Pinus Pumila Research Articles

ОСОБЕННОСТИ СЕЗОННОГО РАЗВИТИЯ ХВОЙНЫХ ИНТРОДУЦЕНТОВ В ДЕНДРАРИИ ВГЛТУ

The state and seasonal development of coniferous introducers in the arboretum of VGLTU was studied. Increased anthropogenic pressure on the territory of the arboretum, changes the age state of the collection, outbreaks of activity of diseases and pests of woody plants occur. In this regard, it is important to monitor the state of the plants of the collection, which includes measuring the morphometric parameters of plants, establishing the level of variation of characters, studying the seasonal growth and development of introducents. Differences in the occurrence of phenophases in different species are associated with biological characteristics and weather conditions of the year of observation. For forest-steppe zone Picea glehnii (Fr. Schmidt) Mast. begins and ends the growing season later compared to Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel. and Abies holophylla Maxim. Seasonal shoot growth is consistent with breed biology. The regularities of individual phenotypic variability of the vegetative sphere are revealed. The most stable is the variation of characters in Picea glehnii (Fr. Schmidt) Mast. (C.V. = 6.5 - 22%). The variability of characters in Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel. from medium to high level (C.V. = 14.6-21%). At an average - high level, the parameters of Abies holophylla Maxim change. (C.V. = 14-36%). Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel. and Abies holophylla Maxim. are more sensitive to environmental factors in the conditions of the arboretum, this is manifested in an increase in the variation of the signs of the vegetative sphere.

Structure of the hybrid zone between Siberian stone pine and Siberian dwarf pine

Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica) and Siberian dwarf pine (P. pumila) are widespread in northern Asiafive-needle pines from subgenus Strobus. The natural hybridization occurs in many regions where the species growtogether. Traditional hybrid zone model was considered in the paper and, based on the accumulated data, it is determinedwhich one corresponds to the hybrid zone of Siberian stone pine and Siberian dwarf pine. The paper presents argumentsin favor of the mosaic model.

기후변화에 따른 멸종위기 침엽수종 분포 변화 예측

The objective of this study was to predict the potential distribution change for vulnerable and endangered tree species (Picea jezoensis, Abies koreana, Abies nephrolepis, and Pinus pumila) under climate change. To this end, HyTAG (Hydrological and Thermal Analogy Groups), the Korea-specific forest cover distribution model based on hydrological and thermal indices, was used to predict the potential spatio-temporal distribution changes in tree species. As a result, the optimal habitat of vulnerable and endangered tree species (Picea jezoensis, Abies koreana, Abies nephrolepis, and Pinus pumila) under the potential impact of climate change is expected to shrink rapidly and is going to appear only in Gangwon Province in the future. Also, comparing the distribution range of tree species, Picea jezoensis has the largest distribution range compared to the other tree species. On the other hand, the optimal habitat of Pinus pumila is the smallest. This means that physical environment for Pinus pumila tends to be rapidly reduced. These results show that these tree species are facing a great risk due to climate change, and this is expected to be an important input or tool for decision-making with respect to establishing management and conservation measures to reduce the negative impact of climate change.

Differences in tree and shrub growth responses to climate change in a boreal forest in China

Global climate change has led to rising temperatures and drought in boreal forests in Northeast China. In some areas, shrubs and trees coexist in high altitude and high latitude areas, and their differences with global warming may lead to significant changes in vegetation composition and distribution. Therefore, we compared the relationships between climate and growth for the most widely distributed dwarf shrub (Pinus pumila) and the two dominant tree species (Larix gmelinii and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) in boreal forests in the Daxing’an Mountains, China. A total of 340 tree-ring cores from 172 trees and 64 discs from shrubs were collected from four sites and compared the responses of shrub and tree growth to climate patterns using dendrochronological methods. The shrub and two tree species responded differently to interannual climate variance. The negative effect of growing season temperature was greater on growth of L.gmelinii and P. sylvestrisvar.mongolica than on P. pumila, and the promoting effect of winter and spring precipitation was greatest on P. pumila. Compared with the two tree species, P. pumila had a higher temperature threshold and grew over a shorter growing season. Our findings suggested that L. gmelinii and P. sylvestrisvar.mongolica are more susceptible to global warming than the shrubs that coexist with them. However, P.pumila should be studied from an individual perspective in the future due to the dwarf morphology of shrubs and their complex microenvironment.

