Growth pa�ern of autochthonous lowland spruce Monika Vejpustková, Tomáš Čihák
TRACE 2018 Tree Rings in Archaeology, Climatology and Ecology April 24-27 2018 Greifswald, Germany
Forestry and Game Management Research Ins�tute Strnady 136, 252 02 Jíloviště, Czech Republic
Introduc�on
The original range of Norway spruce in Europe extends, in addi�on to boreal zone, to the mountain massifs of the Alps, the Hercynian, Carpathians, Rhodope and Illyrian regions. However, historical informa�on proves that spruce has been found frequently also at the lower al�tudes on sites with permanent high soil moisture content and even on sites characterized by a high degree of waterlogging or on peat soils. Relict spruce stands of lower al�tudes are considered to be the remnants of vegeta�on from the Atlan�cum period of postglacial forest vegeta�on succession, which has remained on certain sites up to the present �me (Klimo et al. 2000). The objec�ve of the study was to analyse the growth of remnant popula�ons of autochthonous lowland spruce and to compare it to the nearby ar�ficially planted spruce monocultures on different sites. We hypothesized that not only site but also origin of the stands plays a significant role in the spruce growth pa�ern.
Material and methods
The study was conducted within the area of the Czech Republic, where nine popula�ons of autochthonous lowland spruce were selected based on (1) tree age (old grown trees), (2) crown morphology (narrow cylindrical crown, thin branches, brush type of branching) and (3) site (valleys, old game preserves). Popula�ons were typically located in the valleys with more humid and cooler clima�c condi�ons, in the al�tude between 290 and 440 m asl. For the purpose of comparison, one spruce stand, preferably even-aged monoculture, was chosen in the close vicinity of each autochthonous popula�on, the second stand was selected outside the valley posi�on (fig. 1, tab. 1).
Results and discussion
Conclusion
- Mean ring-width chronology of relict spruce popula�ons show four dis�nct growth depressions: 1862–1878, 1916–1924, 1969–1986 and 1990–1997 (fig. 2). Growth decrease coincides with documented pronounced dry years: 1863, 1868, 1917, 1921, 1976, 1992 and 1993 (Brázdil et al. 2015). It means that even autochthonous spruce growing on natural ecotope is nega�vely influenced by drought.
References
- Spruce trees within relict popula�ons are dis�nctly uneven-aged, in general the age ranging from 92 to 249 years. The oldest trees were found at Pustý Žleb and Rabštejn, where the oldest individuals reached the age of over 200 years.
- Both cluster analysis (fig. 3) and mul�dimensional scaling (fig. 4) grouped the series of relict stands into one cluster despite their considerable geographical distance. The compara�ve stands from Kožlí (A1_KOZ), Švadlenka (A1_SVA, A2_SVA) and Sitka (A1_SIT, A2_SIT) were classified into the same cluster as relict stands. It is possible that they are the offsprings of the original autochthonous popula�ons. However, this hypothesis requires verifica�on by gene�c analysis. The remaining compara�ve stands were classified into two other groups. - The frequency of occurence of nega�ve pointer years (fig. 5) was significantly lower with autochthonous popula�ons than with allochthonous stands.
The results indicate that growth pa�ern is affected by tree origin. The revealed difference between autochthonous and allochthonous stands substan�ate a uniqueness of spruce lowland ecotype.
Brázdil et al. (2015). Sucho v Českých zemích: minulost, současnost, budoucnost. [Drought in the Czech lands: past, present, future]. Centrum výzkumu globální změny AV ČR, Brno, 400 p. Klimo et al. (eds.) 2000. Spruce monocultures in Central Europe – problems and prospects. EFI proceedings No. 33, European Forest Ins�tute, Joensuu, Finland, 208 p.
Acknowledgement
The study was supported by the project no. 56 of Grant agency of the Forests of the Czech Republic and by the project of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic – Resolu�on RO0117 (reference number 6779/2017-MZE-14151).
The increment cores were sampled and tree-ring series were obtained from 282 trees. The growth of relict popula�ons was compared to that of allochthonous stands. The methods of cluster analysis and mul�dimensional scaling (MDS) were employed to reveal the similarity in growth pa�ern. The signs of clima�c extremes were traced in tree-ring series using pointer year analysis.
Rabštejn
Ra�bořice
Sitka
Švadlenka
PZ
RAB
RAT
SIT
SVA
Úpořský potok UPO
350
20
173 (116-186)
51.7
3.03
A1_KAM
350
22
61
37.6
3.04
A2_KAM
410
22
81
29.2
1.94
R_KOZ
290-310
37
135 (111-137)
40.9
2.87
A1_KOZ
310
20
118
39.7
2.40
A2_KOZ
350
24
77
30.4
3.23
R_POT
320
22
141 (128-169)
42.7
2.21
A2_POT
370
20
81
34.2
2.96
R_PZ
365-430
20
201 (148-237)
41.0
1.73
A1_PZ
435
24
76
33.2
1.75
A2_PZ
480
20
74
30.8
2.47
R_RAB
390-440
26
168 (100-249)
40.3
2.45
A1_RAB
430
24
122
27.4
1.26
A2_RAB
515
20
113
27.4
1.60
R_RAT
295
20
124 (92-137)
39.5
3.32
A1_RAT
310
20
86
33.2
2.37
A2_RAT
355
20
85
30.0
2.40
R_SIT
380
20
123 (85-135)
43.4
2.66
A1_SIT
390
20
86
37.4
2.19
A2_SIT
560
20
83
36.3
2.60
R_SVA
355-375
24
161 (93-190)
43.3
2.78
A1_SVA
375
20
84
39.9
2.42
A2_SVA
420
20
107
35.3
2.67
R_UPO
290-320
20
112 (104-187)
40.1
2.70
A1_UPO
360
20
84
31.5
2.39
A2_UPO
420
22
86
29.5
2.26
The oldest spruce tree on the Rabštejn site - narrow rings arround the pith
Even-aged spruce monoculture in the valley posi�on on the Rabštejn site
Fig. 1: Loca�on of sample sites
2
1,5
1 Sample depth
Pustý Žleb
R_KAM
The oldest spruce tree on the Rabštejn site
Ring-width index
POT
Mean ring width (mm)
Potštejn
KOZ
Mean tree height (m)
Kožlí
Mean tree age (range)
KAM
Number of series
Kamenický potok
Al�tude (m a.s.l.)
Site
Plot acronym
Tab. 1: Characteris�cs of study sites. Plot acronym refers to the origin of the stand: R-relict spruce in the valley posi�on, A1-allochthonous spruce in the valley posi�on, A2-allochthonous spruce outside the valley.
0,5
0 1780
1820
1860
1900
1940
1980
2020
Fig. 2: Ring-width chronologies of relict spruce popula�ons (green) and mean chronology (thin red line) smoothed by 13-year low-pass filter (thick red line).
Fig. 3: Dendrogram of a hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward’s method, Euclidean distances). Plots were clustered based on ring-width indices in the 1976–2015 period.
Corresponding author:
100 Relict Percentage of plots (%)
Monika Vejpustková
Forestry and Game Management Research Institute
Fig. 4 Two-dimensional MDS map (dimensions 1x2). As an input, the matrix of the Euclidean distances of ringwidth indices for the period 1976–2015 was used.
Allochthonous 2
75
50
25
0 1935 1937 1939 1941 1943 1945 1947 1949 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
e-mail:
[email protected], tel. ++420 257 892 206
Allochthonous 1
Fig. 5: Percentage of plots with occurence of nega�ve pointer year.
