scholarly journals Common garden comparisons confirm inherited differences in sensitivity to climate change between forest tree species

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero ◽  
Antoine Kremer ◽  
László Nagy ◽  
Éva Újvári-Jármay ◽  
Alexis Ducousso ◽  
...  

The natural distribution, habitat, growth and evolutionary history of tree species are strongly dependent on ecological and genetic processes in ecosystems subject to fluctuating climatic conditions, but there have been few experimental comparisons of sensitivity between species. We compared the responses of two broadleaved tree species (Fagus sylvatica and Quercus petraea) and two conifer tree species (Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies) to climatic transfers by fitting models containing the same climatic variables. We used published data from European provenance test networks to model the responses of individual populations nested within species. A mixed model approach was applied to develop a response function for tree height over climatic transfer distance, taking into account the climatic conditions at both the seed source and the test location. The two broadleaved species had flat climatic response curves, indicating high levels of plasticity in populations, facilitating adaptation to a broader range of environments, and conferring a high potential for resilience in the face of climatic change. By contrast, the two conifer species had response curves with more pronounced slopes, indicating a lower resilience to climate change. This finding may reflect stronger genetic clines in P. sylvestris and P. abies, which constrain their climate responses to narrower climatic ranges. The response functions had maxima that deviated from the expected maximum productivity in the climate of provenance towards cooler/moister climate conditions, which we interpreted as an adaptation lag. Unilateral, linear regression analyses following transfer to warmer and drier sites confirmed a decline in productivity, predictive of the likely impact of ongoing climate change on forest populations. The responses to mimicked climate change evaluated here are of considerable interest for forestry and ecology, supporting projections of expected performance based on “real-time” field data.

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Agathe Roucou ◽  
Christophe Bergez ◽  
Benoît Méléard ◽  
Béatrice Orlando

The levels of fumonisins (FUMO)—mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides—in maize for food and feed are subject to European Union regulations. Compliance with the regulations requires the targeting of, among others, the agroclimatic factors influencing fungal contamination and FUMO production. Arvalis-Institut du végétal has created a national, multiyear database for maize, based on field survey data collected since 2003. This database contains information about agricultural practices, climatic conditions and FUMO concentrations at harvest for 738 maize fields distributed throughout French maize-growing regions. A linear mixed model approach highlights the presence of borers and the use of a late variety, high temperatures in July and October, and a water deficit during the maize cycle as creating conditions favoring maize contamination with Fusarium verticillioides. It is thus possible to target a combination of risk factors, consisting of this climatic sequence associated with agricultural practices of interest. The effects of the various possible agroclimatic combinations can be compared, grouped and classified as promoting very low to high FUMO concentrations, possibly exceeding the regulatory threshold. These findings should facilitate the creation of a national, informative and easy-to-use prevention tool for producers and agricultural cooperatives to manage the sanitary quality of their harvest.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Enigl ◽  
Matthias Schlögl ◽  
Christoph Matulla

<p>Climate change constitutes a main driver of altering population dynamics of spruce bark beetles (<em>Ips typographus</em>) all over Europe. Their swarming activity as well as development rate are strongly dependent on temperature and the availability of brood trees. Especially over the last years, the latter has substantially increased due to major drought events which led to a widespread weakening of spruce stands. Since both higher temperatures and longer drought periods are to be expected in Central Europe in the decades ahead, foresters face the challenges of maintaining sustainable forest management and safeguarding future yields. One approach used to foster decision support in silviculture relies on the identification of possible alternative tree species suitable for adapting to expected future climate conditions in threatened regions. </p><p>In this study, we focus on the forest district of Horn, a region in Austria‘s north east that is beneficially influenced by the mesoclimate of the Pannonian basin. This fertile yet dry area has been severely affected by mass propagations of <em>Ips typographus</em> due to extensive droughts since 2017, and consequently has suffered from substantial forest damage in recent years. The urgent need for action was realized and has expedited the search for more robust alternative species to ensure sustainable silviculture in the area.</p><p>The determination of suitable tree species is based on the identification of regions whose climatic conditions in the recent past are similar to those that are to be expected in the forest district of Horn in the future. To characterize these conditions, we consider 19 bioclimatic variables that are derived from monthly temperature and rainfall values. Using downscaled CMIP6 projections with a spatial resolution of 2.5 minutes, we determine future conditions in Horn throughout the 21st century. By employing 20-year periods from 2021 to 2100 for the scenarios SSP1-26, SSP2-45, SSP3-70 and SSP5-85,  and comparing them to worldwide past climate conditions, we obtain corresponding bioclimatic regions for four future time slices until the end of the century. The Euclidian distance is applied as measure of similarity, effectively yielding similarity maps on a continuous scale. In order to account for the spatial variability within the forest district, this procedure is performed for the colder northwest and the warmer southeast of the area, individually seeking similar bioclimatic regions for each of these two subregions. Results point to Eastern Europe as well as the Po Valley in northern Italy as areas exhibiting the highest similarity to the future climate in this North-Eastern part of Austria.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
Manzoor Hussain ◽  
Ljupcho Jankuloski ◽  
M. Habib-ur-Rahman ◽  
Massoud Malek ◽  
Md. Kamrul Islam ◽  
...  

