RNGR.net is sponsored by the USDA Forest Service and Southern Regional Extension Forestry and is a colloborative effort between these two agencies.

U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Forest Service Southern Regional Extension Forestry Southern Regional Extension Forestry

Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Home → Publications → Forest Nursery Notes → 2008 Winter Forest Nursery Notes → 2008 Winter Forest Nursery Notes - New Nursery Literature → Calcium Uptake, Partitioning, and Sinuous Growth in Douglas-Fir Seedlings

Calcium Uptake, Partitioning, and Sinuous Growth in Douglas-Fir Seedlings

Littke, K. and Zabowski, D. Forest Science 53(6):692-700. 2007.

Sinuosity is a growth deformation affecting Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] and other conifers. Ca, an essential nutrient in tree growth and cell development, may be deficient in these stands and could be causing sinuous growth. An experiment was conducted to test whether low Ca availability causes sinuous growth in Douglas-fir seedlings. Douglas-fir 1 + 1 seedlings were grown in a greenhouse with high to low Ca availability. After 6 months of growth, the seedlings were measured for sinuosity and separated into new-needles, new-stem, old-needles, old-stem, and roots. High Ca fertilized seedlings had greater new-needle biomass and growth than low Ca fertilized seedlings. High Ca availability also led to higher Ca concentration and content, including higher foliar membrane-associated Ca, Ca-pectate, and Ca-oxalate than low Ca seedlings. Low Ca availability had no significant effect on sinuosity. Although high Ca availability did not alleviate sinuous growth in Douglas-fir seedlings, it did lead to higher growth, foliar biomass, and membrane-associated Ca. FOR. SCI. 53(6):692-700.


Download this file:

PDF document Download this file — PDF document, 47Kb

Details

Section: Fertilization and Nutrition

* This publication is copyrighted.