Cones structure and seed traits of four species of large-seeded pines: Adaptation to animal-mediated dispersal.

Seed dispersal selection pressures may cause morphological differences in cone structure and seed traits of large‐seeded pine trees. We investigated the cone, seed, and scale traits of four species of animal‐dispersed pine trees to explore the adaptations of morphological structures to different dispersers. The four focal pines analyzed in this study were Chinese white pine (Pinus armandi), Korean pine (P. koraiensis), Siberian dwarf pine (P. pumila), and Dabieshan white pine (P. dabeshanensis). There are significant differences in the traits of the cones and seeds of these four animal‐dispersed pines. The scales of Korean pine and Siberian dwarf pine are somewhat opened after cone maturity, the seeds are closely combined with scales, and the seed coat and scales are thick. The cones of Chinese white pine and Dabieshan white pine are open after ripening, the seeds fall easily from the cones, and the seed coat and seed scales are relatively thin. The results showed that the cone structure of Chinese white pine is similar to that of Dabieshan white pine, whereas Korean pine and Siberian dwarf pine are significantly different from the other two pines and vary significantly from each other. This suggests that species with similar seed dispersal strategies exhibit similar morphological adaptions. Accordingly, we predicted three possible seed dispersal paradigms for animal‐dispersed pines: the first, as represented by Chinese white pine and Dabieshan white pine, relies upon small forest rodents for seed dispersal; the second, represented by Korean pine, relies primarily on birds and squirrels to disperse the seeds; and the third, represented by Siberian dwarf pine, relies primarily on birds for seed dispersal. Our study highlights the significance of animal seed dispersal in shaping cone morphology, and our predictions provide a theoretical framework for research investigating the coevolution of large‐seeded pines and their seed dispersers.

Environmental changes in the eastern Arctic 1.6975-1.965 Ma, palynological investigations from El’gygytgyn Lake, northeastern Russia

The 1.6975–1.965 Ma (MIS 60–MIS 74) portion of the El'gygytgyn Lake record includes two key chronostratigraphic markers in the Calabrian–Gelasian boundary (1.806 Ma) and the Olduvai paleomagnetic excursion (1.77–1.95 Ma). It also provides the first paleovegetation information for these times from the eastern Arctic. Palynological data indicate the dominance of Larix forest and forest-tundra during warm and cool intervals, which differs sharply from the herb tundra which characterized glacial intervals of the Middle and Late Pleistocene. These forests likely included tree species of Betula and Alnus and perhaps Populus and Chosenia. The persistence of Larix indicates summer temperatures were warmer than present. Pinus pumila, a typical interglacial taxon, is restricted to MIS 65 and MIS 71, suggesting other intervals experienced dry winters. Cool and warm periods are clearly marked by vegetation changes during the Late Gelasian Stage, but a dominance of Poaceae pollen and reduction in Alnus pollen during the Early Calabrian Stage mutes the climatic fluctuations. The loss of Alnus perhaps relates to decreases in seasonal temperatures.

