that the decreased soil water supply positively influenced the availability of the majority of nutrients for plants and therefore increased nutrient concentrations in the current-year wood.…”

“…Investigations were performed in native undisturbed pine and spruce stands of productivity class I in the Bryansk region (Russia). Based on the annual growth data, 3 experimental sites were selected for this study [ 18 ]: Site I (53 10.923, 34 34.334). Mean age of adult trees, 70 years; productivity class, I; relative density, 0.8; stand composition, 10 spruce; forest site type, B 3 ; forest type, bilberry-spruce forest; and soil type, slightly soddy sandy mesopodzol with a ferruginous illuvial horizon on fluvioglacial sand.…”

“…Therefore, we aimed to study the effects of long-term and short-term water deficiency on the mineral contents of wood, needles, and bark of current-year twigs of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce ( Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) as well as the effects of water deficiency on the available pools of mineral elements in soils under the plants. We studied trees grown under natural conditions [ 18 ] as the influence of water shortage on mineral nutrition can differ substantially between short-term experimental drought and long-term natural differences in water availability [ 6 ].…”