Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-42). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

The effectiveness of countermeasures (pheromone traps or trap trees) and its combination in reliance with either spring or summer generation of spruce bark beetle in areas with differentiated calamitous base were surveyed in the summer of 2012--2014 in the district of Krasov, Forest Management of the town Albrechtice. During the spring swarm the combination with equal number of each countermeasure (50 TT /50 PT) seemed to be the most effective. In the summer swarm, the ratio with dominant number of trap trees (75 TT /25 PT) was more effective, closely followed by the ratio with dominant number of pheromone traps (25 TT /75 PT).

This work intends to describe the present condition of Vallombrosa forest (Tuscany, Italy) from the phytopathological point of view. The chronic disease caused by Heterobasidion and Armillaria root rots is a key factor affecting the vitality of silver fir plantations of the region. Detailed knowledge about their distribution could help to control the pathogens. Systematic sampling and survey of damages on trees were undertaken at 52 points. Identification of different species from soil and fungal samples was accomplished by DNA-based methods (TSCP, nested PCR, RFLPs analysis). The high presence of both parasitic fungi was detected under a wide range of ecological conditions. Data analysis indicates the strong spreading potential of the pathogens even into new habitats, especially in connection with water stress of their hosts.

Markberedning är vanligt förekommande när återbeskogning skall ske efter en avverkning. Vilken metod som väljs styrs av olika faktorer som t ex markfuktighet, humuslagrets tjocklek och mineraljordlagrets djup. I detta arbete studeras ett försök vid SLU: s försökspark i Siljansfors, ca 20 km SV om Mora. Studien omfattar två olika försöksytor, Sf 284 och Sf 287, planterade med gran (Picea abies) år 2004 respektive 2007. Ståndorten är en moränmark, markfuktighetsklassen är frisk och vegetationstypen är blåbär- och lingontyp och är belägen cirka 210 m.ö.h.  Syftet med denna studie är att utvärdera och jämföra tre olika markberedningsmetoder med avseende på överlevnad och höjdtillväxt hos granplantor (Picea abies) under de första åren efter plantering. Vid plantering utan markberedning och utan kemiskt behandlade plantor är risken för en hög avgång på grund av skador orsakade av snytbagge (Hylobius abietis L.) stor de första åren. De markberedningsmetoder som jämfördes var högläggning, fläckmarkberedning och inversmetoden. Dessa tre metoder jämfördes inbördes samt mot att inte markbereda alls. I det totala samlade plantmaterialet var hälften kemiskt behandlat mot snytbagge. Fördelningen kemiskt behandlat och obehandlat plantmaterial var jämt fördelat i alla försök och upprepningar. I studien ingick också en utvärdering av den så kallade ”kanteffekten”, dvs. effekten av att plantorna sattes närmare än, respektive längre än 10 cm från kanten av den anlagda markberedningsytan. I juli 2009 mättes planthöjd och överlevnad på försöksytorna. Resultatet presenteras som medelvärden i form av stapeldiagram. Överlevnadsgraden höjdes med hjälp av markberedning, permetrinbehandling och val av planteringspunkt i förhållande till humuskant.  Det var framför allt högläggning och inversmarkberedning som gynnade plantornas höjdtillväxt. / Soil preparation is common when reforestation occurs after harvesting. Which method is chosen is governed by various factors such as soil moisture, humus layer thickness and depth of mineral soil. An experiment was made at SLU's experimental park in Siljansfors, about 20 km SW about Mora. The study comprises two different experimental areas, Sf 284 and Sf 287, where Picea abies was planted in 2004 and 2007 respectively. The soil is a moraine, the soil moisture class is fresh and the vegetation type is blueberry and lingonberry type. The site is located approximately 210 m above sea level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare three different soil preparation methods regarding to survival and height growth of Picea abies during the first years after planting. In the case of planting without soil preparation and without chemically treated plants, the risk of a high mortality due to the damage caused by pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) is high during the first years. The soil preparation methods that were compared were mounding, patch scarification and the inverse method. These three methods were compared to each other as well as to no soil preparation at all. In the total aggregate plant material, half were chemically treated against pine weevil. The distribution of chemically treated and untreated plant material was evenly distributed throughout all trials and repeats. The study also included an evaluation of the so-called "edge effect", i.e. the effect of placing the plants closer than, respectively, longer than 10 cm from the edge of the scarified patch. In July 2009, plant height and survival were measured in the experimental areas. The result is presented as averages in the form of bar charts. The survival rate was increased by soil preparation, permetrin treatment and selection of planting point relative to humus edge. It was above all mounding and inverse soil preparation that favored the height of the plants.

