Analysis of the impact of carbon source-sink relationships on flowering patterns reveals that apple tree growth and functioning are determined by mechanisms occurring at the tree and shoot scales

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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The carbon source-dependent pattern of antimicrobial activity and gene expression in Pseudomonas donghuensis P482

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-90488-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marta Matuszewska ◽

Tomasz Maciąg ◽

Magdalena Rajewska ◽

Aldona Wierzbicka ◽

Sylwia Jafra

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Antimicrobial Activity ◽

Carbon Source ◽

Reference Genes ◽

Plant Pathogens ◽

Plant Protection ◽

Carbon Sources ◽

Unknown Compound ◽

Fungal Plant Pathogens ◽

The Impact

AbstractPseudomonas donghuensis P482 is a tomato rhizosphere isolate with the ability to inhibit growth of bacterial and fungal plant pathogens. Herein, we analysed the impact of the carbon source on the antibacterial activity of P482 and expression of the selected genes of three genomic regions in the P482 genome. These regions are involved in the synthesis of pyoverdine, 7-hydroxytropolone (7-HT) and an unknown compound (“cluster 17”) and are responsible for the antimicrobial activity of P482. We showed that the P482 mutants, defective in these regions, show variations and contrasting patterns of growth inhibition of the target pathogen under given nutritional conditions (with glucose or glycerol as a carbon source). We also selected and validated the reference genes for gene expression studies in P. donghuensis P482. Amongst ten candidate genes, we found gyrB, rpoD and mrdA the most stably expressed. Using selected reference genes in RT-qPCR, we assessed the expression of the genes of interest under minimal medium conditions with glucose or glycerol as carbon sources. Glycerol was shown to negatively affect the expression of genes necessary for 7-HT synthesis. The significance of this finding in the light of the role of nutrient (carbon) availability in biological plant protection is discussed.

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Different climate sensitivity for radial growth, but uniform for tree-ring stable isotopes along an aridity gradient in Polylepis tarapacana, the world’s highest elevation tree-species

Tree Physiology ◽

10.1093/treephys/tpab021 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Milagros Rodriguez-Caton ◽

Laia Andreu-Hayles ◽

Mariano S Morales ◽

Valérie Daux ◽

Duncan A Christie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stable Isotopes ◽

Carbon Source ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Carbon Sink ◽

Growing Season ◽

Wood Formation ◽

Aridity Gradient ◽

Leaf Level ◽

Δ13c And Δ18o

Abstract Tree growth is generally considered to be temperature-limited at upper elevation treelines. Yet, climate factors controlling tree growth at semiarid treelines are poorly understood. We explored the influence of climate on stem growth and stable isotopes for Polyepis tarapacana, the world’s highest elevation tree-species found only in the South American Altiplano. We developed tree-ring width index (RWI), oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) chronologies for the last 60 years at four P. tarapacana stands located above 4,400 meters in elevation, along a 500-km latitude-aridity gradient. Total annual precipitation decreased from 300 to 200 mm from the northern to the southern sites. We used RWI as a proxy of wood formation (carbon sink) and isotopic tree-ring signatures as proxies of leaf-level gas exchange processes (carbon source). We found distinct climatic conditions regulating carbon-sink processes along the gradient. Current-growing season temperature regulated RWI at wetter-northern sites, while prior-growing season precipitation determined RWI at arid-southern sites. This suggests that the relative importance of temperature to precipitation in regulating tree growth is driven by site-water availability. In contrast, warm and dry growing-seasons resulted in enriched tree-ring δ13C and δ18O at all study sites, suggesting that similar climate conditions control carbon-source processes. Site-level δ13C and δ18O chronologies were significantly and positively related at all sites, with the strongest relationships among the southern-drier stands. This indicates an overall regulation of intercellular carbon dioxide via stomatal conductance for the entire P. tarapacana network, with greater stomatal control when aridity increases. The manuscript also highlights a coupling and decoupling of physiological processes at leaf level versus wood formation depending on their respectively uniform and distinct sensitivity to climate. This study contributes to better understand and predict the response of high-elevation Polylepis woodlands to rapid climate changes and projected drying in the Altiplano.

