Water Dynamics in the Understory of a Pine Plantation Forest After Variable Retention Harvesting

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1024732/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alanna V Bodo ◽

M. Altaf Arain

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Understory Vegetation ◽

Plantation Forest ◽

Canopy Transpiration ◽

Variable Retention ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Variable Retention Harvesting

Abstract Background: Variable Retention Harvesting (VRH) is a silvicultural technique applied to enhance forest growth, and restore forest stands to closely resemble their natural compositions. This study used sapflow and understory eddy covariance flux measurements to examine the impacts of four different VRH treatments on the dominant components of evapotranspiration including canopy transpiration and water flux from understory vegetation and soil. These VRH treatments were applied to an 83-year-old red pine (Pinus resinosa) plantation forest in the Great Lakes region in Canada and included 55% aggregated crown retention (55A), 55% dispersed crown retention (55D), 33% aggregated crown retention (33A), 33% dispersed crown retention (33D) and unharvested control (CN) plot. Results: Study results showed a positive relationship between thinning intensity and the growth of understory vegetation, and hence enhanced evapotranspiration. The contribution to evapotranspiration from understory vegetation and soil was more pronounced in the dispersed thinning treatments, as compared to the aggregated. Overall, canopy transpiration contributed to 83% of total evapotranspiration in the un-thinned control plot and 55, 58, 30, and 23% for the 55A, 55D, 33A and 33D plots, respectively. The thinning or retention harvesting enhanced the water use efficiency in all treatments.Conclusion: Our results suggest VRH treatments that follow a dispersed harvesting pattern may provide the optimal balance between forest productivity and evapotranspiration or stand water use. Furthermore, a balance of contributions from both the canopy and successional understory vegetation and soil, as observed in the 55% retention harvesting treatment, may increase the resiliency of forest to climate change. These findings will help researchers, forest managers and decision-makers to improve their understanding of thinning impacts on water and carbon exchanges in forest ecosystems and adopt appropriate forest management practices to enhance their carbon sequestration capabilities, water use efficiency and resilience to climate change.

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Open Intellectual Property Models for Plant Innovations in the Context of New Breeding Technologies

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11061218 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1218

Author(s):

Michael A. Kock

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

Intellectual Property ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Open Innovation ◽

Climate Resilience ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Mitigate Climate Change ◽

New Breeding Technologies

Plant related innovations are critical to enable of food security and mitigate climate change. New breeding technologies (NBTs) based on emerging genome editing technologies like CRISPR/Cas will facilitate “breeding-by-editing” and enable complex breeding targets—like climate resilience or water use efficiency—in shorter time and at lower costs. However, NBTs will also lead to an unprecedented patent complexity. This paper discusses implications and potential solutions for open innovation models.

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Effects of climate change and local environmental factors on long-term tree water-use efficiency and growth of Pseudolarix amabilis and Cryptomeria japonica in subtropical China

Journal of Soils and Sediments ◽

10.1007/s11368-020-02829-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tengjiao Liu ◽

Yan Xu ◽

Zhihong Xu ◽

Hongbing Deng

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Cryptomeria Japonica ◽

Subtropical China ◽

Tree Water Use ◽

Use Efficiency

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Calcium and Potassium Nutrition Increases the Water Use Efficiency in Coffee: A Promising Strategy to Adapt to Climate Change

Hydrology ◽

10.3390/hydrology8020075 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 75

Author(s):

Victor Hugo Ramírez-Builes ◽

Jürgen Küsters

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Agricultural Sector ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Caribbean Region ◽

Coffee Production ◽

Use Efficiency

Coffee (Coffea spp.) represents one of the most important sources of income and goods for the agricultural sector in Central America, Colombia, and the Caribbean region. The sustainability of coffee production at the global and regional scale is under threat by climate change, with a major risk of losing near to 50% of today’s suitable area for coffee by 2050. Rain-fed coffee production dominates in the region, and under increasing climate variability and climate change impacts, these production areas are under threat due to air temperature increase and changes in rainfall patterns and volumes. Identification, evaluation, and implementation of adaptation strategies for growers to cope with climate variability and change impacts are relevant and high priority. Incremental adaptation strategies, including proper soil and water management, contribute to improved water use efficiency (WUE) and should be the first line of action to adapt the coffee crop to the changing growing conditions. This research’s objective was to evaluate at field level over five years the influence of fertilization with calcium (Ca+2) and potassium (K+) on WUE in two coffee arabica varieties: cv. Castillo and cv. Caturra. Castillo has resistance against coffee leaf rust (CLR) (Hemileia vastatrix Verkeley and Brome), while Caturra is not CLR-resistant. WUE was influenced by yield changes during the years by climate variability due to El Niño–ENSO conditions and CLR incidence. Application of Ca+2 and K+ improved the WUE under such variable conditions. The highest WUE values were obtained with an application of 100 kg CaO ha−1 year−1 and between 180 to 230 kg K2O ha−1 year−1. The results indicate that adequate nutrition with Ca+2 and K+ can improve WUE in the long-term, even underwater deficit conditions and after the substantial incidence. Hence, an optimum application of Ca+2 and K+ in rain-fed coffee plantations can be regarded as an effective strategy to adapt to climate variability and climate change.

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