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) are the most abundant deciduous and coniferous tree species in the Czech Republic. Both beech and spruce are due to their sensitivity to drought threatened by ongoing climate change that can cause deterioration of their vitality in current habitats. Drought periods are already becoming longer and stronger and previously rare spring droughts become more frequent. The dissertation thesis is based on experiments with Norway spruce and European beech seedling exposed to different levels of drought (well-watered, moderate drought and severe drought). After three to six weeks of drought, the seedlings were well-watered for another two weeks and their response of physiology, anatomy and morphology was evaluated. Experiments were conducted with seedlings at early stage of leaf development and with fully developer leaves to compare response to spring and summer drought. Overall drought response was stronger in spring. Both spring and summer drought reduced gas exchange parameters (in both beech and spruce seedlings up to 100 %), hydraulic conductivity and less strongly also fluorometric parameters. Efficiency of water use in stressed seedlings decreased in spring, while it increased in summer. Shoot and leaves biomass was more reduced by drought than root biomass. Tree-ring width decreased about two times more in beech seedlings than in spruce seedlings. Vessel and tracheids in stem and shoots reduced their number and size, on the contrary, vessel size increased in beech petioles. After rewatering the reduced parameters increased, however, hydraulic conductivity, anatomy and morphology did not reach values of well-watered seedlings. While most of physiological parameters restored in moderately stressed seedlings, in severely stressed seedlings mainly gas exchange parameters remained lower.

Human activities are changing wildfire regimes globally through ignition, spread of invasive species, fire suppression, and climate change. Because of this, ecosystems are experiencing novel fire regimes that may alter plant growth and patterns of succession. Annual growth rings are one metric that can track changes in tree and shrub growth patterns over time in response to changing fire frequency. In Chapter 1 we explored the effects of fire on resprouting native shrubs in the Mojave Desert. Fires are becoming increasingly frequent due to the spread of highly flammable invasive grasses in the region. We monitored growth and fruit production of Larrea tridentata D.C. (creosote bush) on burned and unburned transects from three independent 2005 wildfires. Even though creosote has a high fire mortality rate, we found that resprouting creosote produced 4.7 times the amount of fruit and had stems that grew nearly twice as fast compared to creosote in unburned areas. Our data suggest that creosote can resprout after fire and thrives in its growth rates and reproduction in post-fire environments. In Chapter 2 we used annual Basal Area Increment to investigate how fire suppression has altered facilitation and competition interactions through stages of succession in mixed aspen-conifer forests. We found that aspen had lower growth rates in mixed aspen-conifer stands compared to aspen dominant stands. We also found that aspen growing with an associated fir tree due to facilitation had increasingly lower growth rates over time than those growing independently. Fir trees in mixed stands were facilitated over time by associated aspen trees while fir trees growing in association and independently in aspen stands showed no statistical difference from each other but grew better than independent fir trees in mixed stands. Our data suggest that restoring a more frequent fire regime will balance competitive interactions between aspen and conifer in subalpine forests.

Transcriptome reconstruction is an important component in the bioinformatical part of transcriptome studies. It is particulary interesting when a reference genome is missing, highly fragmented or incomplete, since in such situations, a simple alignment (or mapping) would not necessarily tell the full story. One species with such a highly fragmented reference genome is the Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) -- a conifer, which is very important for Swedish economy. Given its long juvenile phase and irregular cone setting, the demand of cultivated seeds are larger than the supply. This yields a desire to understand the transcriptomal biology behind the cone setting in P. abies. This thesis presents an introduction to this situation, and the biological and bioinformatical background in general, followed by two papers in which this is applied: Paper I introduces a novel de novo transcriptome assembler, with a focus on recovering isoforms, and paper II makes use of this assembler to be able to detect connections between scaffolds in the P. abies genome. Paper I also studies P. abies var acrocona, a mutant with shorter juvenile phase than the wild type, in order to detect how cone setting is initiated.  From differential expression studies of both mRNA and miRNA, a number of genes potentially involved in cone-setting in P. abies were found, and also a set of miRNAs that could be involved in their regulation. / Transkriptomrekonstruktion är en viktig komponent i den bioinformatiska delen av transkriptomstudier. Särskilt intressant är detta när ett referensgenom saknas, är kraftigt fragmenterat eller ofullständigt, ty i dessa situationer skulle inte en vanlig inpassning (eller mappning) kunna berätta allt. En art med ett kraftigt fragmenterat referensgenom är gran (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) -- ett barrträd, som är mycket viktigt för svensk ekonomi. På grund av dess långa uppväxtsfas och oregelbundna kottsättning, så är efterfrågan av förädlade fröer större än utbudet. Detta lämnar en önskan att förstå den transkriptomala biologin bakom granens kottsättning. Denna avhandling presenterar en introduktion till denna situation, den generella biologiska och bioinformatiska bakgrunden, följd av två artiklar i vilket detta är tillämpat: Artikel I introducerar en ny de novo transkriptomassembler med fokus på att återskapa isoformer, och artikel II tillämpar denna assembler för att kunna hitta länkar mellan scaffolder (genom-delar som hittills inte kunnat länkas med varandra) i grangenomet. Artikel II studerar även granmutanten acrocona (kottegran), vilken har kortare uppväxtsfas än vildtypen, för att kunna se vad som initierar kottsättning.  Från differentiella expressionsstudier av såväl mRNA som miRNA, hittades ett antal gener potentiellt involverade i granens kottsättning, samt några miRNA som kan vara involverade i dess reglering. / <p>QC 2021-02-12</p>