Abstract Cotton, being a leading commercial fibre crop, is grown on 20.5 million hectares in three major cotton-producing countries: China, India and Pakistan. Wide differences in yield per hectare exist among these countries and these are being aggravated by changing climate conditions, i.e. higher temperatures and significant seasonal and regional fluctuation in rainfall. Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by climate change. The disastrous effects of extreme periods of heat stress in cotton were very prominent in Pakistan during the growing seasons 2013-2014 (40-50% fruit abortion) and 2016-2017 (33% shortfall), which posed an alarming threat to the cotton-based economy of Pakistan. Poor resilience of the most commonly grown cotton varieties against extreme periods of heat stress are considered to be major factors for this drastic downfall in cotton production in Pakistan. Using the approach of induced mutation breeding, the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan, has demonstrated its capabilities in developing cotton mutants that can tolerate the changed climatic conditions and sustain high yields under contrasting environments. The results of studies on the phenological and physiological traits conferring heat tolerance are presented here for thermo-tolerant cotton mutants (NIAB-878, NIAB-545, NIAB-1048, NIAB-444, NIAB-1089, NIAB-1064, NIAB-1042) relative to FH-142 and FH-Lalazar. NIAB-878 excelled in heat tolerance by maintaining the highest anther dehiscence (82%) and minimum cell injury percentage (39%) along with maximum stomatal conductance (27.7 mmol CO2/m2/s), transpiration rate (6.89 μmol H2O/m2/s), net photosynthetic rate (44.6 mmol CO2/m2/s) and physiological water use efficiency (6.81 mmol CO2/μmol H2O) under the prevailing high temperatures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Dan-Dan Yu ◽  
Shan Li ◽  
Zhong-Yang Guo

The evaluation of climate comfort for tourism can provide information for tourists selecting destinations and tourism operators. Understanding how climate conditions for tourism evolve is increasingly important for strategic tourism planning, particularly in rapidly developing tourism markets like China in a changing climate. Multidimensional climate indices are needed to evaluate climate for tourism, and previous studies in China have used the much criticized “climate index” with low resolution climate data. This study uses the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) and daily data from 775 weather stations to examine interregional differences in the tourist climate comfortable period (TCCP) across China and summarizes the spatiotemporal evolution of TCCP from 1981 to 2010 in a changing climate. Overall, most areas in China have an “excellent” climate for tourism, such that tourists may visit anytime with many choices available. The TCCP in most regions shows an increasing trend, and China benefits more from positive effects of climate change in climatic conditions for tourism, especially in spring and autumn. These results can provide some scientific evidence for understanding human settlement environmental constructions and further contribute in improving local or regional resilience responding to global climate change.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Guo ◽  
Yue Lu ◽  
Yousry A. El-Kassaby ◽  
Lei Feng ◽  
Guibing Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Key message We developed a climatic response function using 20-year tree height observed from 45Ginkgo bilobaplantations in China and used it to predict the growth and habitat responses to anticipated climate change. We projected northward and upward shifts in the species habitat and productive areas, but a dramatic contraction of the species distribution is unlikely to occur at least during the present century. Context Ginkgo biloba is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. The species exists in small natural populations in southeastern China but is cultivated across China and the world. The species’ future under climate change is of concern. Aims This study was initiated to model the species’ growth response to climate change and to predict its range of suitable habitat under future climates. Methods Using height data from 45 20 years old plantations growing under a wide range of climatic conditions across China, we developed univariate and bivariate climatic response functions to identify the climate requirements of the species. Results According to the amount of variance explained (> 70%) and the high level of agreement (> 99%) with independent species occurrence coordinates, the developed climate response function was highly accurate and credible. Projections for future periods (2011–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2100) under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5) scenario indicated that the areas of potential suitable habitat would increase (25–67 million hectares). It would also be associated with northward (0.21–0.62° in latitude) and elevational (24–75 m) shifts. Conclusion Global climate change is projected to increase the area of potential suitable habitats for Ginkgo and shift its spatial distributions northward and upward.


New Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Boucher ◽  
Sylvie Gauthier ◽  
Nelson Thiffault ◽  
William Marchand ◽  
Martin Girardin ◽  
...  

Abstract Climate change is projected to increase fire severity and frequency in the boreal forest, but it could also directly affect post-fire recruitment processes by impacting seed production, germination, and seedling growth and survival. We reviewed current knowledge regarding the effects of high temperatures and water deficits on post-fire recruitment processes of four major tree species (Picea mariana, Pinus banksiana, Populus tremuloides and Betula papyrifera) in order to anticipate the effects of climate change on forest recovery following fire in the boreal biome. We also produced maps of future vulnerability of post-fire recruitment by combining tree distributions in Canada with projections of temperature, moisture index and fire regime for the 2041–2070 and 2071–2100 periods. Although our review reveals that information is lacking for some regeneration stages, it highlights the response variability to climate conditions between species. The recruitment process of black spruce is likely to be the most affected by rising temperatures and water deficits, but more tolerant species are also at risk of being impacted by projected climate conditions. Our maps suggest that in eastern Canada, tree species will be vulnerable mainly to projected increases in temperature, while forests will be affected mostly by droughts in western Canada. Conifer-dominated forests are at risk of becoming less productive than they currently are, and eventually, timber supplies from deciduous species-dominated forests could also decrease. Our vulnerability maps are useful for prioritizing areas where regeneration monitoring efforts and adaptive measures could be developed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Kummu ◽  
Matias Heino ◽  
Maija Taka ◽  
Olli Varis ◽  
Daniel Viviroli

