GROWTH AND NUTRIENT CHARACTERISTICS IN BOG AND FEN POPULATIONS OF SCOTS PINE (PINUS-SYLVESTRIS)

Nutrient content in pear and growth rate, rate of nutrient accumulatio n and allocation patterns in Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. from eleve n natural Swedish peatlands were examined. The peatlands studied repre sented a wide range of climatic conditions and mire types. Whole and e ven-sized pines with intact root-systems were excavated to give the wh ole-pine budget for growth and nutrient accumulation. All samples orig inated from hummock communities. Pine growth and nutrient characterist ics were much more variable in the minerogenous sites than in the ombr ogenous sites, which indicates a larger environmental heterogeneity wi thin the minerogenous sites. In the ombrogenous sites, rate of pine gr owth was constant, approximately 1 mg day(-1), and independent of lati tudinal variation. There was either no relationship between latitudina l location and growth rate in the minerogenous sites, which suggests t hat pine growth is largely controlled by site-specific, very local con ditions. The growth rate of pines was not correlated with any peat nut rient. The pines allocated a large proportion of their nutrient-pool t o the metabolically active current year's growth. This is likely a tra it that enables Scots pine to occupy a wide range of peatland types in which it experience a marked imbalance and shortage of nutrients.