Phenotypic plasticity versus ecotypic differentiation under recurrent summer drought in two drought‐tolerant pine species

Bachofen, Christoph; Perret‐Gentil, Anouchka; Wohlgemuth, Thomas; Vollenweider, Pierre; Moser, Barbara

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13762

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 111 publications

(188 reference statements)

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“…For example, a late season drought can reduce the quality of buds through a lack of nutrient uptake, leading to shorter shoots and/or fewer new leaves in the following year. This reduces leaf area for 1 year (in the case of deciduous tree species) or multiple years (in the case of evergreens; Bachofen et al, 2021; Yang & Midmore, 2005; Zweifel et al, 2020; Zweifel & Sterck, 2018). Hence, a longer leaf area‐related lag effect is expected in evergreen species compared to deciduous species (Zweifel & Sterck, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy effects in radial tree growth are rarely significant after accounting for biological memory

et al. 2022

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1. Drought legacies in radial tree growth are an important feature of variability in biomass accumulation and are widely used to characterize forest resilience to climate change. Defined as a deviation from normal growth, the statistical significance of legacy effects depends on the definition of "normal"-expected growth under average conditions-which has not received sufficient scrutiny.2. We re-examined legacy effect analyses using the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) and then produced synthetic tree-ring data to disentangle four key variables influencing the magnitude of legacy effects. We hypothesized that legacy effects (i) are mainly influenced by the auto-correlation of the radial growth time series (phi), (ii) depend on climate-growth cross-correlation (rho), (iii) are directly proportional to the inherent variability of the growth time series (standard deviation, SD), and (iv) scale with the chosen extreme event threshold.3. Using a data simulation approach, we were able to reproduce observed lag patterns, demonstrating that legacy effects are a direct outcome of ubiquitous biological memory. We found that stronger legacy effects for conifers compared to angiosperms is a consequence of their higher auto-correlation, and that the detectability of legacy effects following rare drought events at individual sites is compromised by strong background stochasticity. Synthesis.We propose two pathways forward to improve the assessment and interpretation of legacy effects: First, we highlight the need to account for auto-correlated residuals of climate-growth regression models a posteriori, thereby retrospectively adjusting expectations for "normal" growth variability.Alternatively, we recommend including lagged climate variables in regression models a priori. By doing so, the magnitude of detected legacy effects is greatly reduced and biological memory is directly attributed to antecedent climatic drivers. We argue that future analyses should focus on understanding the functional | 1189

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy effects in radial tree growth are rarely significant after accounting for biological memory

et al. 2022

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“…We further assessed evidence for local adaptation in greenhouse‐measured seedling traits by evaluating the relationships between climatic moisture deficit (CMD) at the seed source and each trait, including SLA, SRL, root:shoot, total biomass, growth rate, and carbon‐13 composition (Bachofen et al, 2021). Seed source CMD integrates unmet water demand and temperature to reflect the average drought conditions of each population's source and thus is relevant for climate‐informed seed lot selection in the context of expected future climate change.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reforestation of high elevation pines: Direct seeding success depends on seed source and sowing environment

Hankin

Leger

Bisbing

2023

Ecological Applications

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Forest persistence in regions impacted by increasing water and temperature stress will depend upon species' ability to either rapidly adjust to novel conditions or migrate to track ecological niches. Predicted, rapid climate change is likely to outpace the adaptive and migratory capacity of long‐lived isolated tree species, and reforestation may be critical to species' persistence. Facilitating persistence both within and beyond a species' range requires identification of seed lots best adapted to the current and future conditions predicted with rapid climate change. We evaluate variation in emergent seedling performance that leads to differential survival among species and populations for three high elevation five‐needle pines. We paired a fully reciprocal field common garden experiment with a greenhouse common garden study to (1) quantify variation in seedling emergence and functional traits, (2) ask how functional traits affect performance under different establishment conditions, and (3) evaluate whether trait and performance variation demonstrates local adaptation and plasticity. Among study species—limber, Great Basin bristlecone, and whitebark pines—we found divergence in emergence and functional traits, though soil moisture was the strongest driver of seedling emergence and abundance across all species. Generalist limber pine had a clear emergence advantage as well as traits associated with drought adaptation, while edaphic specialist bristlecone pine was characterized by low emergence yet high early survival once established. Despite evidence for edaphic specialization, soil characteristics alone did not explain bristlecone success. Across species, trait‐environment relationships provided some evidence for local adaptation in drought‐adapted traits, but we found no evidence of local adaptation in emergence or survival at this early life stage. For managers looking to promote persistence, sourcing seed from drier environments is likely to impart greater drought resistance into reforestation efforts through strategies such as greater root investment, increasing the probability of early seedling survival. This research demonstrates, through a rigorous reciprocal transplant experimental design, that it may be possible to select climate‐ and soil‐appropriate seed sources for reforestation. However, planting success will ultimately rely on a suitable establishment environment, requiring careful consideration of interannual climate variability for management interventions in these climate and disturbance‐impacted tree species.

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“…The models were estimated using prog curveFit in the software GAUSS (Aptech, 2022). All cases refer to the respective time series of the variables for the maximum common overlap period t = 1953-2020.…”

Section: Statistical Analysis and Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The computational work was performed using the software GAUSS 23 (Aptech, 2022) together with the CVFIT and TSMT packages (Aptech, 2022), and the package DYNACLIM (van Deusen & Koretz, 1988) for chronology building. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is used for solving the nonlinear least squares minimization problem.…”

Section: Statistical Analysis and Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐driven tree growth and mortality in the Black Forest, Germany—Long‐term observations

Spiecker

Kahle

2023

Global Change Biology

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Episodic tree mortality can be caused by various reasons. This study describes climate‐driven tree mortality and tree growth in the Black Forest mountain range in Germany. It is based on a 68‐year consistent data series describing the annual mortality of all trees growing in a forest area of almost 250 thousand ha. The study excludes mortality caused by storm, snow and ice, and fire. The sequence of the remaining mortality, the so‐called “desiccated trees,” is analyzed and compared with the sequence of the climatic water balance during the growing season and the annual radial growth of Norway spruce in the Black Forest. The annual radial growth series covers 121 years and the climatic water balance series 140 years. These unique time series enable a quantitative assessment of multidecadal drought and heat impacts on growth and mortality of forest trees on a regional spatial scale. Data compiled here suggest that the mortality of desiccated trees in the Black Forest during the last 68 years is driven by the climatic water balance. Decreasing climatic water balance coincided with an increase in tree mortality and growth decline. Consecutive hot and dry summers enhance mortality and growth decline as a consequence of drought legacies lasting several years. The sensitivity of tree growth and mortality to changes in the climatic water balance increases with the decreasing trend of the climatic water balance. The findings identify the climatic water balance as the main driver of mortality and growth variation during the 68‐year observation period on a landscape‐scale including a variety of different sites. They suggest that bark beetle population dynamics modify mortality rates. They as well provide evidence that the mortality during the last 140 years never was as high as in the most recent years.

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Phenotypic plasticity versus ecotypic differentiation under recurrent summer drought in two drought‐tolerant pine species

Abstract: This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 17 publications

References 111 publications

Legacy effects in radial tree growth are rarely significant after accounting for biological memory

Legacy effects in radial tree growth are rarely significant after accounting for biological memory

Reforestation of high elevation pines: Direct seeding success depends on seed source and sowing environment

Climate‐driven tree growth and mortality in the Black Forest, Germany—Long‐term observations

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