Climate Change And Fruit Production

2012 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 775-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. G. CAMPBELL ◽  
J. LUO ◽  
K. L. MERCER

SUMMARYCurrent agricultural practices rely on crops with developmental phenologies adapted to local climate, photoperiods and soils; however, global climate change will alter some abiotic factors (e.g. temperature and precipitation). Previously adapted varieties may be poorly prepared for these changing conditions, if such conditions induce mismatched phenologies. Crops that depend on cross-pollination and synchronous flowering may be most susceptible, e.g. monoecious plants have separate male and female flowers, and changes in flowering synchrony may alter yield. Using genetically diverse (open-pollinated (OP)) and genetically homogeneous (hybrid) varieties of a monoecious crop, courgette, also known as zuchinni (Cucurbita pepo), phenological responses to experimentally manipulated moisture conditions were explored in an agricultural context. Under drier and wetter conditions, the hybrid courgette plants shifted towards a male-biased floral sex ratio due to the reduced production of female flowers. However, flowering synchrony and fruit production were unaffected by moisture treatment in both varieties. The hybrid and OP varieties differed in many traits related to floral sex ratios, phenology, synchrony and fruit production. Further, the OP variety displayed more phenotypic variation than the hybrid in many traits. Being in a population context rather than relying on self-pollination increased the availability of potential mates for a given female flower in both the hybrid and, particularly, the OP variety. Thus, the increased genetic diversity found in OP v. hybrid varieties may buffer the possible environmental effects on flowering synchrony within a cropping context. Finally, the likelihood of female flowers setting fruit increased with the number of male flowers within a population, and the rate of increase was higher in the hybrid variety. In summary, climate change is predicted to reduce investment in female function in some monoecious crops and genetically diverse varieties may play an important role in maintaining reproductive synchrony in altered environments.


OENO One ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everard J. Edwards ◽  
Dale Unwin ◽  
Rachel Kilmister ◽  
Michael Treeby

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Abstract:</strong> Industry concerns in Australia about the impacts of climate change have, to date, focused on the effects of warming, particularly shorter maturation periods. The effects of elevated CO<sub>2</sub> concentration (eCO<sub>2</sub>) on C<sub>3</sub> plant physiology have been extensively studied and suggest that eCO<sub>2 </sub>impacts on viticulture could affect grapevine shoot growth, fruit production and fruit composition. We previously used open top chambers (OTC) with an active heating system to study the effects of elevated air temperature (eTemp) on mature grapevines in the field. This system was augmented with the ability to elevate atmospheric CO<sub>2 </sub>and established in a mature Shiraz vineyard in a factorial combination of eTemp and eCO<sub>2</sub>. Three seasons of observations on the eTemp only treatment corroborated our previous study; all aspects of phenology were advanced, but leaf function was largely unaffected. In contrast, the effects of eCO<sub>2</sub> on phenology were small in the first season, but increased over the subsequent two seasons. Interactive effects of the treatments on gas exchange were observed; photosynthesis rates were significantly higher in the eCO<sub>2</sub>+eTemp treatment, compared to eCO<sub>2</sub> alone, suggesting that the likely future climate will have a larger impact on viticulture than might be predicted from experiments examining only one of these factors.</p>


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Alatalo ◽  
Annika Jägerbrand ◽  
Junhu Dai ◽  
Mohammad D. Mollazehi ◽  
Abdel-Salam G. Abdel-Salam ◽  
...  

Climate change is already having a major impact on alpine and arctic regions, and inter-annual variations in temperature are likely to increase. In a four-year study focusing on fruit production by an alpine plant community in northern Sweden, we applied three different warming regimes over the years. Treatments consisted of (a) a static level of warming with open-top chambers (OTC), (b) press warming, a yearly stepwise increases in warming, and (c) pulse warming, a single-year pulse event of higher warming. We analysed the relationship between fruit production and monthly temperatures during the budding period, fruiting period, and whole fruit production period, and the effect of winter and summer precipitation on fruit production. We found a significant effect of both year and treatment on total fruit production (highest in the press and lowest in the pulse treatment) and in the evergreen shrubs Cassiope tetragona (highest fruit production in press and lowest in pulse treatment) and Dryas octopetala (highest fruit production in press and pulse treatments), with large variations between treatments and years. Year, but not treatment, had a significant effect on deciduous shrubs and graminoids, both of which increased fruit production over the years, while forbs were negatively affected by the press treatment, but not year. Fruit production was influenced by ambient temperature during previous-year budding period, current-year fruiting period and the whole fruit production period. Minimum and average temperature were more important than maximum temperature. In general, increased precipitation was negatively correlated with fruit production. Summer precipitation decreased fruit production of D. octopetala, graminoids, deciduous shrubs, and total fruit production. Winter precipitation had a negative effect on fruit production of C. tetragona, evergreen shrubs, and total fruit production, while graminoids were positive affected. Similarly, the combined precipitation (winter and summer) had negative effect on fruit production of D. octopetala, deciduous and evergreen shrubs, graminoids, and total fruit production. In contrast, fruit production of forbs was not affected by precipitation. These results indicate that the predicted increased climate variability and increase in precipitation due to climate change may affect plant reproductive output and long-term community dynamics in alpine meadow communities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Monteiro Condé ◽  
Jackelin Dias Condé ◽  
Carlos Wyldss Lacerda Sousa

