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Deep Undercooling of Tissue Water and Winter Hardiness Limitations in Timberline Flora ¹

Department of Horticulture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523

Deep undercooled tissue water, which froze near –40 C, was found in winter collected stem and leaf tissue of the dominant timberline tree species of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii (Parry) Engelm.) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.), and in numerous other woody species in and below the subalpine vegetation zone. Previous work on numerous woody plants indicates that deep undercooling in xylem makes probable a –40 C winter hardiness limit in stem tissue. Visual injury determinations and electrolyte loss measurements on stem tissue revealed injury near –40 C associated with the freezing of the deep undercooled stem tissue water. These results suggest that the winter hardiness limit of this woody flora is near –40 C. The relevance of deep undercooling in relation to timberline, the upper elevational limit of the subalpine forest, is discussed.

³ Present address: Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.

⁴ Present address: Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309.

⁵ Present address: Fruit Crops Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

¹ These studies were supported in part by grants to MJB from the National Science Foundation (BMS 74-23137), The Petroleum Research Fund (PRF 9702-AC1, 6), The Research Corporation, The Horticultural Research Institute, and the Colorado Experiment Station. Scientific Journal Series Paper 2640 of the Colorado Experiment Station.

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