Transitional Objects in Hierarchical Classifications, Regionalizations and Periodizations in Geography and Ecology

Contrary to a widely held view of transitional (intermediate) objects as being “noise” in a research process, the idea that transitional objects are essential elements of classifications, regionalizations, periodizations and other structural schemes is substantiated. The methodological basis for these propositions is provided by the concepts of descriptive and fuzzy sets and its underlying multi-valued (fuzzy) logic. It is shown that there are several variants for the representation of transitional classes, regions and periods, and some of them allow avoiding “fragmentation” and an excessive increase in the number of transitional elements. It is emphasized that any variants of representation of transitional classes, regions or periods are only the formal (methodological) techniques which serve as a tool that allows more appropriately reflecting the structure of a single object or a set of objects. It is this principle that should determine selection of a particular variant of separation of transitional elements in structural schemes. It is noted that the concepts of the transitional class and the structure of the class lie at the intersection of classification and ordination approaches and allow developing ordination-classification schemes that combine the features of hierarchical classification and ordination. The concepts of transitional elements allowed suggesting new solutions to a number of problems. Communities of dwarf pine (Pinus pumila) are referred to a special class of formations: “hypoarctic krummholz”. Three separate class formations of open woodland communities (woodlandtundra, woodland-meadow and woodland-bog) are identified. Macrocomplexes that include the mountain tundra, subgoletz (subalpine) and, partially, boreal-forest belts of vegetation were referred to a separate goletz (alpine) boreal-forest class. For the subgoletz belt, on the one hand, its independence as the belt of rank II, and, on the other, its transitional nature between goletz and boreal-forest belts of rank I are confirmed. Such solutions allow representing not only the transitional nature of the objects in question but also their uniqueness at a certain taxonomic level.

Vegetation cover of the North of the Koryak Region (Kamchatsky Krai) and its geobotanical subdivision

«Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Науки о Земле» — научно-теоретический рецензируемый журнал, обобщающий результаты исследований в области геологии, гидрогеологии и геохимии, петрологии и экологии, ландшафтного планирования и геоморфологии, экономической и социальной географии.

Comparative study of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel needles essential oils from Baikal and Yakut populations

Comparative study of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel needles essential oils from Baikal and Yakut populations

Features of the growth of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel communities in the Olekmo-Charsky highlands of Yakutia

Features of the growth of Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel communities in the Olekmo-Charsky highlands of Yakutia

Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in ice-age relict forests of Pinus pumila on nine mountains correspond to summer temperature.

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are critical symbionts of major forest trees, and their communities are affected by various environmental factors including temperature. However, previous knowledge concerning temperature effects does not exclude the effects of host species and coexisting plants, which usually change with temperature, and should be rigorously tested under the same vegetation type. Herein we examined ECM fungal communities in ice-age relict forests dominated by a single host species (Pinus pumila) distributed on nine mountains across >1000 km in Japan. Direct sequencing of rDNA ITS regions identified 154 ECM fungal species from 4134 ECM root-tip samples. Gradient analyses revealed a large contribution of temperature, especially summer temperature, to ECM fungal communities. Additionally, we explored global sequence records of each fungal species to infer its potential temperature niche, and used it to estimate the temperature of the observed communities. The estimated temperature was significantly correlated with the actual temperature of the research sites, especially in summer seasons, indicating inherent temperature niches of the fungal components could determine their distribution among the sites. These results indicate that temperature is still a significant determinant in structuring ECM fungal communities after excluding the effects of host species and coexisting plants. The results also imply that the rising temperature under global warming may have been affecting soil microbes unnoticeably, while such microbial community change may have been contributing to the resilience of the same vegetation.

Environmental changes in Arctic Chukotka during Marine Isotope Stages 38‐31: implications for the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition

Lake El'gygytgyn in far northeastern Russia provides one of the few records that can improve understanding of terrestrial responses to climatic changes during the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition (EMPT; 1400–400 ka). Palynological data from MIS 38‐31 (~1260 to 1060 ka) help clarify the complex nature of that transition. In contrast to the evergreen conifer forest of the MIS 31 ‘super’ interglaciation, Larix‐Betula‐Alnus forest with shrub tundra characterized MIS 37 and MIS 35. The Larix forest‐tundra of MIS 33 represents an even cooler interglaciation. The landscapes of MIS 38, MIS 36 and early MIS 34 were a tundra mosaic with areas of Larix‐forest tundra. Although marine records suggest that MIS 38 and MIS 36 were exceptionally harsh glaciations, the decrease in woody taxa (particularly Alnus and Pinus) indicate the coolest conditions at El'gygytgyn occurred during MIS 32 and late MIS 34. When combined with other palynological data from El'gygytgyn, the EMPT portion of the record indicates that Betula was important in the vegetation during both cool and warm periods prior to MIS 24. Following the build‐up of global ice volumes ~900 ka, the taxon was characteristic of warm intervals only, marking the establishment of the herb‐dominated tundra, which typifies the remainder of the Pleistocene glaciations. The more complex successional patterns in post‐900 ka vegetation suggest greater climate variability as ice volume increased. Pinus pumila became a significant component of interglacial vegetation following the shift from a 41 ka to a quasi‐100 ka orbital cycle, indicating an increase in snow cover and a lessening of aridification, at least in this part of the Arctic.

Distinctive features of heavy metals’ accumulation in coniferous trees in Buryatia, Russia

Coniferous plants are very sensitive to atmospheric pollutants and frequently are used as environment pollution bioindicators. The purpose of this study was to define features of heavy metals (HM) accumulation by conifer needles from forest-forming tree species growing in Buryatia: Pinus sylvestris, Pinus pumila, Pinus sibirica, Picea obovata, Abies sibirica. The samples elements content was determined by ICP AES method after acid decomposition in microwave system MARS 6. HM accumulation rows showed similar trends for different tree species. The maximum content was determined for manganese in all needles samples, except Pinus sylvestris, growing around Ulan-Ude. It is shown that there is a difference in HM accumulation between conifer species due to their biological features. The variation coefficient of heavy metals in conifer needles were calculated, Zn, Ni, Hg exposed highest level of variation. Industrial pollution caused the significant changes in the needles elemental composition – it is observed the growth of Fe, Zn and lowering of Mn content in Pinus sylvestris needles growing around Ulan-Ude. The accumulation of HM by conifer needles growing in Buryatia was higher than the average terrestrial vegetation element contents that might be related with the forest fires.

Multiproxy record of late Holocene climatic changes and natural hazards from paleolake deposits of Urup Island (Kuril Islands, North-Western Pacific)

The evolution of the late Holocene environments has been reconstructed on the basis of multiproxy studies of peat sequences. The vegetation response to short-period climate fluctuations has been traced. Early in the late Holocene there were birch forests with oak and other broadleaf trees; vast areas were occupied by forb meadows. Under cooling (3250 yr BP) the shrub pine (Pinus pumila) became the landscape-forming species, and since 2490 yr BP Selaginella selaginoides appeared in abundance. The Little Ice Age was marked by the disappearance of broadleaf trees and widely spread heath land communities. The higher stands of the lake level were related to warmings (3660–3590; 3450–3180; 2960–2840; 2410–2260 cal yr BP). Shallowing coincided with short-term coolings (3590–3450; 3180–2960; 2840–2410; 2260–2150 cal yr BP) marked by reduced precipitations. The dune ridge formation began during the longest cooling accompanied by a minor regression. The dunes were stabilized and a paleosol developed ~2340–2260 yr BP. A younger generation of eolian sands developed during the Little Ice Age. An ecological effect of volcanic ashfalls has been estimated. The local biotic components seem to have been most afflicted by the eruption in the north of Iturup in ~2100–2300 cal yr BP, when CKr tephra up to 30 cm thick was deposited. The ages of 4 strongest tsunamis that occurred over the last 3660 years were determined. They appeared to be related to the earthquakes with focuses close to Urup Island or south of it. The lake microflora shows ecological effect of the marine water invasions.

