Comparative tree-ring anatomy of Fraxinus excelsior with Chalara dieback

• Published in: Journal of forestry research Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 1741 - 1749
• Main Authors: Tulik, Mirela, Yaman, Barbaros, Köse, Nesibe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-11-2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warsaw 02-787, Poland%Wood Anatomy and Dendrochronology Laboratory, Bartin University, Faculty of Forestry, Bartin, Turkey%Department of Forest Botany, Istanbul University, Faculty of Forestry, 34473 Istanbul, Turkey
• Subjects: Analysis; Annual rings; Ash dieback; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell walls; Conduction; Development and progression; Dieback; Fibers; Forestry; Fraxinus excelsior; Herbivores; Life Sciences; Original Paper; Tree rings; Trees; Wall thickness; Wood; Fibres; Wood; Dieback; Vessels; Ash
• ISSN: 1007-662X; 1993-0607
• DOI: 10.1007/s11676-017-0586-1

We tested the hypothesis that the biometrical characters of wood elements in ash trees (
Fraxinus excelsior
L.) become modified in response to the progression of disease caused by
Chalara fraxinea
. Anatomical analyses were performed on wood samples collected at breast height from the trunks of groups of ash trees which contained healthy, weakened and dead trees. We measured (1) tree-ring width, (2) earlywood vessel diameter, (3) earlywood vessel element length, (4) fibre length, (5) fibre diameter, (6) fibre lumen diameter, and (7) fibre wall thickness. We showed that tree-ring width diminished in all analysed groups during disease progression. However, the greatest suppression of growth was observed in dead trees. In both weakened and dead ash trees, the reduction in tree-ring width was accompanied by diminished vessel diameter in the earlywood of the outermost annual rings. The annual rings of dead trees had shorter fibres having greater lumen diameter and thinner cell walls. Consequently, water conduction in the sapwood of dead ash trees was less efficient owing to reduced vessel diameter, and this seems to be one of the greatest disease-induced morphological modifications. All the anatomical modifications might be due to leaf loss and crown dieback triggered by
Chalara fraxinea
.