PAR ABSORPTION AND ITS RELATION TO ABOVE-GROUND DRY MATTER PRODUCTION OF SITKA SPRUCE.

Wang, Y. P.; Jarvis, P. G.; Taylor, C. M. A.

(1) The annual amounts of FAR absorbed war measured for six Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) plots with different thinning and fertilizer treatments in Central Scotland, and related to the annual above-ground biomass production estimated for four consecutive years. It was found that the above-ground dry matter production was proportional to the amount of PAR absorbed. irrespective of treatments. (2) Based on the radiation data collected from these six plots, amounts or PAR absorbed were estimated for the other twenty-four experimental plots in the same stand. The quotients of above-ground dry matter produced and PAR absorbed were 0.43 g mol -1 for nitrogen-fertilized plots and 0.33 g mol-1 for the other plots. (3) The annual photosynthetic efficiency of Sitka spruce was estimated to be 0.3% using a physiological processes-based model, Maestro, and the upper limit of biomass production of a Sitka spruce stand in Scotland was estimated to he 36t ha-1 year-1.

SITKA spruce; BIOMASS; FERTILIZER requirements; BIOLOGY; MASS (Physics); SPRUCE

Journal of Applied Ecology, 1991, Vol 28, Issue 2, p547

0021-8901

Academic Journal

10.2307/2404567