Delayed effect of drought on the xylem vulnerability to cavitation in Fagus sylvatica L.

Knowledge on variations of drought resistance traits is needed to predict the potential of trees to adapt to severe drought events expected to be more intense and frequent. Xylem vulnerability to cavitation is among the most important traits related to drought-induced mortality and exhibits a large variability between species. Acclimation of this trait to environmental conditions implies changes in the xylem structure and organization, leading previous studies to investigate its variations under conditions preserving growth. In European beech saplings, we assessed the effect of droughts of on the vulnerability to cavitation in branches that develop during recovery. The newly formed branches displayed lower vulnerability to cavitation in the plants that underwent the severest droughts leading to native embolism; the pressure that induces 50% loss of conductance being of -3.98 MPa in severely droughted plants whereas it was of -3.1 MPa in control plants, respectively. Although unexpected, these results argue for an acclimation, and not a weakening, of this trait to drought events.

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Delayed effect of drought on the xylem vulnerability to embolism in Fagus sylvatica.

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2020-0256 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

stephane herbette ◽

Olivia Charrier ◽

Hervé Cochard ◽

Têtè Sévérien Barigah

Keyword(s):

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Drought Resistance ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

European Beech ◽

Severe Drought ◽

Delayed Effect ◽

Large Variability ◽

Xylem Structure ◽

Xylem Vulnerability ◽

Resistance Traits

Understanding the variation in drought resistance traits is needed to predict the potential of trees to adapt to severe drought events. Xylem vulnerability to embolism is a critical trait related to drought-induced mortality with a large variability between species. Acclimation of this trait to environmental conditions implies changes in the xylem structure and organization, leading previous studies to investigate its variations under conditions preserving growth. In European beech saplings, we assessed the effect of droughts on the vulnerability to embolism in branches developed the next year during recovery. The newly formed branches displayed lower vulnerability to embolism in the plants that underwent the severest droughts leading to native embolism; the pressure that induces 50% loss of conductance being of -3.98 MPa in severely droughted plants whereas it was of ¬3.1 MPa in control plants, respectively. These results argue for a lagged acclimation of this trait to drought events.

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Insights into xylem vulnerability to cavitation in Fagus sylvatica L.: phenotypic and environmental sources of variability

Tree Physiology ◽

10.1093/treephys/tpq079 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 30 (11) ◽

pp. 1448-1455 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

S. Herbette ◽

R. Wortemann ◽

H. Awad ◽

R. Huc ◽

H. Cochard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Vulnerability To Cavitation ◽

Xylem Vulnerability ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

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How do environmental conditions affect the deadwood decomposition of European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.)?

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2016.09.033 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 381 ◽

pp. 177-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Tomáš Přívětivý ◽

David Janík ◽

Pavel Unar ◽

Dušan Adam ◽

Kamil Král ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

European Beech ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

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Variation in Tracheid Dimensions of Conifer Xylem Reveals Evidence of Adaptation to Environmental Conditions

10.21203/rs.3.rs-770171/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jingming Zheng ◽

Yajin Li ◽

Hugh Morris ◽

Filip Vandelook ◽

Steven Jansen

Keyword(s):

Wall Thickness ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Least Square ◽

Soil Conditions ◽

Conifer Species ◽

Large Variability ◽

Xylem Structure ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Conifer Tree ◽

