The Influence of Planting Density and Climatic Variables on the Wood Structure of Siberian Spruce and Scots Pine
Babushkina E.A. Kholdaenko Y.A. Belokopytova L.V. Zhirnova D.F. Mapitov N.B. Kostyakova T.V. Krutovsky K.V. Vaganov E.A.
November 2025Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Forests
2025#16Issue 11
Stand density is one among a multitude of factors impacting the growth of trees and their responses to climatic variables, but its effect on wood quality at the scale of anatomical structure is hardly investigated. Therefore, we analyzed the radial growth and wood structure of Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in an experimental conifer plantation with a wide gradient of stand density in the Siberian southern taiga. The measured and indexed chronologies of the tree-ring width (TRW), number of tracheid cells per radial row in the ring produced in the cambial zone (N), cell radial diameter (D), and cell wall thickness (CWT) demonstrated the influence of the planting density. The TRW and N have a negative allometric dependence on the stand density (R2 = 0.75–0.88), likely due to competition for resources. The consistent negative dependence of the D on the stand density (R2 = 0.85–0.97) is log-linear and also seems to be related to tree size, while the CWT is not significantly dependent on the stand density. These findings can be used as insights in regulating cellular structure and procuring desired wood quality by silvicultural means. Both conifer species have similar climatic reactions. We observed significant suppression of TRW and D related to water deficit in May–July (both species), as well as frosty (more for pine) and low-snow (for spruce) conditions in winters, as shown by both dendroclimatic correlation and pointer year analysis. Temporal shifts in the climatic responses indicate later transition to latewood and growth cessation in sparse stands, especially in spruce. Better performance was observed in sparce and medium-density stands for both species.
cell radial diameter , cell wall thickness , climatic response , conifers , even-age forest plantation , pointer years , quantitative wood anatomy , tracheids , tree radial growth
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Khakass Technical Institute, Siberian Federal University, Abakan, 655017, Russian Federation
Institute of Ecology and Geography, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russian Federation
Department of Biology and Ecology, Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, 140008, Kazakhstan
Secondary Comprehensive School No. 19, Abakan, 655017, Russian Federation
Department of Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, D-37077, Germany
Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, D-37075, Germany
Laboratory of Population Genetics, N. I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119333, Russian Federation
Laboratory of Forest Genomics, Genome Research and Education Center, Department of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Institute of Fundamental Biology and Biotechnology, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation
Scientific and Methodological Center, G. F. Morozov Voronezh State University of Forestry and Technologies, Voronezh, 394036, Russian Federation
Department of Dendroecology, V. N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russian Federation
Khakass Technical Institute
Institute of Ecology and Geography
Department of Biology and Ecology
Secondary Comprehensive School No. 19
Department of Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding
Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed)
Laboratory of Population Genetics
Laboratory of Forest Genomics
Scientific and Methodological Center
Department of Dendroecology
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