Nutrient conservation increases with latitude of origin in European Pinus sylvestris populations

Abstract

Nutrient availability varies across climatic gradients, yet intraspecific adaptation across such gradients in plant traits related to internal cycling and nutrient resorption remains poorly understood. We examined nutrient resorption among six Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) populations of wide-ranging origin grown under common-garden conditions in Poland. These results were compared with mass-based needle N and P for 195 Scots pine stands throughout the species' European range. At the common site, green needle N (r(2)=0.81, P=0.01) and P (r(2)=0.58, P=0.08) concentration increased with increasing latitude of population origin. Resorption efficiency (the proportion of the leaf nutrient pool resorbed during senescence) of N and P of Scots pine populations increased with the latitude of seed origin (r(2) > or = 0.67, P < or = 0.05). The greater resorption efficiency of more northerly populations led to lower concentrations of N and P in senescent leaves (higher resorption proficiency) than populations originating from low latitudes. The direction of change in these traits indicates potential adaptation of populations from northern, colder habitats to more efficient internal nutrient cycling. For native Scots pine stands, results showed greater nutrient conservation in situ in cold-adapted northern populations, via extended needle longevity (from 2 to 3 years at 50 degrees N to 7 years at 70 degrees N), and greater resorption efficiency and proficiency, with their greater resorption efficiency and proficiency having genotypic roots demonstrated in the common-garden experiment. However, for native Scots pine stands, green needle N decreased with increasing latitude (r(2)=0.83, P=0.0002), and P was stable other than decreasing above 62 degrees N. Hence, the genotypic tendency towards maintenance of higher nutrient concentrations in green foliage and effective nutrient resorption, demonstrated by northern populations in the common garden, did not entirely compensate for presumed nutrient availability limitations along the in situ latitudinal temperature gradient.

Morphological and physiological responses to drought stress of European provenances of Scots pine

“…The robustness of the provenance differences reported here to the effects of plant size confirms the existence of significant genetic variability for these characters in Scots pine (e.g. Alía et al 2001;Cregg and Zhang 2001, Oleksyn et al 1998, 2003. In Scots pine, seed mass varies systematically across latitude with significantly larger seeds in southern provenances (Reich et al 1994).…”

“…Havaux et al 1988;Reich et al 1996;Oleksyn et al 2003;Bigras 2005). However, only a few have examined the interaction of intra-specific genetic variability with other stress factors, such as drought (in Scots pine, Taeger et al 2013Taeger et al , 2015Matías et al 2014;Seidel and Menzel 2016).…”

“…Phenotypic variation has been shown to occur in physiology and growth across populations of Scots pine, for characters such as water use efficiency and resistance to drought-induced embolism (Martínez-Vilalta et al 2009), leaf-to-sapwood-area ratios (Mencuccini and Bonosi 2001;Martínez-Vilalta et al 2009;Laforest-Lapointe et al 2014), wood density (Laforest-Lapointe et al 2014), specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content (Oleksyn et al 2003;Laforest-Lapointe et al 2014), growth rates (Rehfeldt et al 2002;Reich and Oleksyn 2008) and growth rhythm (Notivol et al 2007). In addition to phenotypic variation, traits such as content of the major nutrients and their resorption efficiency, net photosynthesis, leaf dark respiration, water use efficiency, aboveground height and biomass growth have all been found to vary clinally across provenances in common garden trials, primarily in relation to latitude and elevation (e.g.…”

“…In addition to phenotypic variation, traits such as content of the major nutrients and their resorption efficiency, net photosynthesis, leaf dark respiration, water use efficiency, aboveground height and biomass growth have all been found to vary clinally across provenances in common garden trials, primarily in relation to latitude and elevation (e.g. Oleksyn and Bialobok 1986;Reich et al 1996;Oleksyn et al 1998Oleksyn et al , 1999Oleksyn et al , 2000Oleksyn et al , 2001Oleksyn et al , 2003, but also to longitude (Shutyaev and Giertych 2000;Cregg and Zhang 2001), suggesting strong genetic controls of important adaptive traits. However, much of this evidence has been gathered from provenance trials conducted in the central range of the species distribution in Europe (e.g.…”

Larger investment in roots in southern range-edge populations of Scots pine is associated with increased growth and seedling resistance to extreme drought in response to simulated climate change

“…Scots pine populations from colder environments often show higher tissue nitrogen concentrations and higher metabolic rates than populations from warmer environments when grown in common gardens (Reich et al, 1996;Oleksyn et al, 2003). Nevertheless, we found an opposite pattern, with higher values of both total N concentration and δ 15 N in southern seedlings.…”