Warming effect on growth and physiology of seedlings
of Betula albo-sinensis and Abies faxoniana under two contrasting light
conditions in subalpine coniferous forests of western Sichuan, China

doi:10.1007/s11461-009-0046-y

Front. For. China

0, Vol.

Issue () : 432-442 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11461-009-0046-y

Research articles

Warming effect on growth and physiology of seedlings of Betula albo-sinensis and Abies faxoniana under two contrasting light conditions in subalpine coniferous forests of western Sichuan, China

Huajun YIN¹,Ting LAI¹,Xinying CHENG¹,Qing LIU¹,Xianmin JIANG²,

1.Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China; 2.West Sichuan Forestry Bureau of Aba Tibetan and the Qiang People Autonomous Prefecture, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan 623102, China;

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Abstract The subalpine coniferous forests on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau provide a natural laboratory for studying the effect of climate warming on terrestrial ecosystems. Research on differences between tree species in their responses to experimental warming can provide insights into their regeneration behavior and community composition under a future warmer climate. We used open-top chamber (OTC) to determine the short-term effect of two levels of air temperature (ambient and warmed) and light (full light and ca. 10% of full-light regimes) on the early growth and physiology of Betula albo-sinensis and Abies faxoniana seedlings. The OTC manipulation increased mean air temperature and soil surface temperature by 0.51 and 0.34°C, respectively, in a 60-year-old plantation and 0.69 and 0.41°C in forest openings, respectively. Warming generally increased plant growth, biomass accumulation, and advanced physiological processes for seedlings of both species. In response to warming,both tree species allocated relatively more biomass to foliage and had significantly decreased root/shoot ratios (R/S), which might provide the two species with an adaptive advantage when other environmental factors were not limiting. Warming may enhance photosynthesis in the two seedlings by increasing efficiency of PSII in terms of increases in F_v/F_m, photosynthetic pigment concentrations, and apparent quantum yield (Φ). However, the effects of warming on seedling growth and physiological performance varied by light conditions and species. For B. albo-sinensis seedlings, the effects of warming were pronounced only under full-light conditions, while the growth and physiological responses of A. faxoniana seedlings to warming were found only under low-light conditions. Competitive and adaptive relationships between the two species may be altered as a result of response differences to warming manipulation. The short-term beneficial impact of warming on the early growth and development of the two species suggests that global warming may lead to changes in regeneration dynamics and species composition in subalpine coniferous forest ecosystems.

Keywords Betula albo-sinensis Abies faxoniana global warming subalpine coniferous forest

Issue Date: 05 December 2009

Cite this article:

Huajun YIN,Ting LAI,Xinying CHENG, et al. Warming effect on growth and physiology of seedlings of Betula albo-sinensis and Abies faxoniana under two contrasting light conditions in subalpine coniferous forests of western Sichuan, China[J]. Front. For. China, 0, (): 432-442.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/ffc/EN/10.1007/s11461-009-0046-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/ffc/EN/Y0/V/I/432

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