Physiological state of spruce plants (Picea abies Karst. L.) in a vessel experiment conditions

Abstract

In this paper we are facing the issue of multiple dieback of spruce stands in the region of Horný Spiš. The range of detrimental factors in this area is considerable, and the identification of causal agents of damage to the stands is intricate. We summarise the results of an ecophysiological research pursued in 2004, focussing on evaluation of physiological state of spruce seedlings grown in a vessel experiment consisting of six variants. The primary aim of the experiment was to study the influence of soil properties on health state of the plants. We have evaluated the measured values of parameters of chlorophyll a fluorescence, concentrations of assimilatory pigments (chlorophyll a, b, carotenoids in mg g-1 of dry matter), and analysed the influence of selected factors on the studied parameters.