Increasing nitrogen availability and soil temperature: effects on xylem phenology and anatomy of mature black spruce1This article is one of a selection of papers from the 7th International Conference on Disturbance Dynamics in Boreal Forests.

Abstract

Since plant growth in the boreal forest is often considered to be limited by low temperatures and low N availability and these variables are projected to increase due to climate warming and increased anthropogenic activities, it is important to understand whether and to what extent these disturbances may affect the growth of boreal trees. In this study, the hypotheses that wood phenology and anatomy were affected by increased soil temperatures and N depositions have been tested in two mature black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands at different altitudes in Quebec, Canada. For 3 years, soil temperature was increased by 4 °C during the first part of the growing season and precipitations containing three times the current N concentration were added in the field by frequent canopy applications. Soil warming resulted in earlier onsets of xylogenesis and interacted with N addition producing longer durations of xylogenesis for the treated trees. The effect of warming was especially marked in the phenology of roots, while wood production, in terms of number of tracheids, was not affected by the treatment. Xylem anatomy and soil and needle chemistry showed no effect of the treatments, except for an increase of cell wall thickness in earlywood of treated trees. This short-term experiment with black spruce suggested that previous fertilization studies that used large and unrealistic rates of N addition may have overestimated the impact of N depositions on boreal forest productivity.