Genetic variation of hydraulic and wood anatomical traits in hybrid poplar and trembling aspen

Abstract

Summary• Intensive forestry systems and breeding programs often include either native aspen or hybrid poplar clones, and performance and trait evaluations are mostly made within these two groups. Here, we assessed how traits with potential adaptive value varied within and across these two plant groups.• Variation in nine hydraulic and wood anatomical traits as well as growth were measured in selected aspen and hybrid poplar genotypes grown at a boreal planting site in Alberta, Canada. Variability in these traits was statistically evaluated based on a blocked experimental design.• We found that genotypes of trembling aspen were more resistant to cavitation, exhibited more negative water potentials, and were more water-use-efficient than hybrid poplars. Under the boreal field test conditions, which included major regional droughts, height growth was negatively correlated with branch vessel diameter (D v ) in both aspen and hybrid poplars and differences in D v were highly conserved in aspen trees from different provenances.• Differences between the hybrid poplars and aspen provenances suggest that these two groups employ different water-use strategies. The data also suggest that vessel diameter may be a key trait in evaluating growth performance in a boreal environment.

The Hydraulic Architecture of Conifers

“…Nonetheless, in habitats where vessel diameter is constrained by freezing and/or drought stress, both xylem types should exhibit similar K smax values, and this may help conifers compete with angiosperms (Pittermann et al 2005;Sperry et al 2008). The data is for flushed samples that were at least 14 cm in length, and was taken from various publications Pittermann et al 2006a;Hacke and Jansen 2009;Schoonmaker et al 2010;Schreiber et al 2011) …”

Analyses of Genotypic Variation in White Poplar Clones at Four Sites in China

“…pulp, paper and fiber products) and as a source of energy (SEYED, 2011;BRADSHAW et al, 2000;FANG et al, 1999;GAMBLES et al, 1984). It is also an attractive and valuable forest resource because of its fast growing nature and can be easily propagated from both seed and vegetative reproduction (SCHREIBER et al, 2011;COOKE et al, 2007).…”

The Hydraulic Architecture of Populus

“…At a boreal planting site, trees with narrow xylem vessels exhibited reduced freezing-induced embolism and showed superior performance after 16 growing seasons (Schreiber et al 2011 ;Schreiber et al 2013 ) (Fig. 4.7a, b ).…”

“…4.6a ). Flushed branch segments of hybrid poplar and trembling aspen trees growing at a boreal planting site exhibited specifi c conductivities between 1 and 2 kg s −1 m −1 MPa −1 (Schreiber et al 2011 ). Trends in K S correspond with the mean vessel diameters measured in these plant groups.…”

“…K S values refer to fl ushed segments that were typically ≥14 cm in length. Data for trembling aspen and hybrid poplar trees is for branches collected from fi eld-grown plantation trees (Schreiber et al 2011 ). Data for hybrid poplar saplings (Hybrid poplar, greenhouse) refers to well-watered plants growing in a growth chamber (Plavcova and Hacke 2012 ) or greenhouse (Harvey and van den Driessche 1997 ) The clone "Walker" is shown as a reference.…”