Long-term effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration and provenance on four clones of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis). II. Photosynthetic capacity and nitrogen use efficiency

Abstract

Four clones of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) from two provenances, at 53.2°N (Skidegate a and Skidegate b) and at 41.3°N (North Bend a and North Bend b), were grown for three growing seasons in ambient (~350 μmol mol-1) and elevated (~700 μmol mol-1) CO2 concentrations. The clones were grown in stress-free conditions (adequate nutrition and water) to assess the effect of elevated [CO2] on tree physiology. Growth in elevated [CO2] significantly increased instantaneous photosynthetic rates of the clonal Sitka spruce saplings by about 62%. Downward acclimation of photosynthesis (A) was found in all four clones grown in elevated [CO2]. Rubisco activity and total chlorophyll concentration were also significantly reduced in elevated [CO2]. Provenance did not influence photosynthetic capacity. Best-fit estimates of J(max) (maximum rate of electron transport), V(cmax) (RuBP-saturated rate of Rubisco) and A(max) (maximum rate of assimilation) were derived from responses of A to intercellular [CO2] by using the model of Farquhar et al. (1980). At any leaf N concentration, the photosynthetic parameters were reduced by growth in elevated [CO2]. However, the ratio between J(max) and V(cmax) was unaffected by CO2 growth concentration, indicating a tight coordination in the allocation of N between thylakoid and soluble proteins. In elevated [CO2], the more southerly clones had a higher initial N use efficiency (more carbon assimilated per unit of leaf N) than the more northerly clones, so that they had more N available for those processes or organs that were most limiting to growth at a particular time. This may explain the initial higher growth stimulation by elevated [CO2] in the North Bend clones than in the Skidegate clones.