Red alder (Alnus rubra) is a tree species with high economic and ecological importance. It is subject to defoliation during unpredictable, episodic outbreaks of tent caterpillars (Malacosoma spp.) that result in reduced growth, decreased wood production, unsightly appearance and mortality in severe cases. Alder trees are weakened by severe and repeated tent caterpillar defoliation, and this can increase the susceptibility of the trees to other pests, diseases and drought. Repeated attack by tent caterpillars can cause decline in red alder populations, which can have potential negative impacts on the ecological and economic benefits of the species. Evidence from other species has shown that plants produce phytochemicals for defense against herbivores at a cost to growth and reproduction, but the relative magnitude of the cost of allocating available resources to defense depends on the level of the resources, and the plant genotype. The quality of a plant as food for herbivores is influenced by leaf physical and biochemical traits, and these traits change during a growing season or upon attack by herbivores. My research aimed to explore the defense mechanisms of red alder against western tent caterpillars (Malacosoma californicum) and determine the resistance variation among and within red alder populations, and to evaluate red alder available resource (nitrogen) allocation to defense and growth. Bioassay feeding trials were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with western tent caterpillars (WTC) (M. californicum) on twenty red alder clones from ten provenances. Phenology and quality of red alder leaves as food for the defoliators were analyzed to determine if budburst, leaf chemical content, water content or physical traits are major determinants of western tent caterpillars preference for red alder leaves. In another experiment, one-year-old seedlings from 100 half-sib red alder families were treated with two levels of ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) in two growing seasons in a common garden. Growth, herbivore defense-related traits and root nodulation were measured and ranked among the plant genotypes and between the two nitrogen (N) treatments. Leaves from the two N treatments and different alder families were also used for bioassay feeding trials with WTC larvae to determine effects of N and genotype on red alder herbivory resistance. In my final experiments, I harvested and analyzed leaves from three-year-old red alder trees from five different families on eight dates from early April to mid-October 2016 to quantify oregonin and total phenolics concentrations, and wound induction experiments were conducted to determine if the concentrations of the chemicals vary during a growing season and upon attack by insects. Alder clones and families differed in percentage leaf area eaten by caterpillars and in leaf defense traits. The concentrations of foliar phenolic compounds negatively correlated with the percentage leaf area eaten by the caterpillars, but the results suggest a threshold, above which the concentration of each of the chemicals appeared to reduce WTC feeding, individually. Particularly, foliar oregonin concentration above 20 % leaf dry weight consistently appeared to reduce feeding by caterpillars. N availability had significant effects on red alder seedling total dry biomass and leaf N concentration. There was a clear trade-off between red alder seedling growth, and content of the phenolic compounds and leaf thickness, which supports the growth-differentiation balanced hypothesis in relation to resource availability. The concentration of oregonin varied during the growing season and there were no significant responses of any of the measured compounds to wounding. The results suggest that red alder foliar oregonin, condensed tannin and total phenolics are constitutive defenses and are not wound-induced. The effects of leaf total phenolic and condensed tannin concentrations on insect herbivory have been documented by past studies but the effects of oregonin concentration in red alder leaves on tent caterpillar feeding is a novel finding. / Graduate / 2020-04-18

Die Büchersammlung des Göttinger Universitätsprofessors und reformierten Pastors Lüder Kulenkamp (1724-1794) bildet mit über 9.000 Handschriften, Abschriften, Inkunabeln und Drucken ab 1501 die viertgrößte private Gelehrtenbibliothek Göttingens im 18. Jahrhundert. Die Sammlung ist ausschließlich über den 1796 gedruckten Auktionskatalog sowie zwei, mit Käufer- und Preisangaben versehene durchschossene Exemplare dokumentiert. Über inhaltliche Aussagen hinaus, die den hybriden Charakter der Sammlung als Arbeitsinstrument und bibliophile Kollektion zugleich offenlegen, versucht die Arbeit, unter Einbeziehung von Marginalien und handschriftlichen Einträgen Kulenkamps sowie von in Vorlesungen benutzten bzw. in eigenen Publikationen zitierten Titeln, ein Bild des gelehrten Büchersammlers und -lesers an seinem Standort und zu seiner Zeit zu vermitteln. Die durchschossenen Exemplare des Versteigerungskatalogs bilden quellenorientiert die Basis für bibliothekarisch motivierte Käufe seitens der Bodleian Library, der herzoglichen Bibliothek Gotha und der Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen sowie für privat motivierte Käufe seitens Studenten, Buchantiquariaten und akademischen Sammlern, die das Erstellen gesellschaftlicher und individueller Rezeptions- und Leserbiographien ermöglichen. Der in Bibliotheken gelangte Bestand der Büchersammlung wird darüberhinaus im Sinne einer Provenienzaufarbeitung per Autopsie erschlossen. / The private library of the university professor and reformed pastor Lüder Kulenkamp (1724-1794) forms with over 9.000 manuscripts, transcripts, incunables and printed books the fourth largest private book collection in Göttingen during the eighteenth century. The collection is documented by an auction catalogue printed in 1796, of which two interfoliated copies have been located that provide useful information about buyers and prices. The dissertation delves into each of the titles within Kulenkamp’s library, while pointing out the hybrid character of the collection, which was both an instrument for teaching and research and the result of the owner’s bibliophilia. A careful consideration of Kulenkamp’s marginalia and handwritten notes, his course announcements and the titles of the books he refers to in his writings provides a lively picture of how an erudite book collector and reader might have looked like in his place and time. The interfoliated exemplars of the auction catalogue were the basis for Kulenkamp’s books being the subject of library acquisitions that were decided for at the Bodleian Library, the Herzogliche Bibliothek Gotha and the Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen as well as for private acquisitions by students, book antiquarians and academic collectors. They are of great interest for the development of public and private book circulation and the shaping of readers’ biographies. In compliance with the requirements of provenance-research, all books of the collection of which we know they had been acquired by public libraries have been looked into by autopsy.

