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The influence of alkaline and non-alkaline parent material on Norway spruce tree chemical composition and growth rate

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Abstract

Background and aims

This study investigated the influence of contrasting parent materials on tree chemical composition and growth rate under field conditions. On the island of Alnö, Sweden, alkaline intrusions are interspersed into non-alkaline gneiss bedrock, which provides a unique opportunity to conduct this study with a minimum of confounding effects.

Methods

Three plots with alkaline and three plots with non-alkaline parent material were established in a homogenous Norway spruce stand. The chemical composition of soil and soil solution was determined throughout the soil profiles. The chemical composition of bark, wood and needles was determined for each plot, and the latest 5 year basal area growth increment calculated.

Results

Concentrations of Ca in needles were correlated with the soil exchangeable Ca levels. Tree growth rate was significantly higher on the alkaline plots and positively correlated with soil concentrations of Ca, Mg, P, and Zn. The tree growth rate also tended to correlate with soil N concentrations, but levelled out for the highest soil N concentrations.

Conclusions

Tree growth was enhanced on the alkaline plots and was correlated with several elements. However, none of these elements could be confirmed as the limiting one for tree growth at the current site.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS). S.J.M. Holmström and L. Wiklund are thanked for laboratory work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Science and Design, Mid Sweden University, 851 70, Sundsvall, Sweden

    Jenny L. K. Vestin, Dan Bylund, Kei Nambu & Ulla S. Lundström

  2. Swedish Geotechnical Institute, Universitetsallén 32, 851 71, Sundsvall, Sweden

    Jenny L. K. Vestin

  3. Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Ulf Söderberg

  4. Eurofins Environment AB, Box 737, 531 17, Lidköping, Sweden

    Patrick A. W. van Hees

  5. Health and Environment Department, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 3430, Tulln, Austria

    Edith Haslinger

  6. Institute of Applied Geology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, 1190, Vienna, Austria

    Franz Ottner

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  1. Jenny L. K. Vestin
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  2. Ulf Söderberg
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  3. Dan Bylund
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  4. Kei Nambu
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  5. Patrick A. W. van Hees
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  7. Franz Ottner
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  8. Ulla S. Lundström
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dan Bylund.

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Responsible Editor: Philip John White.

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Vestin, J.L.K., Söderberg, U., Bylund, D. et al. The influence of alkaline and non-alkaline parent material on Norway spruce tree chemical composition and growth rate. Plant Soil 370, 103–113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1615-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1615-2

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