Two different strategies of Mediterranean macchia plants to avoid photoinhibitory damage by excessive radiation levels during summer drought

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Werner ◽  
Otilia Correia ◽  
Wolfram Beyschlag
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
R.W. Hofmann ◽  
B.D. Campbell ◽  
E.E. Swinny ◽  
S.J. Bloor ◽  
K.R. Markham ◽  
...  

During summertime in New Zealand, white clover experiences high levels of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation. This frequently coincides with periods of summer drought. We investigated responses to UV-B and to the combination of UV-B and drought in various white clover populations, including New Zealand cultivars and ecotypes as well as overseas germplasm. The results were obtained under controlled environmental conditions in three independent trials. Overall, white clover growth was reduced by UV-B. The population comparisons indicated that low growth rate and adaptation to other forms of stress may be related to UV-B tolerance under well-watered conditions, but not during extended periods of drought. Flavonoid pigments that are involved in stress protection were strongly increased under UV-B and were further enhanced in the combination of UV-B and drought. The responses among these flavonoids were highly specific, with more pronounced UV-B-induced increases in quercetin glycosides, compared to their closely related kaempferol counterparts. UV-B toler ance of the less productive white clover populations was linked to the accumulation of quercetin compounds. In conclusion, these studies suggest (i) that slow-growing white clover ecotypes adapted to other stresses have higher capacity for biochemical acclimation to UV-B under well-watered conditions and (ii) that these biochemical attributes may also contribute to decreased UV-B sensitivity across white clover populations under drought. The findings alert plant breeders to potential benefits of selecting productive germplasm for high levels of specific flavonoids to balance trade-offs between plant productivity and stress tolerance. Keywords: Drought, flavonoids, genetic variation, HPLC, kaempferol, quercetin, str ess, Trifolium repens L., ultraviolet-B, white clover


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Luis Montero-Muñoz ◽  
Carmen Ureña ◽  
Diego Navarro ◽  
Valentín Herrera ◽  
Pilar Alonso-Rojo ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims We studied the regeneration dynamics of woodlands and abandoned old fields in a landscape dominated by Quercus suber in its lower limits of rainfall and temperature. Two hypotheses were established: (1) regeneration of Quercus species is strongly favored by the presence of tree cover; and (2) growth of Q. suber is driven by the climatic variables that represent the lower ecological limit of its leading distribution edge. Methods We selected woodlands and old fields with and without tree remnants (n = 3 per type), and analyzed stand structure, soil parameters and tree growth. Results Succession was arrested in old fields without tree remnants. By contrast, remnant trees were accelerators of forest recovery in old fields. Tree cover played a fundamental role in Quercus recruitment throughout seed dispersal and facilitation that mitigate the effects of summer drought on seedlings. Also, tree cover improved soil parameters (e.g., organic matter) that are important factors for understanding differences in regeneration. Winter/spring precipitation exerted a positive effect on tree growth, as well as temperatures during winter/spring and September. Conclusions Regeneration dynamics are modeled by the density of tree cover in the cold and dry edge of the distribution area of Q. suber where Q. ilex is increasing in abundance. Although temperature has a positive effect on the tree growth of Q. suber, when demographic processes are considered, decreases in water availability likely play a critical role in Q. ilex recruitment. This in turn changes dominance hierarchies, especially in abandoned areas with little or no tree cover.


Alpine Botany ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vorkauf ◽  
Ansgar Kahmen ◽  
Christian Körner ◽  
Erika Hiltbrunner

