Genomic signatures of natural selection at phenology-related genes in a widely distributed tree species Fagus sylvatica L

Abstract Background Diversity among phenology-related genes is predicted to be a contributing factor in local adaptations seen in widely distributed plant species that grow in climatically variable geographic areas, such as forest trees. European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is widespread, and is one of the most important broadleaved tree species in Europe; however, its potential for adaptation to climate change is a matter of uncertainty, and little is known about the molecular basis of climate change-relevant traits like bud burst. Results We explored single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) at candidate genes related to bud burst in beech individuals sampled across 47 populations from Europe. SNP diversity was monitored for 380 candidate genes using a sequence capture approach, providing 2909 unlinked SNP loci. We used two complementary analytical methods to find loci significantly associated with geographic variables, climatic variables (expressed as principal components), or phenotypic variables (spring and autumn phenology, height, survival). Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to detect candidate markers across two spatial scales (entire study area and within subregions). We revealed 201 candidate SNPs at the broadest scale, 53.2% of which were associated with phenotypic variables. Additive polygenic scores, which provide a measure of the cumulative signal across significant candidate SNPs, were correlated with a climate variable (first principal component, PC1) related to temperature and precipitation availability, and spring phenology. However, different genotype-environment associations were identified within Southeastern Europe as compared to the entire geographic range of European beech. Conclusions Environmental conditions play important roles as drivers of genetic diversity of phenology-related genes that could influence local adaptation in European beech. Selection in beech favors genotypes with earlier bud burst under warmer and wetter habitats within its range; however, selection pressures may differ across spatial scales.

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Identification of SNPs in candidate genes potentially involved in bud burst in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Silvae Genetica ◽

10.1515/sg-2015-0001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 64 (1-6) ◽

pp. 1-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Markus Müller ◽

S. Seifert ◽

R. Finkeldey

Keyword(s):

Candidate Genes ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

European Beech ◽

Deciduous Tree ◽

Bud Burst ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Adaptive Traits ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Genetic Studies ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

Abstract European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is one of the most important deciduous tree species in Central Europe. Higher annual mean temperatures caused by climate change lead to earlier bud burst in spring and/or a delay of leaf senescence in autumn. Since earlier bud burst might increase the late frost risk, adaptive traits like bud burst may gain more importance in the future. Nevertheless, knowledge of the genetic background of leaf unfolding is still scarce for European beech. In the present study, we analyzed parts of ten different candidate genes for bud burst with a total length of 12,290 bp. Comparative sequencing with plant material of 12 different beech populations distributed over Germany revealed 116 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and 20 indels. A subset of 46 SNPs was successfully used for genotyping of 100 offspring of a beech population in Germany confirming the suitability of the newly developed SNP set for population genetic studies. The provided data may be useful for further investigations of adaptation in F. sylvatica.

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Spring phenology of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in a submountain beech stand with different stocking in 1995–2004

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/4503-jfs ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 52 (No. 5) ◽

pp. 208-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

B. Schieber

Keyword(s):

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Stand Density ◽

European Beech ◽

Base Temperature ◽

Bud Burst ◽

Spring Phenology ◽

Leaf Unfolding ◽

Beech Stand ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

Two spring phenophases (bud-burst and leaf unfolding) of a parent stand and naturally regenerated undergrowth of European beech were observed in conditions under different stand density over the last 10 years. The results proved the unequal onset of phenophases of the parent stand individuals in relation to their sociological status. In the case of codominant and dominant trees the delay of 2–5 days was observed in comparison with subdominant trees. The influence of the parent stand structure on the onset of the undergrowth phenophases was also observed. The onset of phenophases differed by 2–20 days among individuals grown under different density of the parent stand. The onset and course of phenophases also differed between the years. The trend of the average onset of leafing in the period 1995–2004 shows a shift to earlier dates by about three days. Temperature summation of average daily temperatures with the base temperature of 8°C, in the framework of the model predicted bud-burst of beech, showed the lowest variability in comparison with other temperatures.

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Initial Survival and Development of Planted European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Small-Leaved Lime (Tilia cordata Mill.) Seedlings Competing with Black Cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.)

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants9060677 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 677

Author(s):

Sarah L. Hasstedt ◽

Peter Annighöfer

Keyword(s):

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Tree Species ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Light Availability ◽

European Beech ◽

Prunus Serotina ◽

Tilia Cordata ◽

Black Cherry ◽

Light Gradient ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) is considered one of the most invasive tree species in central Europe and causes problems for both nature conservation and silviculture. Besides mechanical control treatments, a suggested control method to prevent its ongoing spread is to underplant shade-tolerant native tree species. Therefore, we combined two mechanical treatments, with underplanting of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) or small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata Mill.) on fenced and unfenced plots. After the first growing season, survival rates were evaluated, and selected seedlings were destructively harvested to analyze their growth performance and leaf morphology in association with the different light regimes resulting from mechanical treatments Survival rates for both seedlings were very high (>95%). Survival rates were higher on fenced plots than on unfenced plots, most likely as result of browsing. The mortality of F. sylvatica decreased with increasing light availability on fenced plots. The mortality of T. cordata did not change along the light gradient. After one vegetation period no differences with respect to biomass allocation could be detected along the light gradient. However, the specific leaf areas of both species responded similarly, decreasing with increasing light availability. In summary, both species were able to establish and survive in the dense P. serotina understory and might have the potential to outcompete the invasive alien species in the long run.

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Seed Adaptive Traits of Fagus sylvatica Populations in Northeastern Greece

Forest Science ◽

10.1093/forsci/fxaa003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 403-415

Author(s):

Georgios Varsamis ◽

Theodora Merou ◽

Ioannis Takos ◽

Chrisovalantis Malesios ◽

Apostolos Manolis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Genetic Diversity ◽

Chloroplast Dna ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Dna Markers ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Adaptive Traits ◽

Chloroplast Dna Markers

Abstract Fagus sylvatica in Europe is expected to be severely affected by the ongoing climate change. In this article, seed adaptive traits, in terms of morphology and germination, of F. sylvatica populations of different postglacial lineage and intrapopulation genetic diversity were evaluated. Eight plots from two geographical provenances, Evros and Drama, were selected. Provenance shaped both morphology and germination patterns, but the effect was more pronounced on germination. Seeds from Drama were larger and heavier than those from Evros but exhibited a higher degree of dormancy and slower germination. High among-plots variability on morphology and germination was also observed, especially in Evros. This higher variability was consistent with the higher level of genetic diversity observed at genomic and chloroplast DNA markers at small or larger spatial scales from previous published studies on the same plots. Results suggested the existence of different seed adaptation strategies, mainly between provenances, as a result of possible adaptation to different environmental conditions, whereas a possible influence of a generally complex pattern of admixture between different beech subspecies and postglacial lineages could not be excluded.

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A candidate gene-based association study reveals SNPs significantly associated with bud burst in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Tree Genetics & Genomes ◽

10.1007/s11295-015-0943-1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Markus Müller ◽

Sarah Seifert ◽

Reiner Finkeldey

Keyword(s):

Association Study ◽

Candidate Gene ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

European Beech ◽

Bud Burst ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L

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Floristic Change at the Drought Limit of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) to Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens) Forest in the Temperate Climate of Central Europe

Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca ◽

10.15835/nbha45210971 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 646-654 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Albert REIF ◽

Fotios XYSTRAKIS ◽

Stefanie GÄRTNER ◽

Uwe SAYER

Keyword(s):

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Tree Species ◽

European Beech ◽

Temperate Climate ◽

Soil Conditions ◽

Quercus Pubescens ◽

Drought Tolerant ◽

Tolerant Species ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L ◽

Shallow Soils

An increase in drought could cause shifts in species composition and vegetation structure. In forests it limits the occurrence of drought sensitive tree species which become replaced by drought tolerant tree species and forest communities. Under temperate macroclimatic conditions, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) naturally dominates the forested landscape, except on extremely shallow soil in combination with high irradiation. On these sites beech reaches its drought limit, and is replaced by forests dominated by species like downy Oak (Quercus pubescens s.l.) and English Oak (Quercus petraea L). Phytosociological and ecological data were collected in the transition (ecotone) between European beach stands and stands of more drought tolerant species in order to quantify the drought intensity threshold, above which beech is replaced by drought tolerant species. It was shown that favourable topographic and soil conditions partially compensated the unsuitable climatic conditions for beech. The ecotone between these forest types was found to be characterized by shallow soils with an available soil water storage capacity of 73 l/m² or less, and an irradiation intensity of 6000 MJ/m2 or more during the growing season. This indicates that under conditions of climate change beech would naturally still remain the dominant tree species on the majority of central European forest sites.

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Climate Effects on Vertical Forest Phenology of Fagus sylvatica L., Sensed by Sentinel-2, Time Lapse Camera, and Visual Ground Observations

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13193982 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (19) ◽

pp. 3982

Author(s):

Lars Uphus ◽

Marvin Lüpke ◽

Ye Yuan ◽

Caryl Benjamin ◽

Jana Englmeier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

Deciduous Forest ◽

Canopy Temperature ◽

Time Lapse ◽

Canopy Height ◽

Spring Phenology ◽

Phenological Mismatch ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L ◽

Sentinel 2

Contemporary climate change leads to earlier spring phenological events in Europe. In forests, in which overstory strongly regulates the microclimate beneath, it is not clear if further change equally shifts the timing of leaf unfolding for the over- and understory of main deciduous forest species, such as Fagus sylvatica L. (European beech). Furthermore, it is not known yet how this vertical phenological (mis)match—the phenological difference between overstory and understory—affects the remotely sensed satellite signal. To investigate this, we disentangled the start of season (SOS) of overstory F.sylvatica foliage from understory F. sylvatica foliage in forests, within nine quadrants of 5.8 × 5.8 km, stratified over a temperature gradient of 2.5 °C in Bavaria, southeast Germany, in the spring seasons of 2019 and 2020 using time lapse cameras and visual ground observations. We explained SOS dates and vertical phenological (mis)match by canopy temperature and compared these to Sentinel-2 derived SOS in response to canopy temperature. We found that overstory SOS advanced with higher mean April canopy temperature (visual ground observations: −2.86 days per °C; cameras: −2.57 days per °C). However, understory SOS was not significantly affected by canopy temperature. This led to an increase of vertical phenological mismatch with increased canopy temperature (visual ground observations: +3.90 days per °C; cameras: +2.52 days per °C). These results matched Sentinel-2-derived SOS responses, as pixels of higher canopy height advanced more by increased canopy temperature than pixels of lower canopy height. The results may indicate that, with further climate change, spring phenology of F. sylvatica overstory will advance more than F. sylvatica understory, leading to increased vertical phenological mismatch in temperate deciduous forests. This may have major ecological effects, but also methodological consequences for the field of remote sensing, as what the signal senses highly depends on the pixel mean canopy height and the vertical (mis)match.

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