Pacific Northwest Research Station

Title: Hydraulic architecture and photosynthetic capacity as constraints on release from suppression in Douglas-fir and western hemlock.

Author: Renninger H.J.; Meinzer F.C.; Gartner, B.L.

Date: 2006

Source: Tree Physiology. 27: 33–42

Description: We compared hydraulic architecture, photosynthesis, and growth in Douglas-fir with that of a shade-tolerant western hemlock. The study was conducted in a site that had been thinned to release suppressed trees, and one that remained unthinned. Release seemed to be constrained initially by photosynthetic capacity in both species. After released trees increased their photosynthetic capacity, hydraulic architecture appeared to constrain further release from suppression in Douglas-fir, and to a lesser extent, western hemlock. There were no significant differences between the above-ground leaf-specific conductivities of suppressed versus released trees of either species, but leaf-specific root conductance was significantly lower in released Douglas-fir.

Keywords: advance regeneration, carbon isotope ratios, leaf-specific conductivity, root conductance, nitrogen content

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Citation

Renninger H.J.; Meinzer F.C.; Gartner, B.L.  2006.  Hydraulic architecture and photosynthetic capacity as constraints on release from suppression in Douglas-fir and western hemlock..   Tree Physiology. 27: 33–42