AbstractAlpine plants complete their seasonal phenological cycle during two to three snow-free months. Under climate change, snowmelt advances and the risk of summer droughts increases. Yet, photoperiodism may prevent alpine plants from benefiting from an earlier start of the growing season. To identify the drivers of flowering phenology in the seven main species of an alpine grassland, we experimentally shifted the snowmelt date through snow manipulations, and excluded precipitation during summer. With “time-to-event” models, we analysed the beginning of main flowering with respect to temperature sums, time after snowmelt, and calendar day (photoperiod). We identified two phenology types: four species tracking snowmelt dates directly or with a certain lag set by temperature sums, including the dominant sedge Carex curvula, Anthoxanthum alpinum Helictotrichon versicolor, and Trifolium alpinum, and three species tracking photoperiod: Geum montanum, Leontodon helveticus and Potentilla aurea. Photoperiodism did not act as daylength threshold but rather modulated the thermal sums at flowering. Hence, photoperiod delayed flowering after earlier snowmelt. The grass A. alpinum was the only one of seven species that clearly responded to drought by earlier and longer flowering. The remarkably high importance of snowmelt dates for both phenology types suggests an earlier onset of flowering in a warmer climate, particularly for non-photoperiod-sensitive species, with an increasing risk for freezing damages and potential disruptions of biotic interactions in the most frequent type of alpine grassland across the Alps. Consequentially, the distinct microclimate and species-specific responses to photoperiod challenge temperature-only based projections of climate warming effects on alpine plant species.


2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 360-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin F. Zaitchik ◽  
Joseph A. Santanello ◽  
Sujay V. Kumar ◽  
Christa D. Peters-Lidard

Abstract Positive soil moisture–precipitation feedbacks can intensify heat and prolong drought under conditions of precipitation deficit. Adequate representation of these processes in regional climate models is, therefore, important for extended weather forecasts, seasonal drought analysis, and downscaled climate change projections. This paper presents the first application of the NASA Unified Weather Research and Forecasting Model (NU-WRF) to simulation of seasonal drought. Simulations of the 2006 southern Great Plains drought performed with and without soil moisture memory indicate that local soil moisture feedbacks had the potential to concentrate precipitation in wet areas relative to dry areas in summer drought months. Introduction of a simple dynamic surface albedo scheme that models albedo as a function of soil moisture intensified the simulated feedback pattern at local scale—dry, brighter areas received even less precipitation while wet, whereas darker areas received more—but did not significantly change the total amount of precipitation simulated across the drought-affected region. This soil-moisture-mediated albedo land–atmosphere coupling pathway is structurally excluded from standard versions of WRF.


Author(s):  
Alexey A. Afonin

Almond willow (Salix triandra L.) is a valuable basket species that is used to create plantings for various purposes. He occupies a special place in the system of the genus Salix. He can be used as a model object to identify patterns of morphogenesis of shoots. Object of research: model inbred population of almond willow in culture. Subject of research: seasonal dynamics of internode length on annual shoots of three-year-old seedlings willow of almond willow. The purpose of the research: to identify the seasonal dynamics of the length of internodes on annual shoots of almond willow against the background of a sharp change in early summer drought by cold rainy weather. Empirical methods for obtaining initial data: comparative-morphological. The obtained data were processed using the methods of analysis of dynamics series. It is found that seasonal trends in the dynamics of internode length are described by second-order regression equations with varying reliability. The configuration and topology of nonlinear seasonal trends are determined by individual differences between seedlings. The dynamics of deviations of internode length from seasonal trends correlates with the dynamics of hydrothermic conditions. Deviations in the length of internodes from seasonal trends are cyclical. The empirical series of deviations of the internode length from seasonal trends with high reliability are approximated by the sums of harmonic oscillations. The maximum contribution to the cyclical deviations of the internode length from seasonal trends is made by the rhythm with a period of fluctuations of 54 days. On most shoots, the influence of rhythms with a period of fluctuations of 36 and 27 days can be traced. Short-period rhythms detected on different shoots are irregular. In most observations, the specific rhythms of seasonal dynamics of internode length are determined by differences between shoots. The identified rhythms do not depend on hydrothermic conditions, on the length of shoots, on the length of internodes, or on seasonal trends in the dynamics of internode length. The hypothesis that the relationship between the dynamics of deviations in the length of internodes from seasonal trends and the dynamics of hydrothermic conditions is random is substantiated. Cyclicity deviations of internode length from seasonal trends are determined by endogenous rhythms of development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Haworth ◽  
Giovanni Marino ◽  
Ezio Riggi ◽  
Giovanni Avola ◽  
Cecilia Brunetti ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Aims The development of Arundo donax as a biomass crop for use on drought-prone marginal lands in areas with warm to hot climates is constrained by the lack of variation within this species. We investigated the effect of morphological and physiological variation on growth and tolerance to drought under field conditions in three ecotypes of A. donax collected from habitats representing a climate gradient: a pre-desert in Morocco, a semi-arid Mediterranean climate in southern Italy and a warm sub-humid region of central Italy. Methods The three A. donax ecotypes were grown under irrigated and rain-fed conditions in a common garden field trial in a region with a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. Physiological and morphological characteristics, and carbohydrate metabolism of the ecotypes were recorded to establish which traits were associated with yield and/or drought tolerance. Key Results Variation was observed between the A. donax ecotypes. The ecotype from the most arid habitat produced the highest biomass yield. Stem height and the retention of photosynthetic capacity later in the year were key traits associated with differences in biomass yield. The downregulation of photosynthetic capacity was not associated with changes in foliar concentrations of sugars or starch. Rain-fed plants maintained photosynthesis and growth later in the year compared with irrigated plants that began to senescence earlier, thus minimizing the difference in yield. Effective stomatal control prevented excessive water loss, and the emission of isoprene stabilized photosynthetic membranes under drought and heat stress in A. donax plants grown under rain-fed conditions without supplementary irrigation. Conclusions Arundo donax is well adapted to cultivation in drought-prone areas with warm to hot climates. None of the A. donax ecotypes exhibited all of the desired traits consistent with an ‘ideotype’. Breeding or genetic (identification of quantitative trait loci) improvement of A. donax should select ecotypes on the basis of stem morphology and the retention of photosynthetic capacity.


