Intra-annual dynamics of height growth of Norway spruce in Latvia
¹Latvian State Forest Institute ‘Silava’, Rigas 111, LV 2169 Salaspils, Latvia
²Latvia University of Agriculture, Forest Faculty, Akademijas 11, LV 3001 Jelgava, Latvia
*Correspondence: una.neimane@silava.lv
Abstract:
Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is a tree species with the highest economic importance in northern Europe. Therefore, it is important to improve knowledge of the potential effects of climatic changes on the growth of this tree species. An essential part of the information is the tree’s intra-annual growth cycle. There are comprehensive studies describing the formation of radial increments of coniferous trees; however, information on height growth in hemiboreal forests is scarce. The aim of our study was to characterize the intra-annual height growth of Norway spruce in Latvia. The data was collected from two Norway spruce trials located in in former arable and forest land in the central part of Latvia, including 89 and 68 open-pollinated families (respectively) of plus-trees. Weekly height increment measurements of 20 trees per family were carried out during the 9th growing season. Growth intensity culminated in 10 ± 0.2 mm day-1, following similar trend, but resulting consistently in significantly different values between the trials; the higher growth intensity was observed in higher trees and families, which also showed higher frequency of lammas shoots, boosting their height superiority even further. Significant family effect on all coefficients of shoot elongation curves, described by Gompertz model, was found. Both tree height and height increment at family mean level was strongly correlated with the asymptote parameter (rfam = 0.93, P<0.01) and the growth rate parameter (rfam = -0.70, P<0.01).
Key words:
growth intensity, height growth, open-pollinated family., Picea abies (L.) Karst, shoot elongation