This study addressed the development of natural regeneration of tree species over the period 2009-2016 in a temperate fir-beech old-growth forest left to a spontaneous development since 1930s. The research site was located in the strictly protected National Nature Reserve Salajka, lying in the Western Carpathians mountain range. Ungulate game browsing, establishment and mortality of natural regeneration as the main drivers of species coexistence were studied, using two alternative sampling methods, permanent network of 98 inventory plots regularly positioned across the whole forest reserve and transect with 54 transect plots. Beech was found to secure gradually absolute dominance over other tree species in natural regeneration. The growth of fir, maple and spruce was hindered by browsing since the individuals rarely exceeded the height of 0.5 m. Further, the resource concentration effect was found in fir as browsing was more intense under high conspecific densities. Establishment and mortality of fir and beech differed, suggesting the species-specific life-history strategies. The results demonstrated the importance of regular and inextensive establishment of fir and huge but relatively less frequent establishment of beech. Mortality overweighed establishment in both species, though fir ratio tended to be almost balanced. The height of natural regeneration was revealed to be the only good predictor of mortality. Browsing, establishment and mortality of natural regeneration comprise an important part of forest regeneration processes and their role should be acknowledged by both forest and nature conservation management.

The interactions between plants and insects are mediated by volatile molecules. Plants respond to stress by biosynthesis of chemical substances which can deter invading insects or pathogens. Some of these substances are volatile and are emitted to the surroundings and may attract or repel insects. Information about the susceptibility of individual plants to infestation, their volatile emissions and chemical defence is of interest, for example in selecting plants for tree breeding programs. This research was focused on finding volatile chemical markers of resistance in Norway spruce plants that do influence insects associated to conifers. Collection of headspace volatiles by SPME followed by separation and identification with GC-MS is effective in investigating biological systems with a minimum of disturbance. This method has here been used to investigate Norway spruce plants of different ages and stress conditions as well as trapping semiochemicals like nepetalactone emitted by the spruce shoot aphids. It was even possible to analyse the emission of single needles in vivo and obtain a chemical pattern of the site of the stress reaction. Seedlings of different ages showed differences in chemical composition of emitted volatiles, with the pine weevil repellent (S)-(-)-limonene as one of the main compounds. Wounded phloem of conventional plants emitted high amounts of monoterpenes while the phloem of mini plants emitted (3Z)-hexenal and (3Z)-hexen-1-ol. Norway spruce plants did respond to different stress elicitors with similar response, regardless of their genetic origin. The emissions from stressed Norway spruce plants mainly consist of (E)-β-farnesene, (E,E)-α-farnesene, (E)-α-bisabolene, (R)-(-)-linalool and methyl salicylate. Emissions from live spruce shoot aphids were detected during autumn periods, and a method to separate and identify the four diastereomers of nepetalactone by GC-MS and characteristic m/z-fragments was accomplished.

The purpose of this study was to assess the metal content present in pine needles collected from an old shooting range known for elevated lead levels in the soil by different analytical methods. The focus on conifers originated from their evergreen nature year-round, and their ability to absorb potentially harmful elements. Research on needles as biomonitors for environmental contamination, particularly in areas affected by heavy metal pollution, has gained significant global attention. Four trees, two Norway spruces (Picea abies), and two Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) were identified within the designated area. Samples of conifer needles were collected in plastic bags. The needles underwent washing, drying, and grinding into powder for subsequent digestion method and quantitative determination of metal content using ICP-MS and MPAES. The study focused on elements commonly found in various types of ammunition, specifically manganese, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, molybdenum, antimony, and lead. Results obtained from both analytical methods, which was only manganese, showed statistically significant differences. During the analysis, only manganese could be quantified using MPAES, as the other analytes were below the detection limit. For ICP-MS, the LOD values were much lower, making this method more suitable, as all analytes were above LOD and could be quantified. The recovery values for the CRM were good for all elements when ICP-MS was utilized. However, the calculated recovery value for manganese decreased based on the results obtained from MPAES compared to the calculated recovery value for manganese based on the results obtained from ICP-MS. Interestingly, the analysis of conifer needles revealed no noticeable contamination from the shooting range. Instead, it highlighted variances among different pine needle species. The metal content in the pine needles remained within acceptable limits according to external literature sources.