Pigment analysis and spectral assessment of spruce trees undergoing forest decline in the NE United States and Germany

Abstract

Measurement of photosynthetic pigments as ground truth for remotely sensed spectra of boreal communities was tested. Chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations and ratios were obtained from needles of spruce trees which were healthy as well as those undergoing forest decline (Waldsterben) in Vermont (USA) and Baden-Wurttemberg (FR Germany). In needles of trees exhibiting forest decline symptoms, chlorophyll pigment concentrations were lower, chlorophyll b levels decreased relative to chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll (a + b) was less relative to total carotenoid, and percent of reflectance in the visible range was higher. Pigment and reflectance data differentiated between needles from healthy and declining sites. These results were compared to remotely sensed spectral data obtained by aircraft and satelitee. As a result of these initial comparisons, it appears that using photosynthetic pigments as ground truth for remotely sensed spectral data may be of value in developing techniques for differentiating undamaged and damaged tree canopies on a large spatial scale. Finally, similar pigment and reflectance properties characterized healthy and declining communities in both Vermont and Baden-Wurttemberg.