The quantification of the carbon stock present in fruits and residues from the manufacture of açaí pulp provides an estimate of the contribution of these key-species to the Amazonian ecosystem to maintain the Earth’s climatic balance. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the production and carbon stock, based on factor 0.5, developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), present in açaí (Euterpe oleraceae M.) “BRS-Pará”, in managed plantations in São João da Baliza, Roraima. Allometric models were adjusted to estimate the carbon stock present in the fruits, bunches, and total (bunch and fruits) of açaí in terms of height and root collar diameter, a variable easily measured in the field. The production of açaí fruits and the forest carbon stock were higher in the managed planting with restriction thinning of only one remaining stem (single) about managed planting with thinning and clump conduction (average of three stipes). Therefore, both plantations provided a large production of açaí pulp with good economic yield and increased forest carbon stock per hectare.


2010 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
H A Quamme ◽  
A J Cannon ◽  
D Neilsen ◽  
J M Caprio ◽  
W G Taylor

The main limitation to fruit production in the Okanagan Valley is winter injury. Examination of historical records between 1916 and 2006 revealed 16 severe winter-kill events with two occurring in November, eight in December, four in January and two in February. Extreme low minimum temperatures are associated with poor production of grape, peach, apricot, sweet cherry, pear, and apple, and although all are subject to winter injury during most of the 4-mo period, the time when each crop is most at risk differs. Grapes, apples and sweet cherries are more subject to injury in the early stages of acclimation during November to mid-January, whereas pears, peach and apricot are more subject during January and February. During the period 1948-2006, Arctic outflows were associated with all of these winter freeze events. This synoptic weather pattern was an infrequent event but had a great impact on production. A decrease in frequency and increase in minimum temperature of Arctic outflows appeared to be associated with the warming trends of the region during winter and early spring, although a slight increase in frequency of Arctic outflows was observed during late autumn. If this pattern in climate change continues, an extension of the northern range of the grapes, apples and sweet cherries in this region might not be as great as anticipated, whereas the production of pears, peaches and apricots might be expanded. Key words: Climate change, fruit, Okanagan Valley, winter injury, Arctic airflow


Author(s):  
Vishwambhar Prasad Sati

AbstractMountain regions are highly vulnerable to climate change, as they are ecologically fragile, tectonically and seismically active, and geologically sensitive. The main objectives of this study are to examine socio-ecological transformations and to illustrate the major driving forces - climate change, education and waves of modern civilization - in the Garhwal Himalaya. Data on socio-ecological systems and their patterns of change were accumulated from primary and secondary sources and through participatory rural appraisal. We present a case study where household level surveys were conducted in two villages. A total of 37 households were surveyed. Additionally, marginal farmers and extension workers were interviewed. Questions on population, migration, cropping pattern and livestock were answered by the head of the surveyed households. Population size was decreasing due to out-migration. The whole Garhwal region experienced 15.3% out-migration, while migration from the two villages was observed at 50% during the period 1990-2014. Similarly, changes in land use and cropping patterns and in the livestock population were observed. There was a decrease in the extent of land under cereals (24%) and fruits (79%), a decrease in fruit production (75%), and a decrease in the number of livestock (76%). Climate change was observed as a major driver of the decrease in production and productivity of cereals and fruits, leading to land abandonment. Education, on the other hand, was a major driver of out-migration. Further, extreme events through climate change happened more frequently and changed the landscape. This study reveals that an increase in infrastructural facilities to create jobs and sustainable land management can control out-migration and can enhance land capability.


AoB Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Pappo ◽  
Chris Wilson ◽  
S Luke Flory

Abstract Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to cause shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns that will be detrimental for global agriculture. Developing comprehensive strategies for building climate resilient agroecosystems is critical for maintaining future crop production. Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) is highly sensitive to the quantity and timing of precipitation, so alterations in precipitation patterns that are predicted under climate change are likely to be a major challenge for maintaining coffee agroecosystems. We assessed cultivar selection as a potential component of more resilient coffee agroecosystems by evaluating water stress responses among five Arabica coffee cultivars (clonal hybrids H10 and H1 and seedling lines Catuai 44, Catuai, and Villa Sarchi) using a precipitation reduction experiment in the highlands of Tarrazú, Costa Rica. During the first harvest (eighteen months after planting), plants under the rainout treatment had 211% greater total fruit weight and over 50% greater biomass than under the control treatment, potentially due to protection from unusually high rainfall during this period of our experiment. At the second harvest (thirty months after planting), after a year of more typical rainfall, plants under rainout still produced 66% more fruit by weight than under control. The magnitude of the responses varied among cultivars where, at the first harvest, H10 and H1 had approximately 92% and 81% greater fruit production and 18% and 22% greater biomass, respectively, and at the second harvest H10 had 60% more fruit production than the overall average. Thus, our findings suggest that the hybrid lines H10 and H1 are more resilient than the other cultivars to the stress of high soil moisture. Overall, our results indicate that stress due to higher than average rainfall could impair coffee plant growth and production, and that cultivar selection is likely to be an important tool for maintaining the viability of coffee production, and the resilience of global agroecosystems more generally, under climate change.


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