Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2022, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (6): 722-734.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2021.0467

• Research Articles • Previous Articles    

Radial distribution differences of non-structural carbohydrates in stems of tree species of different wood in a temperate forest

DONG Han-Jun1, WANG Xing-Chang1, YUAN Dan-Yang1, LIU Di1, LIU Yu-Long2, SANG Ying3, WANG Xiao-Chun1,*()   

  1. 1Center for Ecological Research, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forestry Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
    2Heilongjiang Ecological Institute, Harbin 150040, China
    3School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
  • Received:2021-12-10 Accepted:2022-02-18 Online:2022-06-20 Published:2022-04-25
  • Contact: WANG Xiao-Chun
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(SQ2021YFD220008501);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41877426);National Natural Science Foundation of China(42177421)

Abstract:

Aims Temperate forest tree species adopt different strategies in storing and utilizing non-structural carbohydrates (NSC). Trunk is the main storage pool of NSC. However, the radial variation and interspecific difference of trunk NSC are still unclear, and how wood porous group—non-porous wood (gymnosperms), diffuse-porous wood and ring-porous wood (both are angiosperms)—influences NSC concentrations of trunks is still uncertain. The objective of this study was to explore the variation of trunk NSC concentrations of major tree species in temperate forests with wood porosity and trunk tissues.

Methods We selected 32 tree species in a broadleaved and Pinus koraiensis mixed forest in Muling City, Heilongjiang Province. Bark, sapwood, and heartwood of stem at the breast height were collected to analyze the variation of NSC concentrations with wood porosity and tissue.

Important findings (1) Tree species, tissue and wood porosity significantly affected the NSC concentration of trunk. The interspecific variation of concentrations of soluble sugars, starch, total NSC and sugar/starch in the three tissues was large, with the lowest coefficient of variation of 37% (total NSC concentration in bark) and the highest of 101% (starch concentration in heartwood). Tissue, species and their interactions significantly affected trunk NSC concentration. (2) The concentrations of soluble sugar, starch and total NSC decreased with the increasing radial depth. The concentration of soluble sugars and sugar/starch in bark of non-porous species was significantly higher than those of diffuse-porous and ring-porous species. The concentration of starch and total NSC in sapwood was in the order of ring-porous > diffuse-porous > non diffuse-porous wood species. (3) The ratio of soluble sugars, starch and total NSC concentrations in sapwood to in heartwood was about 1 for non-porous wood species, which was significantly lower than those for diffuse-porous and ring-porous wood species, and the correlation of the starch concentration between sapwood and heartwood of non-porous wood was more significant than that of the other two wood-porous types, indicating that the functional differentiation between sapwood and heartwood was clearer for angiosperms than for gymnosperms. These results revealed that wood porosity influenced storage strategy of NSC in trunks of temperate tree species, and it was necessary to distinguish trunk tissues in the study of the whole-tree NSC storage and the ecophysiological function of trees.

Key words: non-structural carbohydrate, temperate forest, trunk, soluble sugar, starch