Independent Contrast

Abstract Background: Globally distributed extant conifer species must adapt to various environmental conditions, which would be reflected in their xylem structure, especially in the tracheid characteristics of earlywood and latewood. A comparative study of conifer species might shed light on how xylem structure responds to environmental conditions. With an anatomical trait dataset of 79 conifer tree species growing throughout China, an interspecific study within a phylogenetic context was conducted to quantify variance of tracheid dimensions and their response to climatic and soil conditions. Results: There was a significant difference in tracheid diameter between early- and latewood while no significant difference was detected in tracheid wall thickness through a phylogenetically paired t-test. Most of the tracheid dimensional traits were positively related to each other based on phylogenetic independent contrast (PIC) analyses, and tracheid structure could be accounted for by the first and second PCA axes. Through a phylogenetic principle component analysis (pPCA), Pinaceae species were found to be strongly divergent in their tracheid structure in contrast to a conservative tracheid structure in species of Cupressaceae, Taxaceae and Podocarpaceae. Meanwhile, tracheid wall thickness decreased from high to low latitudes in both earlywood and latewood, with tracheid diameter decreasing for latewood only. According to the most parsimonious phylogenetic general least square models (PGLS), environment and phylogeny together could explain about 21%~56% of tracheid structure variance, suggesting both genetics and the environment contribute to tracheid characteristics. Conclusions: The large variability of tracheid traits observed along an environmental gradient across China suggests that xylem structure was strongly constrained by the environmental conditions in temperate monsoonal climates and thus could be regarded as an ecological strategy for adapting to environmental stresses, especially freezing and drought. Our results provide insights into the effects of climate and soil on the xylem structure of conifer species thus furthering our understanding of the trees’ response to global change and guiding forest management.

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Bucheckern-Voraussaat unter Fichtenschirm - Ergebnisse eines Versuchs des Deutschen Verbandes Forstlicher Forschungsanstalten/Sektion Waldbau -. Direct Seeding of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Pure Norway Spruce Stands (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) - Results of an Experiment by the German Union of Forest Research Organizations/Silviculture Division -

Forftwiffenfchaftliches Centralblatt ◽

10.1046/j.1439-0337.2003.00160.x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 122 (3) ◽

pp. 160-174 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Bertram Leder ◽

Sven Wagner ◽

Jorg Wollmerstadt ◽

Christian Ammer

Keyword(s):

Picea Abies ◽

Norway Spruce ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

European Beech ◽

Direct Seeding ◽

Forest Research ◽

Research Organizations ◽

Spruce Stands ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

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How Does Radial Growth of Water-Stressed Populations of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) Trees Vary under Multiple Drought Events?

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12020129 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 129

Author(s):

Tamalika Chakraborty ◽

Albert Reif ◽

Andreas Matzarakis ◽

Somidh Saha

Keyword(s):

Soil Water ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Radial Growth ◽

Basal Area ◽

European Beech ◽

Canopy Openness ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L ◽

The Impact ◽

Neighborhood Competition

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees are becoming vulnerable to drought, with a warming climate. Existing studies disagree on how radial growth varies in European beech in response to droughts. We aimed to find the impact of multiple droughts on beech trees’ annual radial growth at their ecological drought limit created by soil water availability in the forest. Besides, we quantified the influence of competition and canopy openness on the mean basal area growth of beech trees. We carried out this study in five near-natural temperate forests in three localities of Germany and Switzerland. We quantified available soil water storage capacity (AWC) in plots laid in the transition zone from oak to beech dominated forests. The plots were classified as ‘dry’ (AWC < 60 mL) and ‘less-dry’ (AWC > 60 mL). We performed dendroecological analyses starting from 1951 in continuous and discontinuous series to study the influence of climatic drought (i.e., precipitation-potential evapotranspiration) on the radial growth of beech trees in dry and less-dry plots. We used observed values for this analysis and did not use interpolated values from interpolated historical records in this study. We selected six drought events to study the resistance, recovery, and resilience of beech trees to drought at a discontinuous level. The radial growth was significantly higher in less-dry plots than dry plots. The increase in drought had reduced tree growth. Frequent climatic drought events resulted in more significant correlations, hence, increased the dependency of tree growth on AWC. We showed that the recovery and resilience to climatic drought were higher in trees in less-dry plots than dry plots, but it was the opposite for resistance. The resistance, recovery, and resilience of the trees were heterogeneous between the events of drought. Mean growth of beech trees (basal area increment) were negatively impacted by neighborhood competition and positively influenced by canopy openness. We emphasized that beech trees growing on soil with low AWC are at higher risk of growth decline. We concluded that changes in soil water conditions even at the microsite level could influence beech trees’ growth in their drought limit under the changing climate. Along with drought, neighborhood competition and lack of light can also reduce beech trees’ growth. This study will enrich the state of knowledge about the ongoing debate on the vulnerability of beech trees to drought in Europe.

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