2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hammerle ◽  
A. Haslwanter ◽  
U. Tappeiner ◽  
A. Cernusca ◽  
G. Wohlfahrt

Abstract. Using a six year data set of eddy covariance flux measurements of sensible and latent heat, soil heat flux, net radiation, above-ground phytomass and meteorological driving forces energy partitioning was investigated at a temperate mountain grassland managed as a hay meadow in the Stubai Valley (Austria). The main findings of the study were: (i) Energy partitioning was dominated by latent heat, followed by sensible heat and the soil heat flux; (ii) When compared to standard environmental forcings, the amount of green plant matter, which due to three cuts varied considerably during the vegetation period, explained similar, and partially larger, fractions of the variability in energy partitioning; (iii) There were little, if any, indications of water stress effects on energy partitioning, despite reductions in soil water availability in combination with high evaporative demand, e.g. during the summer drought of 2003.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1167-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.-V. Lavoir ◽  
M. Staudt ◽  
J. P. Schnitzler ◽  
D. Landais ◽  
F. Massol ◽  
...  

Abstract. The effects of water limitations on the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds are not well understood. Experimental approaches studying drought effects in natural conditions are still missing. To address this question, a throughfall displacement experiment was set up in a natural forest of Quercus ilex, an evergreen Mediterranean oak emitting monoterpenes. Mature trees were exposed in 2005 and 2006 either to an additional drought, to irrigation or to natural drought (untreated control). In both years, absolute monoterpene emission rates as well as the respective standard factors of the trees exposed to normal and additional drought strongly declined during the drought periods. Monoterpene emissions were lower in year 2006 than in year 2005 (factor 2) due to a more pronounced summer drought period in this respective year. We observed a significant difference between the irrigation and additional drought or control treatment: irrigated trees emitted 82% more monoterpenes during the drought period 2006 than the trees of the other treatments. However, no significant effect on monoterpene emission was observed between normal and additional drought treatments, despite a significant effect on leaf water potential and photochemical efficiency. During the development of drought, monoterpene emissions responded exponentially rather than linearly to decreasing leaf water potential. Emissions rapidly declined when the water potential dropped below −2 MPa and photosynthesis was persistently inhibited. Monoterpene synthase activities measured in vitro showed no clear reduction during the same period. From our results we conclude that drought significantly reduces monoterpene fluxes of Mediterranean Holm oak forest into the atmosphere due to a lack of primary substrates coming from photosynthetic processes.


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