Effect of Experimental Warming on Physiological and Growth Responses of Larix kaempferi Seedlings

Abstract

Seedling stage is particularly important for tree survival and is easily influenced by warming. Therefore, air temperature being increased due to climate change may affect physiological traits and growth of seedlings. This study was conducted to investigate the physiological and growth responses of Larix kaempferi seedlings to open-field experimental warming. 1-year-old and 2-year-old L. kaempferi seedlings were warmed with infrared lamps since April 2015 and April 2014, respectively. The seedlings in the warmed plots were warmed to maintain the air temperature to be 3℃ higher than that of the control plots. Physiological responses (stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, net photosynthetic rate and total chlorophyll content) and growth responses (root collar diameter (RCD), height and biomass) to experimental warming were measured. Physiological and growth responses varied with the seedling ages. For 2-year-old L. kaempferi seedlings, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and net photosynthetic rate decreased following the warming treatment, whereas there were no changes for 1-year-old L. kaempferi seedlings. Meanwhile, total chlorophyll content was higher in warmed plots regardless of the seedling ages. Net photosynthetic rate linked with stomatal conductance also decreased due to the drought stress and decrease of photosynthetic efficiency. In response to warming, RCD, height and biomass did not show significant differences between the treatments. It seems that the growth responses were not affected as much as physiological responses were, since the physiological responses were not consistent, nor the warming treatment period was enough to have significant results. In addition, multifactorial experiments considering the impact of decreased soil moisture resulting from elevated temperatures is needed to explicate the impacts of a wide range of possible climate change scenarios.