In Mitteleuropa werden zukünftig häufigere Trocken- und Hitzeperioden mit wirtschaftlichen Einbußen in der Waldwirtschaft erwartet. Die Douglasie (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) wird als Alternative für die wirtschaftlich bedeutsame, jedoch trockenheitsempfindliche Fichte diskutiert (Picea abies (L.) H.Karst.). Zwei Unterarten, die Küsten- (FDC) und die Inlandsdouglasie (FDI), sind im ausgedehnten natürlichen Verbreitungsgebiet in Nordamerika beheimatet, welches ein großes Potenzial für die Auswahl produktiver und trockenresistenter Herkünfte bietet. Unser Ziel war, die Trockenreaktion verschiedener Douglasienherkünfte unter Verknüpfung morphologischer und physiologischer Parameter und die der Trockenheitsresistenz bzw. -empfindlichkeit zugrundeliegenden Mechanismen zu erforschen. Ein Herkunftsversuch in Südwestdeutschland ermöglichte die Untersuchung 50-jähriger Douglasien verschiedener Herkünfte entlang eines Höhengradienten. Unter kontrollierten Bedingungen simulierten wir die Effekte einer Hitzewelle auf Jungbäume zweier Provenienzen. Wir analysierten die Kohlenstoff- und Sauerstoff-Stabilisotopenzusammensetzung, den Gaswechsel der Blätter, Veränderungen im Stoffwechsel und das Baumwachstum. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen bei FDC aus humiden Regionen hohe Wachstumseinbußen unter Trockenheit und moderat bis stark verringerte stomatäre Leitfähigkeit, unterstützt durch Photoprotektion. FDC aus Regionen mit starker Sommertrockenheit reagierten kaum mit Stomataschluss und Wachstumseinbußen auf Trockenheit, jedoch mit starker Osmoregulation und Monoterpen-Emissionen, welche zur Trockenresistenz beitragen könnten. FDI aus einer ariden Region zeigten hohe An, geringes Wachstum und stark antioxidative und photoprotektive Mechanismen. Die Herkünfte unterscheiden sich stark in ihrer Trockenreaktion und ihren Schutzmechanismen. Der Anbau trockenresistenter Herkünfte wird an Standorten von Vorteil sein, für die eine Häufung von ariden Sommerperioden vorhergesagt wird. / In Central Europe, more frequent periods of dry and hot weather are expected in the future with economic losses in the forestry sector. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) is discussed as a timber species alternative to the economically important but drought-sensitive spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.). Two subspecies, the coastal (FDC) and the interior Douglas-fir (FDI), are native to an extensive natural range in North America, offering a great potential for the selection of productive and drought tolerant provenances. Our goal was to investigate the drought response of different Douglas-fir provenances on the morphological and physiological level, as well as the mechanisms underlying drought resistance or susceptibility. A provenance trial in southwestern Germany established in 1958 allowed the study of 50-year-old Douglas-fir trees of diverse provenances along a height gradient. Under controlled conditions, we simulated the effects of a heat wave on young trees of two provenances. We analyzed carbon and oxygen stable isotopic composition, leaf gas exchange, changes in metabolism and tree growth. FDC from humid regions responded to drought with strong growth decline and a medium to strong stomatal closure, supported by enhanced instantaneous photoprotection. FDC from regions with very dry summer conditions showed a small growth decline and anisohydric regulation of stomatal conductance under drought, supported by high levels of osmotic adjustment. High monoterpene emissions might contribute to the drought resistance. FDI from an arid region showed high assimilation rates, low growth potential and a high antioxidant, photoprotective, drought and heat protective potential. The provenances differ greatly in their dry reaction and their protective mechanisms. The cultivation of drought resistant crops will be beneficial at sites predicted to accumulate arid summer periods.