Photoperiod cues and patterns of genetic variation limit phenological responses to climate change in warm parts of species’ range: Modeling diameter-growth cessation in coast Douglas-fir

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 3348-3362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin R. Ford ◽  
Constance A. Harrington ◽  
J. Bradley St. Clair
2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Gould ◽  
Constance A. Harrington ◽  
J. Bradley St. Clair

Models to predict budburst and other phenological events in plants are needed to forecast how climate change may impact ecosystems and for the development of mitigation strategies. Differences among genotypes are important to predicting phenological events in species that show strong clinal variation in adaptive traits. We present a model that incorporates the effects of temperature and differences among genotypes to predict the timing of budburst of coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). The main components of the model are (i) functions to calculate the accumulation of chilling units (CU) and forcing units (FU) during dormancy and (ii) a function defining the combinations of CU and FU needed for budburst (the possibility line). The possibility line was fit to data from 59 populations subjected to eight different winter environments. Differences among populations were incorporated into the possibility line using population coefficients that vary the FU required for budburst. Correlations among the population coefficients and variables describing local environments supported the hypothesis that genetic variation in budburst is largely an adaptation to summer drought. The new model can be used to test potential seed transfers as a strategy to mitigate some of the effects of climate change.


1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1864-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Li ◽  
W.T. Adams

The objectives of this study were to (i) determine the extent of genetic variation and genetic control of cambial phenology in coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), (ii) assess the degree to which cambial phenology is genetically related to bud-burst timing, (iii) examine genetic relationships between cambial phenology and growth traits, and (iv) evaluate the potential for indirectly altering cambial phenology in breeding programs when selection is for stem volume. Dates of diameter-growth initiation and cessation, and duration of diameter growth (i.e., cambial phenology traits), as well as diameter increment for a single growing season (1987, at the age of 15 years from seed), were estimated from cumulative diameter growth curves of individual trees of 60 open-pollinated families growing in one plantation. Data on stem height and diameter (DBH), and date of bud burst in 1987 were also collected. Dates of diameter-growth initiation and cessation differed significantly among families, but had lower estimated individual heritabilities (≤0.23) than date of bud burst (0.87). Weak genetic correlations between date of bud burst and dates of diameter-growth initiation and cessation (range −0.09 to 0.26) indicate that timing of diameter growth cannot be reliably predicted from observations on the more easily measured bud burst. Cambial phenology traits were weakly correlated with 1987 diameter increment and moderately correlated with 15-year DBH and volume. Selection of parents in this study for stem volume at age 15 and subsequent crosses among them, would be expected to lead to earlier initiation of diameter growth in the offspring, and possibly later cessation as well. The practical implications of these indirect responses in terms of increased risk of frost damage are unclear, since projected changes are small (i.e., a few days).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C Shaw ◽  
Gabriela Ritóková ◽  
Yung-Hsiang Lan ◽  
Doug B Mainwaring ◽  
Andrew Russo ◽  
...  

Abstract Swiss needle cast (SNC), caused by Nothophaeocryptopus gaeumannii, is a foliage disease of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), that reduces growth in native stands and exotic plantations worldwide. An outbreak of SNC began in coastal Oregon in the mid-1990s and has persisted since that time. Here we review the current state of knowledge after 24 years of research and monitoring, with a focus on Oregon, although the disease is significant in coastal Washington and has recently emerged in southwestern British Columbia. We present new insights into SNC distribution, landscape patterns, disease epidemiology and ecology, host-pathogen interactions, trophic and hydrologic influences, and the challenges of Douglas-fir plantation management in the presence of the disease. In Oregon, the SNC outbreak has remained geographically contained but has intensified. Finally, we consider the implications of climate change and other recently emerged foliage diseases on the future of Douglas-fir plantation management. Study Implications: Douglas-fir tree growers need to consider Swiss needle cast (SNC) and other emerging foliage diseases as SNC has not abated over the past 24 years, and along with other emerging diseases, it continues to pose a threat to Douglas-fir plantation productivity. Douglas-fir management in western Oregon remains important, such that a knowledge of disease impacts and effective silvicultural responses is key. Managers should carefully consider whether alternative species may be ecologically or economically beneficial in some situations while tree improvement programs must continue to breed for tolerance to SNC. Research shows that regional scale foliage disease outbreaks can result in trophic cascades and hydrologic changes that affects more than just the trees. The environmental controls on the SNC epidemic imply that climate change could strongly influence future directions of the outbreak, with the greatest threats to trees at higher elevations.


Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 165 (3) ◽  
pp. 1489-1506
Author(s):  
Kathleen D Jermstad ◽  
Daniel L Bassoni ◽  
Keith S Jech ◽  
Gary A Ritchie ◽  
Nicholas C Wheeler ◽  
...  

Abstract Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped in the woody perennial Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) for complex traits controlling the timing of growth initiation and growth cessation. QTL were estimated under controlled environmental conditions to identify QTL interactions with photoperiod, moisture stress, winter chilling, and spring temperatures. A three-generation mapping population of 460 cloned progeny was used for genetic mapping and phenotypic evaluations. An all-marker interval mapping method was used for scanning the genome for the presence of QTL and single-factor ANOVA was used for estimating QTL-by-environment interactions. A modest number of QTL were detected per trait, with individual QTL explaining up to 9.5% of the phenotypic variation. Two QTL-by-treatment interactions were found for growth initiation, whereas several QTL-by-treatment interactions were detected among growth cessation traits. This is the first report of QTL interactions with specific environmental signals in forest trees and will assist in the identification of candidate genes controlling these important adaptive traits in perennial plants.


2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1072-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIC A. HOBBIE ◽  
JILLIAN GREGG ◽  
DAVID M. OLSZYK ◽  
PAUL T. RYGIEWICZ ◽  
DAVID T. TINGEY

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor K. O’Brien ◽  
Megan Higgie ◽  
Alan Reynolds ◽  
Ary A. Hoffmann ◽  
Jon R. Bridle

ABSTRACTPredicting how species will respond to the rapid climatic changes predicted this century is an urgent task. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) use the current relationship between environmental variation and species’ abundances to predict the effect of future environmental change on their distributions. However, two common assumptions of SDMs are likely to be violated in many cases: (1) that the relationship of environment with abundance or fitness is constant throughout a species’ range and will remain so in future, and (2) that abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, humidity) determine species’ distributions. We test these assumptions by relating field abundance of the rainforest fruit fly Drosophila birchii to ecological change across gradients that include its low and high altitudinal limits. We then test how such ecological variation affects the fitness of 35 D. birchii families transplanted in 591 cages to sites along two altitudinal gradients, to determine whether genetic variation in fitness responses could facilitate future adaptation to environmental change. Overall, field abundance was highest at cooler, high altitude sites, and declined towards warmer, low altitude sites. By contrast, cage fitness (productivity) increased towards warmer, lower altitude sites, suggesting that biotic interactions (absent from cages) drive ecological limits at warmer margins. In addition, the relationship between environmental variation and abundance varied significantly among gradients, indicating divergence in ecological niche across the species’ range. However, there was no evidence for local adaptation within gradients, despite greater productivity of high altitude than low altitude populations when families were reared under laboratory conditions. Families also responded similarly to transplantation along gradients, providing no evidence for fitness trade-offs that would favour local adaptation. These findings highlight the importance of (1) measuring genetic variation of key traits under ecologically relevant conditions, and (2) considering the effect of biotic interactions when predicting species’ responses to environmental change.


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