Forest Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Resource Availability On Carbon Allocation And Developmental Instability In Cloned Birch Seedlings, Brian J. Wilsey, Janne H. Lappalainen, Jocelyn Martel, Kyösti Lempa, Vladimir Ossipov

Brian J. Wilsey

Abundant nitrogen improves seedling growth and establishment. Vigorous growth brings about changes in rates and patterns of plant development and changes in the relationship between primary and secondary metabolism, which may make seedlings more susceptible to herbivores and pathogens than are slow-growing seedlings. We studied how nitrogen fertilization and manual defoliation of source leaves affect growth, carbon allocation, and developmental instability in cloned seedlings of white birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.). Biomass was higher, whereas concentrations of most classes of phenolic compounds were lower in the nitrogen-rich environment. Interestingly, fertilization did not change the concentrations of cell wall–bound proanthocyanidins, which represent …