Histological examination of spruce needles from a long-term gas exchange experiment in pure and polluted air in the field

Summary

At the end of a 4-year period of gas exchange measurements in a natural stand in the Lower Bavarian Forest, needles of an adult spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] were harvested from two chambers, one with pure air and the other with ambient air. The needles were examined as to their histological properties in the stomatal apparatus and in the bundle sheath. In needles from the polluted air UV absorbance at 280 nm was decreased in the walls of the stomatal apparatus. Simultaneously, the deposition of compounds with an absorption maximum at 310 nm increased within the encrusted plate-like thickenings of the subsidiary cells. The contents of the lumina of hypodermal cells and of the bundle sheath exhibited a greater degree of autofluorescence in ambient-air material than in pure-air leaf organs. Differences between needles exposed to pure and polluted air are gradual. The “damaged” condition is rare in pure air, common in polluted air. The needles from outside the chambers occupied an intermediate position between pure-air and ambient-air needles. This fact is traced to an unnaturally high pollutant load in the liquid phase of the needle surfaces within the ambient-air chamber because in order to compensate pollutant losses within the system, SO₂ and O₃ were added even during periods of irrigation. The reduction of absorption capacity at 280 nm in the walls of the stomatal apparatus is attributed to destruction of lignin due to the high reactivity of the pollutants in the liquid phase on the damp needle surface. The importance of delignification with regard to hydroregulation is discussed.