Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:16:24.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Frankia symbiosis as a source of nitrogen in forestry: a case study of symbiotic nitrogen-fixation in a mixed Alnus-Picea plantation in Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

D. C. Malcolm
Affiliation:
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JU
J. E. Hooker
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
C. T. Wheeler
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Get access

Synopsis

Alnus rubra growing in the field in Scotland is nodulated effectively by local strains of Frankia. Strains which have been isolated from Alnus rubra at Lennox Forest show different growth medium requirements and colony morphology compared with isolates from Alnus glutinosa and several different strains have been isolated from the same locality. Preliminary evidence suggests that some spore negative, northwest American Frankia strains may be more effective than local spore positive crushed nodule inoculum for nitrogen-fixation in Alnus rubra.

On the moderately fertile clay soil of Lennox Forest, a mixed plantation of alternate Picea silchensis and Alnus rubra showed no improvement in growth of spruce compared with pure spruce plots. However, the presence of alder increased upper soil nitrogen status by 585 kg ha ' which approximates the standard 150 kg N ha 'of fertiliser nitrogen applied in practice to nitrogen deficient stands at about 5-year intervals. Although the alder had penetrated the subsoil, there was no apparent effect on spruce rooting depth in the mixed stands in this high clay soil. In addition to nitrogen content, the total phosphorus of the upper soil horizons was improved in the mixed plots by an estimated 3–6 kg ha -1 y 1 and it is suggested that this phosphorus may be brought from the subsoil by the deeper rooting alder and deposited on the surface in its litter.

