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DISTANCE AND BARK PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN ASPEN TREES IN THE FRONT RANGE Lauren Kendle Winter Ecology...
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Transcript of DISTANCE AND BARK PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN ASPEN TREES IN THE FRONT RANGE Lauren Kendle Winter Ecology...
DISTANCE AND BARK PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN ASPEN TREES IN THE FRONT RANGE
Lauren KendleWinter Ecology
Spring 2012
Background Information
An analysis of 60 species indicated that there were photosynthetic processes in the bark
Aspen Trees had the highest level of bark chlorophyll
(Wittman and Pfanz, 2011)
Photosynthesis in the bark is reduced to a quarter of summertime production during the winter
(Solhaug and Haugen, 1998)
Chlorophyll is arranged in the tree to maximize photosynthesis
(Pfanz et al., 2002)
Question and Hypothesis
Question: Are Aspens able to adjust the amount of chlorophyll in the bark if there is a tree or an object blocking the direct sunlight?
Hypothesis: The closer the object or tree is to the Aspen should result in more chlorophyll because so the tree can compensate for the decreased amount of sunlight.
Methods
Paint Chip Analysis Measured at
breast height on the sun-facing side
Took Picture Recorded
information from location
Methods continued
Photoshop to standardize photos Sampled Green Pigmentation Averaged Green Pigmentation
Used R for analysis of data
Many limitations of in data collection
Results
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
11
01
30
15
0
Distance and Greenness
distance ranking
gre
en
ne
ss
Results Continued… excluding group 1
Results
Hypothesis was not supported For the Categorical Data
P value = 0.672 R-squared -0.04042
For data for blocked trees only P Value = 0.248 R-squared = 0.05
Discussion
The Data did not support the hypothesis Maybe confounding variables
Age of trees Aspect Amount of sunlight blocked Human influence in second sample site
Aspens are highly competitive species and optimize the light received by increasing chlorophyll per unit of area
(Aschan et al., 2001)
Further questions
Is the age of the tree related to the chlorophyll content?
Would changing the methods produce different results? Machine measurement of CO2 or O2
What other factors may influence the chlorophyll content?
Soil Water Aspect
Conclusions
Hypothesis was not supported in this study Not enough information collected No significant relationships based on the
data collected Methods may not have adequately
assessed levels of photosynthesis
Literature Cited
Aschan, G., C. Wittmann, and H. Pfanz. 2001. Age-dependent bark photosynthesis of aspen twigs. Trees, 15:431-437
Foote, K.C. and M. Schaedle. 1976. Physiological characteristics of photosynthesis and respiration in stems of Populus tremuloides michx. Plant Physiology 58:91-94.
Pfanz, H., G. Aschan, R.Langenfeld-Heyser, C. Wittman, and M. Loose. 2002. Ecology and ecophysiology of tree stems: corticular and wood photosynthesis. Naturwissenchaften 89:147-162
Roakowski, P., Y. Li, and P. B. Reich. 2011. Local ecotypic and speicies range-related
adaptation influence photosynthetic temperature optima in deciduous broadleaved trees. Plant Ecology, 213:112-125.
Solhaug, K.A. and J. Haugen. 1998. Seasonal variation of photoinhibition of photosynthesis in bark from Populus tremula l. Photosynthetica 35:411-417.
Wullschleger, S.D., D. J. Weston, and J. M. Davis. 2009. Populus response to edaphic and climate cues: emerging evidence from systems biology research. Critical Reivews n Plan Science, 28:368-374.