<p>The majority of global food production, as we know it, is based on agricultural practices developed within stable Holocene climate conditions. Climate change is altering the key conditions for human societies, such as precipitation, temperature and aridity. Their combined impact on altering the conditions in areas where people live and grow food has not yet, however, been systematically quantified on a global scale. Here, we estimate the impacts of two climate change scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 8.5) on major population centres and food crop production areas at 5 arc-min scale (~10 km at equator) using Holdridge Life Zones (HLZs), a concept that incorporates all the aforementioned climatic characteristics. We found that if rapid growth of GHG emissions is not halted (RCP 8.5), in year 2070, one fifth of the major food production areas and one fourth of the global population centres would experience climate conditions beyond the ones where food is currently produced, and people are living. Our results thus reinforce the importance of following the RCP 2.6 path, as then only a small fraction of food production (5%) and population centres (6%) would face such unprecedented conditions. Several areas experiencing these unprecedented conditions also have low resilience, such as those within Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, and Guinea-Bissau. In these countries over 75% of food production and population would experience unprecedented climatic conditions under RCP 8.5. These and many other hotspot areas require the most urgent attention to secure sustainable development and equity.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 669-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela D. Noyes ◽  
Sean C. Lema

Abstract Global climate change is impacting organisms, biological communities and ecosystems around the world. While most research has focused on characterizing how the climate is changing, including modeling future climatic conditions and predicting the impacts of these conditions on biodiversity, it is also the case that climate change is altering the environmental impacts of chemical pollution. Future climate conditions are expected to influence both the worldwide distribution of chemicals and the toxicological consequences of chemical exposures to organisms. Many of the environmental changes associated with a warming global climate (e.g., increased average – and possibly extreme – temperatures; intense periods of drier and wetter conditions; reduced ocean pH; altered salinity dynamics in estuaries) have the potential to enhance organism susceptibility to chemical toxicity. Additionally, chemical exposures themselves may impair the ability of organisms to cope with the changing environmental conditions of the shifting climate. Such reciprocity in the interactions between climate change and chemicals illustrates the complexity inherent in predicting the toxicological consequences of chemical exposures under future climate scenarios. Here, we summarize what is currently known about the potential reciprocal effects of climate change and chemical toxicity on wildlife, and depict current approaches and ongoing challenges for incorporating climate effects into chemical testing and assessment. Given the rapid pace of new man-made chemistries, the development of accurate and rapid methods to evaluate multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors in an ecologically relevant context will be critical to understanding toxic and endocrine-disrupting effects of chemical pollutants under future climate scenarios.


2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Mehtätalo

A height–diameter (H–D) model for Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) was estimated from longitudinal data. The Korf growth curve was used as the H–D curve. Firstly, H–D curves for each stand at each measurement time were fitted, and the trends in the parameters of the H–D curve were modeled. Secondly, the trends were included in the H–D model to estimate the whole model at once. To take the hierarchy of the data into account, a mixed-model approach was used. This makes it possible to calibrate the model for a new stand at a given point in time using sample tree height(s). The heights may be from different points in time and need not be from the point in time being predicted. The trends in the parameters of the H–D curve were not estimated as a function of stand age but as a function of the median diameter of basal area weighted diameter distribution (dGm). This approach was chosen because the stand ages may differ substantially among stands with similar current growth patterns. This is true especially with shade-tolerant tree species, which can regenerate and survive for several years beneath the dominant canopy layer and start rapid growth later. The growth patterns in stands with a given dGm, on the other hand, seem not to vary much. This finding indicates that the growth pattern of a stand does not depend on stand age but on mean tree size in the stand.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 8793-8830 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Renner ◽  
R. Seppelt ◽  
C. Bernhofer

Abstract. Long term average change in streamflow is a major concern in hydrology and water resources management. Some simple analytical methods exist for the assessment of the sensitivity of streamflow to climatic variations. These are based on the Budyko hypothesis, which assumes that long term average streamflow can be predicted by climate conditions, namely by annual average precipitation and evaporative demand. Recently, Tomer and Schilling (2009) presented an ecohydrological concept to distinguish between effects of climate change and basin characteristics change on streamflow. We provide a theoretical foundation of this concept by showing that it is based on a coupled consideration of the water and energy balance. The concept uses a special condition that the sum of the ratio of annual actual evapotranspiration to precipitation and the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration is constant, even when climate conditions are changing. Here we apply this assumption and derive analytical solutions to the problem of streamflow sensitivity on climate. We show how climate sensitivity is influenced by different climatic conditions and the actual hydrological response of a basin. Finally, the properties and implications of the new method are compared with established Budyko sensitivity methods.


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