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Nonlinear mixed convective Williamson nanofluid flow with the suspension of gyrotactic microorganisms

International Journal of Modern Physics B ◽

10.1142/s0217979221501459 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 2150145

Author(s):

Shuang-Shuang Zhou ◽

M. Ijaz Khan ◽

Sumaira Qayyum ◽

B. C. Prasannakumara ◽

R. Naveen Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Source ◽

Lewis Number ◽

Solution Procedure ◽

Energy Concentration ◽

Gyrotactic Microorganisms ◽

Dimensionless Parameters ◽

Flow Equations ◽

Fluid Parameter ◽

Source Sink ◽

The Impact

This investigation aims to present the thermally developed bioconvection flow of Williamson nanoliquid over an inclined stretching cylinder in presence of linear mixed convection and nonuniform heat source/sink. The activation energy and suspension of gyrotactic microorganisms are accounted with applications of bioconvection phenomenon. Appropriate nondimensional variables are opted to attain the dimensionless form of flow equations. The resulting momentum, energy, concentration and motile density equations are abridged to highly coupled and nonlinear in nature. The numerical treatment is followed for the solution procedure by employing the shooting method. The influence of some relevant dimensionless parameters is discoursed graphically along with physical justifications. Moreover, the impact of several dimensionless parameters on skin friction and Nusselt number is obtained and listed in tables. It is observed that the velocity of fluid shows a decreasing variation for Williamson fluid parameter. The change in unsteadiness parameter and heat source parameter enhanced the nanofluid temperature. The motile microorganisms profile declines with bioconvection constant and bio-convection Lewis number.

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Short-term effects of carbon source on the competition of polyphosphate accumulating organisms and glycogen accumulating organisms

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2004.0629 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 50 (10) ◽

pp. 139-144 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

A. Oehmen ◽

Z. Yuan ◽

L.L. Blackall ◽

J. Keller

Keyword(s):

Carbon Source ◽

In Situ Hybridisation ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation ◽

Biological Phosphorus Removal ◽

Short Term ◽

Uptake Rates ◽

Polyphosphate Accumulating Organisms ◽

The Impact ◽

Short Term Effects

The effectiveness of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems is directly affected by the competition of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs). This study investigated the short-term effects of carbon source on PAO and GAO performance. The tests were designed to clearly determine the impact of volatile fatty acid (VFA) composition on the performance of two types of biomass, one enriched for PAOs and the other for GAOs. The two populations were enriched in separate reactors using identical operating conditions and very similar influent compositions with acetate as the sole carbon source. The only difference was that a very low level of phosphorus was present in the influent to the GAO reactor. The abundance of PAOs and GAOs was quantified using fluorescence in-situ hybridisation. The results clearly show that there are some very distinctive differences between PAOs and GAOs in their ability to utilise different carbon substrates. While both are able to take up acetate rapidly and completely, the GAOs are far slower at consuming propionate than the PAOs during short-term substrate changes. This provides a potentially highly valuable avenue to influence the competition between PAOs and GAOs. Other VFAs studied seem to be less usable in the short term by both PAOs and GAOs, as indicated by their much lower uptake rates.

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The Impact of Rising Water Levels on Tree Growth In Louisiana

The Ecology and Management of Wetlands ◽

10.1007/978-1-4615-9807-7_24 ◽

1988 ◽

pp. 219-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

William H. Conner ◽

John W. Day

Keyword(s):

Tree Growth ◽

Water Levels ◽

The Impact

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Modelling tree growth to determine the sustainability of current off-take from miombo woodland: a case study from rural villages in Malawi

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892916000485 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 66-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

EMMA L. GREEN ◽

FELIX EIGENBROD ◽

KATE SCHRECKENBERG ◽

SIMON WILLCOCK

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Management Practices ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Miombo Woodlands ◽

Yield Model ◽

The Impact

SUMMARYMiombo woodlands supply ecosystem services to support livelihoods in southern Africa, however, rapid deforestation has necessitated greater knowledge of tree growth and off-take rates to understand the sustainability of miombo exploitation. We established 48 tree inventory plots within four villages in southern Malawi, interviewed representatives in these same villages about tree management practices and investigated the impact of climate on vegetation dynamics in the region using the ecosystem modelling framework LPJ-GUESS. Combining our data with the forest yield model MYRLIN revealed considerable variation in growth rates across different land uses; forested lands showed the highest growth rates (1639 [95% confidence interval 1594–1684] kg ha–1 year–1), followed by settlement areas (1453 [95% confidence interval 1376–1530] kg ha–1 year–1). Based on the modelled MYRLIN results, we found that 50% of the villages had insufficient growth rates to meet estimated off-take. Furthermore, the results from LPJ-GUESS indicated that sustainable off-take approaches zero in drought years. Local people have recognized the unsustainable use of natural resources and have begun planting activities in order to ensure that ecosystem services derived from miombo woodlands are available for future generations. Future models should incorporate the impacts of human disturbance and climatic variation on vegetation dynamics; such models should be used to support the development and implementation of sustainable forest management.

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