PECULIARITIES AND METHODS OF SEED PROPAGATION OF DWARF SIBERIAN PINE (PINUS PUMILA(PALL.) REGEL, PINACEAE) AT SAINT-PETERSBURG

The Dwarf Siberian Pine ( Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel) is being grown at Peter the Great Botanic Garden of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS at Saint-Petersburg (Russia) since the beginning of the XIX century, and it is here it was firstly introduced into general cultivation. This is highly decorative evergreen conifer, suitable both for singular and group planting and promising for alpine gardens. It is winter hardy and stands the climate of North-West Russia well. As a result of experiments of seed propagation the new method of growing this species from seeds has been elaborated with usage of the seed germination regulators without long stratification. The use of new regulators of seed germination allows to simplify the well-known methods of growing the Dwarf Siberian Pine from seeds and to enlarge the ratio and the quality of the plants grown.

Responses of photochemical efficiency and shoot growth of alpine dwarf-pine Pinus pumila to experimental warming, shading, and defoliation in Japan

Global warming accelerates shrub expansion in high-latitude and high-elevation ecosystems. Over the last several decades, alpine dwarf-pine Pinus pumila has expanded its range in northern Japan because of enhanced shoot growth under warm climatic conditions. In alpine regions, local environmental conditions and the length of the growing season, vary depending on the topography, elevation, and snowmelt time. This leads to spatially varying shoot performances that are co-affected by climatic change. We applied a warming, shading, and defoliation treatment to assess how temperature and carbon relations in interaction with habitat type (elevation and snowmelt time) affect shoot growth and photochemical efficiency of needles in this species. Photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) was maximized during peak growth in the middle of growing season (mid-July–mid-August), and it increased in the shading and warming treatments especially in the early and late season. Shoot growth increased only in the warming treatment, and was not affected by shading and defoliation. These results indicate that shoot growth of alpine dwarf-pine is limited by low temperature, but not by carbon assimilation, i.e., growth is sink- rather than source-limited. Furthermore, the seasonal trend of photochemical efficiency shifted to the late season at higher elevations, and the recovery time of photochemical efficiency took longer in the late-snowmelt habitat, where the growing season was short. Therefore, warmer summers and longer snow-free periods are likely to enhance the growth and areal expansion of alpine dwarf-pine at the expense of the adjacent, species-rich, low-stature alpine plant communities.

Кедровый стланик (<i>Pinus pumila</i> (Pall.) Regel, <i>Pinaceae</i>) – история изучения, современное состояние в ботанических садах Санкт-Петербурга и перспективы его использования в озеленении на Северо-Западе России

Кедровый стланик (<i>Pinus pumila</i> (Pall.) Regel, <i>Pinaceae</i>) – история изучения, современное состояние в ботанических садах Санкт-Петербурга и перспективы его использования в озеленении на Северо-Западе России

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Pinus pumila (Pinaceae)

Pinus pumila is a rare and endangered conifer plant in the family Pinaceae. Here, we determined the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of P. pumila. The cpDNA was 117,398 bp in length, containing a pair of 475 bp inverted repeat regions (IR), which was divided into large single copy region (LSC) and small single copy region (SSC) with 64,606 and 51,842 bp in length, respectively. The GC content in cpDNA, LSC region, SSC region and IR region were 38.8%, 38.0%, 39.8% and 37.9%, respectively. The cpDNA contained 114 genes, including 74 protein-coding genes (CDS), 36 transfer RNA genes (tRNA) and 4 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA). A phylogenetic analysis revealed that P. pumila is more closely related with congeneric P. fenzeliana var. dabeshanensis and P. sibirica.

The underbrush formation peculiarities of dwarf pine (Pinus pumila) in the forests of northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk

The underbrush formation peculiarities of dwarf pine (Pinus pumila) in the forests of northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk

Wood-decaying Basidiomycetes Associated with Dwarf Siberian Pine in Northeast Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula

Wood-decaying Basidiomycetes Associated with Dwarf Siberian Pine in Northeast Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula