Tytti Sarjala, Seppo Kaunisto. (1996). Effect of different potassium sources on the seasonal variation of potassium and free polyamines in Scots pine needles. Silva Fennica vol. 30 no. 4 article id 5565. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a8500

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; needles; putrescine; potassium deficiency; seasonal fluctuation; spermidine; spermine

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Seasonal fluctuations in free polyamines, spermidine, spermine, putrescine and potassium concentrations were studied for two years (1992–1993) in three needle years of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) grown on a drained mire in western Finland. Seven different fertilizer treatments involving five different sources of potassium were used.

Putrescine concentrations were high in winter and in May but low in summer. High peaks in putrescine in March and May could be found in unrefertilized or rock phosphate treatments. Spermidine and spermine concentrations were high in March and May. In December spermine concentrations were low. Biotite increased the needle potassium concentrations less than the other potassium fertilizers but the putrescine concentrations or the putrescine/spermidine ratio to about the same level. This suggests that biotite, although very slowly soluble, can reasonably satisfy potassium nutrition of young pine trees.

The potassium concentrations of needles in all the fertilization treatments were higher in winter than in summer. The response of putrescine to the potassium concentration was strongly negative in all the needle years and sampling times. In March, May and December the response of putrescine to potassium was fairly similar in both years but not in June and August. The results suggest that the potassium concentrations during the growing season cannot be used for estimating the potassium nutrition of trees, because the variation between the years may be substantial, whereas the needle putrescine concentration or putrescine/spermidine ratio indicates the suboptimum potassium status of Scots pine fairly well. Needle putrescine concentrations over 500 nmol g^-1FW quite regularly coincided with a unsatisfactory potassium nutrition and concentrations over 1,000 nmol g^-1FW were a reliable indication of potassium deficiency. Putrescine/spermidine ratios below 5 indicated a satisfactory potassium nutrition in all needle years throughout the year.

Sarjala, E-mail: ts@mm.unknown
Kaunisto, E-mail: sk@mm.unknown

Category : Research article

article id 492, category Research article

Seppo Kaunisto, Tytti Sarjala. (2003). Foliar potassium concentrations of bilberry, bog bilberry and downy birch as indicators of potassium nutrition of Scots pine on a drained peatland. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 3 article id 492. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.492

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; peatland; foliar analysis; dormancy; B. pubescens; deficiency; deficiency limit; needle analysis; potassium; putrescine; V. myrtillus; V. uliginosum

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Leaves of bilberry (V. myrtillus), bog bilberry (V. uliginosum) and downy birch (B. pubescens) were collected five times during a growing season from 18 plots in a drainage area, and needles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) once during the following winter from the same plots at Parkano, southern Finland. The aim was to study the potassium nutrition of the test plants and relationships between the foliar potassium concentrations of Scots pine and of the test plants. The estimation of the potassium nutrition of test plants was based on the accumulation of putrescine in foliage. Apart from single observations, elevated putrescine concentrations were found when the potassium concentrations were < 5 mg g–1 in bilberry, < 4 mg g–1 in bog bilberry and < 6 mg g–1 in downy birch, and the highest concentrations below the potassium levels of 3.0–3.5 mg g–1. At the concentrations of 2–3 mg g–1 the accumulation increased pronouncedly in bog bilberry but less in downy birch and only slightly in bilberry. The foliar potassium concentrations in test plants correlated closely with the concentrations in pine needles. The concentrations of all species in August were quite stable at the levels of the severe and slight potassium deficiency of pine (3.5 and 4.5 mg g–1 respectively) indicating that August would be suitable for collecting foliage. The concentrations in bog bilberry were very close to the concentrations in pine at the severe and those in bilberry at the slight deficiency level of pine. All test plants could be used for predicting the potassium nutrition of Scots pine, but additional research is needed for the practical application of the method.

Kaunisto, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Parkano Research Station, Kaironiementie 54, FIN-39700 Parkano, Finland E-mail: seppo.kaunisto@metla.fi
Sarjala, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Parkano Research Station, Kaironiementie 54, FIN-39700 Parkano, Finland E-mail: ts@nn.fi

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