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Effects of N addition rates on the productivity ofPicea Sitchensis,Thuja plicata, andTsuga heterophylla seedlings

II. Photosynthesis, 13C discrimination and N partitioning in foliage

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Abstract

The effects of differing, exponentially increasing rates of N addition (0.025, 0.05, 0.07 and 0.09 gN gN-1day-1) on photosynthesis, discrimination against13C and partitioning of foliar N to chlorophyll and major photosynthetic proteins were compared in seedlings of the evergreen conifersPicea sitchensis, Thuja plicata andTsuga heterophylla. T. heterophylla had the lowest range of foliar N concentrations (Nlm). Across species, photosynthetic rates (A) increased linearly with Nlm to a maximum at 21 mg g-1 and declined at higher Nlms. Species differences inA resulted from differences in Nlm, not from differences in photosynthetic N use efficiency. Self-shading may have causedA to decline at a high Nlm inP. sitchensis andT. plicata. Measurements of gas exchange and δ13C suggested that carboxylation capacity increased more than did stomatal conductance as Nlm increased. The responses were small and confined to Nlms associated with the lesser rates of N addition. Concentrations of total protein, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RUBISCO) and the light harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex (LHC) increased with Nlm, but the fraction of foliar N allocated to RUBISCO and LHC increased with Nlm only inP. sitchensis and only between the 0.025 and 0.05N regimes. The responsiveness ofA and concentrations of RUBISCO to Nlm were less than reported for deciduous C3 species.

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  1. K. R. Brown

    Present address: British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Glyn Road Research Station, 1320 Glyn Road, BC V8W 3E8, Victoria, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, BC V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, Canada

    K. R. Brown, W. A. Thompson, E. L. Camm & R. D. Guy

  2. Department of Biology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700, BC V8W 2Y2, Victoria, Canada

    B. J. Hawkins

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Brown, K.R., Thompson, W.A., Camm, E.L. et al. Effects of N addition rates on the productivity ofPicea Sitchensis,Thuja plicata, andTsuga heterophylla seedlings. Trees 10, 198–205 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02340772

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