Northern Provenances of Silver Fir Differ with Acclimation to Contrasting Light Regimes

Abstract

Phenotypic differentiation of Abies alba was identified among selected provenances originating from the northern edge of this species’ natural geographic range. We posited that although the seed sources of the study populations were not geographically distant, progenies would differ with respect to growth, needle pigment concentration, and values of photochemical parameters in response to contrasting light conditions. Potted seedlings of six provenances were grown for two seasons under low light (LL, 40% of full irradiance) or high light (HL, 100% of full irradiance). The results showed that the provenances differed in diameter at root collar (DRC) and in relative growth rates of height (RGR). Seedlings grown in full light had a greater mean value of DRC than those in LL. LL increased total needle chlorophyll (Chltot) and carotenoid concentrations compared with HL, and Chltot was modified by the provenance of the seedlings. The provenance “Syców”, localized at the northern limit of the species range, showed the lowest value of maximal electron transfer rate (ETRmax) and lower values of growth parameters compared with the other study provenances. Relative growth rate, Chltot, and non-photochemical quenching of fluorescence (NPQ) were correlated with some climatic characteristics of seed stands and formed clusters indicating the local adaptation of the study populations. These results provide evidence of low intraspecific A. alba differentiation in terms of growth dynamics, photochemical capacity, and tolerance to different light regimes. The intraspecific diversity found in our study among the northern lead populations could be, however, important for the natural expansion of this species further north and for the selection of provenances to be used in the programme of the A. alba restoration in the Sudety Mountains, southern Poland, where decline of this species has been observed.

Addressing the long-standing limitations of double exponential and non-rectangular hyperbolic models in quantifying light-response of electron transport rates in different photosynthetic organisms under various conditions

“…Moreover, no significant differences were found between the fitted values for J max (and I sat ) and their corresponding observed values ( p< 0.05; Table 2 ). Our results are consistent with the findings of earlier studies ( Ye et al., 2013a , 2016 ; Robakowski et al., 2018 ; Yang et al., 2018 ; Ye et al., 2019 ; Zuo et al., 2019 ; Ye et al., 2020 ; Hu et al., 2021 ; He et al., 2022 ; Robakowski et al., 2022 ; Yang et al., 2023 ). In addition, previous results have also demonstrated that this model is suitable for fitting the J–I curves of algae and cyanobacteria ( Ye et al., 2013a ; Liang et al., 2018 ; Yang et al., 2023 ).…”

“…The measurements of Chl a fluorescence were conducted using modulated and saturated light intensities set at 0.05 μmol photons m -2 s -1 and 15.3 mmol photons m -2 s -1 , respectively. Other parameters of the instrument were set following the method of Robakowski et al. (2022) .…”

“…The J level increases almost linearly with the increasing light intensity over the light-limited region until the light intensity reaches the saturation level ( I sat ), after which the J level decreases with the increasing light intensity due to dynamic down-regulation of PSII/photoinhibition induced by high light intensity ( Ralph and Gademann, 2005 ; Suggett et al., 2007 ; Yang et al., 2023 ). However, the division of the J–I curve for plants is much more complex ( Robakowski, 2005 ; Ye et al., 2013a , b , 2016 , 2019 ; Hu et al., 2021 ; He et al., 2022 ; Robakowski et al., 2022 ). Some plants show that the decrease in J with increasing light intensity is insignificant ( Robakowski, 2005 ; Ye et al., 2013b ; Robakowski et al., 2018 ; Ye et al., 2020 ); for some other plants, J fails to reach saturation even at the highest value of light intensity ( Ye et al., 2013b ; Buckley and Diaz-Espejo, 2015 ).…”

“…The NRH model has been extensively applied to fit the J–I curves of plants, but it has only provided values of α and J max ( Long and Bernacchi, 2003 ; von Caemmerer, 2013 ; Ye et al., 2019 ; Yin et al., 2021 ). However, the mechanistic model (developed by Ye et al., 2013a , b ) has been found to be increasingly of use in simulating the J–I curves of algae, cyanobacteria, and plants, as well as in obtaining the values of α , J max and I sat ( Serodio et al., 2013 ; Ye et al., 2013a ; Morfopoulos et al., 2014 ; Sun et al., 2015 ; Ahammed et al., 2018 ; Robakowski et al., 2018 ; Yang et al., 2018 ; Ye et al., 2019 ; Robakowski et al., 2022 ; Yang et al., 2023 ). These models provide valuable tools for understanding the photosynthetic performance of different photosynthetic organisms under various environmental conditions.…”

Positive effect of fir-rowan intimate mixture on new forest floor and topsoil following afforestation

“…Also, the rowan sprouts from roots when parent trees are cut (Rouvinen, Kouki 2011). Silver fir also performs well in open-area and non-stressed environments (Robakowski et al 2022) and it is a shade-tolerant species capable of sharing the environment with many tree species (Dobrowolska et al 2017). The shade-tolerant species are better survivors when mixed with others (Zeide 1985) and silver fir is also more resistant to drought (Vitali et al 2017).…”