Misplaced Pages

#496503

36-631: Especially protected are the Norway spruce –dominated highland forests, mixed mountain forests of European silver fir , European beech and spruce trees and water meadow spruce woods in the valleys. Although a few remnants of ancient forest remain, the National Park area is still heavily influenced by the former forestry industry. Since nature is now left to take its course again, there is no human intervention when there are catastrophic events such as large scale bark beetle infestation. This resulted in

72-402: A distinct species, it takes the name Alpine spruce ( Picea alpestris ). As with Siberian spruce, it hybridizes extensively with Norway spruce; pure specimens are rare. Hybrids are commonly known as Norwegian spruce, which should not be confused with the pure species Norway spruce. The Norway spruce is one of the most widely planted spruces, both in and outside of its native range, and one of

108-536: A pale brown 15 mm wing. The tallest measured Norway spruce is 62.26 m (204 ft) tall and grows near Ribnica na Pohorju , Slovenia . The Norway spruce grows throughout Europe from Norway in the northwest and Poland eastward, and also in the mountains of central Europe, southwest to the western end of the Alps, and southeast in the Carpathians and Balkans to the extreme north of Greece. The northern limit

144-624: A trunk diameter of 1 to 1.5 m. It can grow fast when young, up to 1 m per year for the first 25 years under good conditions, but becomes slower once over 20 m (65 ft) tall. The shoots are orange-brown and glabrous. The leaves are needle-like with blunt tips, 12–14 mm long, quadrangular in cross-section, and dark green on all four sides with inconspicuous stomatal lines. The seed cones are 9–17 cm long (the longest of any spruce), and have bluntly to sharply triangular-pointed scale tips. They are green or reddish, maturing brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 4–5 mm long, with

180-463: A wide distribution for it being planted for its wood, and is the species used as the main Christmas tree in several countries around the world. It was the first gymnosperm to have its genome sequenced . The Latin specific epithet abies means "like Abies , Fir tree". Norway spruce is a large, fast-growing evergreen coniferous tree growing 35–55 m (115–180 ft) tall and with

216-537: A wide variety of sizes and shapes, from full-sized forest trees to extremely slow-growing, prostrate forms. They are occasionally traded under the obsolete scientific name Picea excelsa (an illegitimate name ). The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society 's Award of Garden Merit : The Norway spruce is used in forestry for ( softwood ) timber , and paper production. The Norwegian company Borregaard produces

252-622: Is extensive overlap in variation with trees from other parts of the range. Some botanists treat Siberian spruce as a subspecies of Norway spruce, though in their typical forms, they are very distinct, the Siberian spruce having cones only 5–10 cm long, with smoothly rounded scales, and pubescent shoots. Genetically Norway and Siberian spruces have turned out to be extremely similar and may be considered as two closely related subspecies of P. abies . Another spruce with smoothly rounded cone scales and hairy shoots occurs rarely in

288-678: Is in the arctic, just north of 70° N in Norway. Its eastern limit in Russia is hard to define, due to extensive hybridization and intergradation with the Siberian spruce , but is usually given as the Ural Mountains. However, trees showing some Siberian spruce characters extend as far west as much of northern Finland, with a few records in northeast Norway. The hybrid is known as Picea × fennica (or P. abies subsp. fennica , if

324-679: Is mainly a sign of gratitude for the aid these countries gave during the Second World War. In North America, Norway spruce is widely planted, specifically in the Northeastern , Pacific Coast , and Rocky Mountain states , as well as in southeastern Canada. It is naturalised in some parts of North America. There are naturalized populations occurring from Connecticut to Michigan , and it is probable that they occur elsewhere. Norway spruces prefer cool-summer areas and they will grow up to USDA Growing Zone 7. Seed production begins when

360-401: Is the "oldest living tree". The oldest individual specimen of Norway spruce discovered by tree ring dating found in 2012 in a nature reserve of Buskerud County, Norway, was found to be 532 years old. However, Pando , a stand of 47,000 quaking aspen clones, is estimated to be between 14,000 and one million years old. The stress is on the difference between the singular "oldest tree" and

396-528: Is the accepted name of this species. More than 150 synonyms of Picea abies have been published. Homotypic synonyms of Picea abies are: Some heterotypic synonyms of Picea abies are: Lipno Reservoir The Lipno Reservoir ( Czech : přehrada Lipno ) is a dam and hydroelectric plant constructed along the Vltava River in the Czech Republic . It is the largest water area in

SECTION 10

#1732765238497

432-463: The Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ), wildcat ( Felis silvestris ), beaver ( Castor fiber ), Eurasian otter ( Lutra lutra ), western barbastelle ( Barbastella barbastellus ), Bechstein's bat ( Myotis bechsteini ) and the greater mouse-eared bat ( Myotis myotis ). Also present are red deer , of which two-thirds of the population overwinter in an enclosure, in order to prevent excessive grazing to

468-640: The Großer Rachel (1,453 m (4,767 ft)). In addition to the forests, there are also ecologically valuable raised bogs with bog lakes such as the Latschensee and former high meadows, the so-called Schachten , which spread even further on the Czech side of the border in the Bohemian Forest . With over 700,000 visitors per year, the National Park is an important economic factor in

504-470: The Norway spruce or European spruce , is a species of spruce native to Northern , Central and Eastern Europe . It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce , 9–17 cm long. It is very closely related to the Siberian spruce ( Picea obovata ), which replaces it east of the Ural Mountains , and with which it hybridizes freely. The Norway spruce has

540-649: The Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest . On the other side of the border in the Czech Republic, the Bavarian Forest National Park is bounded by the Šumava National Park which is 68,064 hectares in area. The national park is located in the eastern part of Bavaria in the counties of Regen and Freyung-Grafenau along the border with the Czech Republic and covers an area of 24,250 hectares of forest covering

576-525: The Central Alps in eastern Switzerland . It is also distinct in having thicker, blue-green leaves. Many texts treat this as a variant of Norway spruce, but it is as distinct as many other spruces, and appears to be more closely related to Siberian spruce ( Picea obovata ), Schrenk's spruce ( Picea schrenkiana ) from central Asia and Morinda spruce ( Picea smithiana ) in the Himalaya . Treated as

612-604: The Czech Republic. Due to frequent flooding and subsequent damage, the Vltava River in Southern Bohemia was problematic for Český Krumlov and other settlements situated on it. To harness the power of the river, and to prevent continued catastrophe, it was decided that a hydroelectric plant would be built high on the Vltava. Preparatory work at the municipality of Lipno nad Vltavou began in 1951. Construction on

648-683: The annual growth period as well as differences in frost-hardiness in spring and autumn. These annual growth patterns are important to recognize in order to choose the proper reforestation material of Picea abies . p-Hydroxybenzoic acid glucoside , picein , piceatannol and its glucoside ( astringin ), isorhapontin (the isorhapontigenin glucoside), catechin and ferulic acid are phenolic compounds found in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces. Piceol and astringin are also found in P. abies . Extracts from Picea abies have shown inhibitory activity on porcine pancreatic lipase in vitro . Picea abies (L.) H. Karst

684-468: The assembly of such a large and repetitive genome is a particularly challenging task, mainly from a computational perspective. Within populations of Picea abies there is great genetic variability, which most likely reflect populations' isolation in glacial refugia and post-glacial evolutionary history. Genetic diversity can in particular be detected when looking at how the populations respond to climatic conditions. E.g. variations in timing and length of

720-406: The dam began in 1952, and the dam was completed in 1960. The stream bed of the Vltava near Lipno was chosen because it has a slight incline, facilitating the construction of a reservoir there. The dam is built along the highest-elevated stage of the Vltava River's cascade (roughly 726 metres above sea level), thus enabling large amounts of hydropower out-put. This area is mountainous, and borders

756-551: The death of a portion of the high elevation forests in the 1990s and triggered controversial discussions amongst the residents of the National Park, which highlighted differing attitudes to the wilderness. As the result of a compromise, bark beetle is now fought in the buffer area. The highest peaks in the National Park are the Großer Falkenstein (1,305 m (4,281 ft)), the Lusen (1,373 m (4,505 ft)) and

SECTION 20

#1732765238497

792-730: The economically underdeveloped region of the Bavarian Forest. The National Park runs along the main ridge of the Bavarian Forest from the Großer Falkenstein (1,305 m) in the northwest past the Großer Rachel (1,453 m) to the Lusen (1,373 m) in the southeast. According to the classification of the major natural regions of Germany it is part of the Rear Bavarian Forest ( Hinterer Bayerischer Wald ) in

828-484: The land. Even moose have been recorded in the park, from a population in the Lipno Reservoir , Czech Republic. Lynx were eradicated from the National Park in around 1850, but in the 1970s five to ten were released into the park, along with another 17 released in the Šumava national park a decade later. This resulted in an initially strong increase in the lynx population in the region, but between 1995 and 2008,

864-468: The low mountain range of the Bavarian Forest . It borders on the municipalities of (from north to south): Bayerisch Eisenstein , Zwiesel , Lindberg , Frauenau , Spiegelau , Sankt Oswald-Riedlhütte , Neuschönau , Hohenau and Mauth . Parts of the National Park are located on the territory of the respective communities and parts also lie in unparished areas . There are many enclaves in

900-605: The most economically important coniferous species in Europe. It is used as an ornamental tree in parks and gardens . It is also widely planted for use as a Christmas tree . Every Christmas, the Norwegian capital city, Oslo, provides the cities of London (the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree ), Edinburgh and Washington, D.C., with a Norway spruce, which is placed at the central most square of each city. This

936-447: The multiple "oldest trees", and between "oldest clone" and "oldest non-clone". Old Tjikko is one of a series of genetically identical clones growing from a root system, one part of which is estimated to be 9,550 years old based on carbon dating. The oldest known individual tree (that has not taken advantage of vegetative cloning ) is a Great Basin bristlecone pine over 5,000 years old (germination in 3051 BC). The genome of Picea abies

972-545: The national park over 1800 beetle species have currently been identified, including 14 ancient woodland specialist species. Very rare insect species such as Tragosoma depsarium , a longhorn beetle which can only be found in forests rich in dead wood . Rare and endangered plant species which are found in the national park include the Hungarian gentian , Swertia perennis and the mosses Buxbaumia viridis and Dicranum viride . Picea abies Picea abies ,

1008-463: The national park, especially around the edges: In addition, there are several other enclaves that comprise just one or a few small plots. These numerous enclaves, especially in the Altgebiet make the border very long there, and the buffer zone, where bark beetle control is allowed, extends far into the interior of the park (see below for more details). The park is home to many rare mammals such as

1044-454: The population decreased significantly. This was possibly due to the illegal killing of the animals on both the Czech and Bavarian sides. Brown bears are not found in the wild in the park. In 2016, a pair of wolves was discovered in the park. Many rarely seen species of birds are found in the national park. These include capercaillie , hazel grouse , peregrine falcon , European honey-buzzard , black stork and Eurasian pygmy owl . In

1080-453: The respiratory tract, skin, locomotor system, gastrointestinal tract and infections. During the production of Mont d'Or cheese it is wrapped in a " sangle " made from the cambium of a Norway spruce (French: Épicéa commun  [ fr ] ) for about two weeks at least, which gives the cheese a unique flavour. A press release from Umeå University says that a Norway spruce clone named Old Tjikko , carbon dated as 9,550 years old,

1116-587: The seeds have a significantly reduced germination rate in areas with hot, humid summers. The Norway spruce tolerates acidic soils well, but does not do well on dry or deficient soils. From 1928 until the 1960s it was planted on surface mine spoils in Indiana. Several cultivars have been selected as ornamentals ('Barrya', 'Capitata', 'Decumbens', 'Dumosa', 'Clanbrassiliana', 'Gregoryana', 'Inversa', 'Microsperma', 'Nidiformis', 'Ohlendorffii', 'Repens', 'Tabuliformis', 'Maxwellii', 'Virgata', 'Inversa', 'Pendula'), with

Bavarian Forest National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-409: The synthetic substitute for natural vanilla Vanillin using the Norwegian spruce. They are currently the only company to produce wood based vanillin and is claimed by the company to be preferred by their customers due to, among other reasons, its much lower carbon footprint than petrochemically synthesized vanillin. It is esteemed as a source of tonewood by stringed-instrument makers. One form of

1188-601: The tree called Haselfichte  [ de ] (Hazel-spruce) grows in the European Alps and has been recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. This form was used by Stradivarius for instruments. The tree is the source of spruce beer , which was once used to prevent and even cure scurvy . Norway spruce shoot tips have been used in traditional Austrian medicine internally (as syrup or tea) and externally (as baths, for inhalation, as ointments, as resin application or as tea) for treatment of disorders of

1224-531: The tree is in its fourth decade and total lifespan is up to 300 years in its natural range in Europe. Introduced Norway spruces in the British Isles and North America have a much shorter life expectancy. As the tree ages, its crown thins out and lower branches die off. In the northern US and Canada, Norway spruce is reported as invasive in some locations; however, it does not pose a problem in Zone 6 and up as

1260-514: The two taxa are considered subspecies ), and can be distinguished by a tendency towards having hairy shoots and cones with smoothly rounded scales. Norway spruce cone scales are used as food by the caterpillars of the tortrix moth Cydia illutana , whereas Cydia duplicana feeds on the bark around injuries or canker . Populations in southeast Europe tend to have on average longer cones with more pointed scales; these are sometimes distinguished as Picea abies var. acuminata , but there

1296-430: Was sequenced in 2013, the first gymnosperm genome to be completely sequenced. The genome contains approximately 20 billion base pairs and is about six times the size of the human genome, despite possessing a similar number of genes. A large proportion of the spruce genome consists of repetitive DNA sequences, including long terminal repeat transposable elements . Despite recent advances in massively parallel DNA sequencing,

#496503