Although improved growth of spruce in mixture with Alnus rubra is only likely where pure spruce stands are stressed for nutrients, the potential benefits of symbiotic nitrogen-fixation in silvicultural practice make it desirable to investigate other species and provenances of Alnus suited to British conditions, to achieve maximum symbiotic fixation of nitrogen by selection and inoculation with superior strains of Frankia and to include such plants in trials of mixtures on sites where nitrogen-availability may be critical.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, D. and Torrey, J. G. 1979. The isolation and cultivation of actinomycetous root nodule endophytes. In Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management of temperate forests, ed. Gordon, J. C., Wheeler, C. T. and Perry, D. A., pp. 3857. School of Forestry, Oregon State University, U.S.A.Google Scholar
Becking, J. H. 1966. Interactions nutritionalles plantes-actinomycetes. Annls Inst. Pasteur, Paris Suppl. III, 295302.Google Scholar
Benson, D. R. 1982. Isolation of Frankia strains from alder actinorhizal root nodules. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 44, 461465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, A. and Torrey, J. G. 1979. Isolation and characterisation ‘in vivo’ of an actinomycetous endophyte from Alnus rubra Bong. In Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management of temperate forests, ed. Gordon, J. C., Wheeler, C. T. and Perry, D. A., pp. 6983. School of Forestry, Oregon State University, U.S.A.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, C. 1980. A comparison of pure stands of Sitka spruce with mixed stands of Sitka spruce and Oregon alder on a surface water gley. Unpubl. Hons thesis. Dept of Forestry and Natural Resources, Univ. of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Dancer, W. S., Handley, J. F. and Bradshaw, A. D. 1977a. Nitrogen accumulation in kaolin mining wastes in Cornwall. I. Natural communities. Pl. Soil 48, 153167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dancer, W. S., Handley, J. F. and Bradshaw, A. D. 1977b. Nitrogen accumulation in kaolin mining wastes in Cornwall. II. Forage Legumes. Pl. Soil 48, 303314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeBell, D. 1979. Future potential for use of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in forest management. In Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management of temperate forests, ed. Gordon, J. C., Wheeler, C. T. and Perry, D. A., pp. 451466. School of Forestry, Oregon State University, U.S.A.Google Scholar
Everard, J. 1973. Foliar analysis, sampling methods, interpretation and application of the results. Q. Jl For. 67, 5166.Google Scholar
Fessenden, R. J. 1979. Use of actinorhizal plants for land reclamation and amenity planting in the U.S.A. and Canada. In Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management of temperate forests, ed. Gordon, J. C., Wheeler, C. T. and Perry, D. A., pp. 403419. School of Forestry, Oregon State University, U.S.A.Google Scholar
Gordon, J. C. and Wheeler, C. T. (Eds) 1983. Biological Nitrogen in Forest Ecosystems: Foundations and Applications. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff/W. Junk.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granhall, U. 1982. The use of Alnus in energy forestry. Proc. 2nd Natn Symp. on N Fixation, pp. 273285. The Finnish National Fund for Research and Development, Helsinki.Google Scholar
Gauthier, D., Diem, H. G. and Dommerques, Y. 1982. Isolation of Frankia from nodules of Casuarina equisetifolia. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 28, 526530.Google Scholar
Lalonde, M. and Calvert, H. E. 1979. Production of Frankia hyphae and spores as infective inoculant for Alnus species. In Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the management of temperate forests, ed. Gordon, J. C., Wheeler, C. T. and Perry, D. A., pp. 95110. School of Forestry, Oregon State University, U.S.A.Google Scholar
Lalonde, M., Calvert, H. E. and Pine, S. 1981. Isolation and use of Frankia strains in actinorhizal formation. In Current perspective in nitrogen fixation, ed. Gibson, A. H. and Newton, W. E., pp. 296299. Canberra: Australian Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Lechevalier, M. P., Baker, D. and Horriere, F. 1983. Physiology, chemistry, serology and infectivity of two Frankia isolates from Alnus incana ssp. rugosa. Can. J. Bot. 61, 28262833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lines, R. Personal Communication. Forestry Commission Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian.Google Scholar
Miller, H. G. 1979. The nutrient budgets of even-aged forests. In The Ecology of Even-aged Forest Plantations, ed. Ford, E. D., Malcolm, D. C. and Atterson, J., pp. 221256. Proc. IUFRO Div. 1 Mtg Edinburgh. Cambridge: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.Google Scholar
Mackintosh, A. H. and Bond, G. 1970. Diversity in the nodular endophytes of Alnus and Myrica. Phyton 27, 7980.Google Scholar
McIntosh, R. 1981. Fertiliser treatment of Sitka spruce in the establishment phase in Upland Britain. Scott. For. 35, 313.Google Scholar
Newcomb, W., Callahan, D., Torrey, J. G. and Peterson, R. L. 1980. Morphogenesis and fine structive of actinomycetous endophyte of nitrogen fixing root nodule of Comptonia peregrina. Bot. Gaz. 140, 522534.Google Scholar
Nimmo, M. and Weatherell, J. 1961. Experience with leguminous nurses in forestry. Report on Forest Research, pp. 126147. London: H.M.S.O., Forestry Commission.Google Scholar
Normand, P. and Lalonde, M. 1982. Evaluation of Frankia strains isolated from provenances of two Alnus species. Can. J. Microbiol. 28, 11331142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pommer, E. 1959. Über die Isolierung des Endophyten aus den Wurzelknöllchen Alnus glutinosa Gaertn. und über erfolgreiche Reinfektionsversuche. Ber. Dt. Bot. Ges. 72, 138150.Google Scholar
Shipton, W. A. and Burggraaf, A. J. P. 1982. A comparison of the requirements for various carbon and nitrogen sources and vitamins in some Frankia isolates. Pl. Soil 69, 149161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quispel, A., Burggraaf, A. J. P., Borsje, H. and Tak, T. 1983. The role of lipids in the growth of Frankia isolates. Can. J. Bot. 11, 28012806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarrant, R. F. and Miller, R. I. 1963. Accumulation of organic matter and soil nitrogen beneath a plantation of red alder and Douglas fir. Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 27, 231234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dijk, C. 1978. Spore formation and endophyte diversity in root nodules of Alnus glutinosa (L), VIII. New Phytol. 81, 601615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, C. T., McLaughlin, M. E., and Steele, P. 1981. A comparison of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Scotland in Alnus glutinosa and Alnus rubra. Pl. Soil 61, 169188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zehetmayr, J. W. L. 1954. Afforestation of upland heaths. For. Comm. Bull. 32, 102103. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar