Biological Flora of the British Isles:Sorbus torminalis

Abstract

Summary1. This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz (Wild Service-tree) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characters, herbivores and disease, history and conservation. 2. Sorbus torminalis is an uncommon, mostly small tree (but can reach 33 m) native to lowland England and Wales, and temperate and Mediterranean regions of mainland Europe. It is the most shade-tolerant member of the genus in the British Isles, and as a result, it is more closely associated with woodland than any other British species. Like other British Sorbus species, however, it grows best where competition for space and sunlight is limited. Seedlings are shade tolerant but adults are only moderately so. This, combined with its low competitive ability, restricts the best growth to open areas. In shade, saplings and young adults form a sapling bank, showing reproduction and extensive growth only when released. Sorbus torminalis tolerates a wide range of soil reaction (pH 3Á5-8Á0) but grows best on calcareous clays and thin soils over limestone. 3. Sorbus torminalis is a sexual, diploid, non-apomictic species that has hybridised with a number of other Sorbus species to form microspecies. The hermaphrodite flowers are primarily insect pollinated. Seed production is reliable only in warm years, especially at the edge of its range, although even then seed viability is low. The fruits are primarily dispersed by carnivorous mammals. Seeds display embryo dormancy but most will germinate the first spring after falling. 4. This tree is very tolerant of short droughts but only moderately tolerant of frost, hence its southerly and lowland distribution. It faces no particular individual threats although the small size of most populations makes it susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation, particularly through the loss of open coppiced areas. As a consequence, it appears to be declining throughout Britain and Europe despite its wide range of historical uses and the high value of its timber. The extent to which these losses will be offset by increases due to climate change is unknown.Key-words: climatic limitation, communities, conservation, ecophysiology, geographical and altitudinal distribution, germination, herbivory, mycorrhiza, parasites and diseases, reproductive biology, soils Wild Service-tree or Chequers/Chequer tree. Rosaceae. Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz (Crataegus torminalis L., Pyrus torminalis (L.) Ehrh., Aria torminalis (L.) Beck., Torminaria clusii Roem., Torminalis clusii (Roem.) Roberts & Phipps) is usually a subordinate, subcanopy tree or shrub of temperate deciduous forests, and more rarely a co-dominant canopy tree reaching 30-33 m. Suckers profusely. Crown narrow when shaded but round, ...

Morphological and ecological peculiarities of checker tree mountain ash (Torminalis glaberrima) plants and biochemical composition of its fruits

“…It should be noted that the checker tree is an aboriginal species and the extreme north-eastern limit of its distribution is: Zаkаrpаttia, Peredkarpattia, Bukovynа, Pоdіllia, some localities are in the mountainous Crimea (Kоsеts, 1941;Termena & Budzhak, 1997;Mosyakin, 1999;Budzhak et al, 2000;Didukh, 2009). In addition, the species covers large areas in Western Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus, North Africa Zwierzyński & Bednorz, 2012;Szymura et al, 2014;Thomas, 2017). In Europe this species is widespread in Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Romania, Serbia, as well as in other countries of the Balkan and Iberian Peninsulas, in some parts of Switzerland, the Caucasus (Fig.…”

“…In Europe this species is widespread in Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Romania, Serbia, as well as in other countries of the Balkan and Iberian Peninsulas, in some parts of Switzerland, the Caucasus (Fig. 3) de Rigo, et al, 2016;Thomas, 2017), where its average density ranges from 0.2 to 30 trees/ha (Moskalets et al, 2020). International experts (Zwierzyński & Bednorz, 2012;Madera, 2013;Nemeth, 2015;Thomas, 2017) and national scientists (Kоsеts, 1941;Termena & Budzhak, 1997;Shpak et al, 2017) have proved the priority of the study, preservation and restoration of populations of wild service tree given its vitality and environmental significance.…”

“…3) de Rigo, et al, 2016;Thomas, 2017), where its average density ranges from 0.2 to 30 trees/ha (Moskalets et al, 2020). International experts (Zwierzyński & Bednorz, 2012;Madera, 2013;Nemeth, 2015;Thomas, 2017) and national scientists (Kоsеts, 1941;Termena & Budzhak, 1997;Shpak et al, 2017) have proved the priority of the study, preservation and restoration of populations of wild service tree given its vitality and environmental significance. In countries such as Germany, Serbia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and others, the checker tree was listed in the 'Red Book' and a start has been made to entry of selected genotypes to the Register of Plant Varieties (Ireland, Austria) (Grynyk et al, 2019;Moskalets et al, 2020).…”

“…There is also evidence that it is becoming rarer in some areas such as eastern France, starting in 1988 (Allegrini et al, 1993), and central Europe (Drapier 1993a;Drapier 1993b). It has also been suggested that particularly tall trees of good form are being preferentially harvested and not replaced (Thomas, 2017), leading to the species becoming increasingly shrubby. Few European countries consider that wild service tree does not need nature conservation efforts (Lefevre et al, 2020), for example in Great Britain, where it has been classified as Least Concern using IUCN threat criteria (Moskalets et al, 2020).…”

Functional fingerprinting estimates renewal opportunities for tree species in a mixed Turkey oak forest

“…Reduction in water availability due to elevated temperature and high light intensity can induce contradictory and species-specific responses in carbon allocation and hydraulic properties (Gortan et al, 2009;Petit et al, 2016;Kiorapostolou and Petit, 2018). Depending on the biological properties of the plants, restricted growth or decreased abundance can be detected during regeneration despite favorable environmental conditions (Březina and Dobrovolný, 2011;Saniga et al, 2014), (Martínez-Vilalta et al, 2002;Ďurkovič et al, 2013;Thomas, 2017;Bednorz and Nowinska, 2018).…”