The Potential of a Chlorophyll Content SPAD Meter to Quantify Nutrient Stress in Foliar Tissue of Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), English Oak (Quercus robur), and European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Abstract

The chlorophyll content (or SPAD meter) is a simple, portable diagnostic tool that measures the greenness or relative chlorophyll content of leaves. Compared with the traditional destructive methods of chlorophyll extraction, the use of this equipment saves time, space, and resources. The objective of this study was to establish a correlation between the leaf photosynthetic pigment content (chlorophylls, carotenoids) extracted in aqueous acetone, total leaf nitrogen (N) content, and chlorophyll fluorescence Fv/Fm values with the SPAD-502 readings in sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), beech (Fagus sylvatica), and English oak (Quercus robur) leaves displaying visual symptoms of N deficiency. In addition, this study aimed to determine a critical foliar N content below which a reduction in photosynthetic efficiency occurs. Irrespective of species, high correlations were recorded between SPAD readings, total leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid content, foliar N content, and leaf photosynthetic efficiency as measured by chlorophyll fluorescence Fv/Fm values; however, a poor correlation between SPAD values and total chlorophyll:carotenoid ratios was obtained. In the case of Acer pseudoplatanus, Fagus sylvatica, and Quercus robur, SPAD readings lower than 25 indicated impairment of leaf photosynthetic process that in turn were correlated with a foliar N content less than 1.5%, a value associated with a critical N deficiency. Results of this study indicate that the chlorophyll content SPAD-502 m potentially offers a useful nondestructive, handheld system to aid in the evaluation of tree health. However, users should be aware of the limitations of this system. Consistency in sample collection and seasonal timing may necessitate species and cultivar calibration equations to correlate SPAD values with reductions in tree vitality.

Assessment of Workflow Feature Selection on Forest LAI Prediction with Sentinel-2A MSI, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI

“…C ab showed clear dynamics, with a strong decrease during the last sampling day. When compared to the readings of the SPAD meter, C ab retrievals showed a quadratic relationship ( Figure A1 ), which is confirmed by other studies [ 74 , 75 ]. This strong relationship supports the validity of the C ab retrievals, and thereby the retrieval of the other biochemical constituents since they were inverted simultaneously.…”

Environmental stress - what can we learn from chlorophyll a fluorescence analysis in woody plants? A review

“…Torres Netto et al (2005) found that a reduction in chlorophyll content in leaves resulted in a decreased fluorescence emission, as reflected by a change in the values of some parameters: F M and F V /F M , with only chlorophyll-rich leaves showing optimal values for F V /F M . Similar observations were made by Percival et al (2008); regardless of the species studied, relative chlorophyll content of SPAD-502 below 25 resulted in a decrease in F V /F M . Chen and Cheng (2010) studied 7-year-old apple trees in an orchard with foliar chlorosis.…”

“…However, there was no significant difference in NPQ and other parameters due to N availability in water-deficient plants. Percival et al (2008) showed that low N content in leaves, which is strongly linked to chlorophyll content, leads to a decrease in F V /F M . An optimum of F V /F M was found at leaf N contents of at least 1%, 1.5%, and 2% in Acer pseudoplatanus, Fagus sylvatica, and Quercus robur, respectively (Percival et al, 2008) Nutritional factors were assessed by Nikiforou and Manetas (2011) on Pistacia lentiscus L. in field conditions.…”

Evaluating the effects of trenching on growth, physiology and uprooting resistance of two urban tree species over 51-months

“…Leaf greenness index, a parameter which is highly correlated to leaf chlorophyll content (Percival et al, 2008), was measured once per year in July on the same leaves used for leaf gas exchange measurements using a SPAD-meter (SPAD 502, Minolta, Osaka, Japan).…”