High frequency growth variability of White spruce clones does not differ from non-clonal trees at Alaskan treelines

Wilmking, Martin; Buras, Allan; Eusemann, Pascal; Schnittler, Martin; Trouillier, Mario; Würth, David G.; Lange, Jelena; Maaten‐Theunissen, Marieke van der; Juday, Glenn P.

doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2017.05.005

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Despite the high heritability estimates for early-and latewood width, the effect of genetic grouping was rather unexpected. As mentioned before, secondary growth is strongly influenced by climatic parameters, and several studies suggested that small-scale environmental conditions rather than genetics affect growth (King et al, 2013;Wilmking et al, 2017;Avanzi et al, 2018). Since our study was performed in situ we were not able to truly decouple genetic from spatial effects.…”

Section: Spatial Grouping Has the Strongest Effect On Trait Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In 2018, we sampled all the spatially clustered groups of white spruce that were scattered throughout the study area ranging from the forest line to the treeline and appearing to be the result of vegetative reproduction (see Wilmking et al, 2017;Würth et al, 2018) (Figure 1). We sampled all trees present within each spatially clustered group (Supplementary Figure S1 and Supplementary Table S1).…”

Section: Sampling Design and Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Xylem Anatomical Variability in White Spruce at Treeline Is Largely Driven by Spatial Clustering

et al. 2020

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Section: Spatial Grouping Has the Strongest Effect On Trait Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Sampling Design and Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Xylem Anatomical Variability in White Spruce at Treeline Is Largely Driven by Spatial Clustering

et al. 2020

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“…B.S.P. (Légère and Payette 1981, Payette et al 1994, Laberge et al 2001, Viktora et al 2011 this species has been shown to grow clonally in certain circumstances (Walker et al 2012, Wilmking et al 2017, most likely to endure periods unfavorable for sexual reproduction. We compared edge and core populations at a latitudinal, an elevational and a drought-controlled treeline to answer the following questions: Is cloning ubiquitous throughout range of white spruce in Alaska?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environment drives spatiotemporal patterns of clonality in white spruce (Picea glauca) in Alaska

et al. 2018

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Many plant species reproduce by cloning, if environmental conditions are unfavorable for sexual reproduction. To test the alternative hypotheses whether cloning is an "exit strategy" or caused by selection, clonal growth in white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) was investigated in three stands in Alaska, each consisting of a core (closed forest) and an edge (treeline) plot. A total of 2571 trees were mapped and genotyped with 11 SSR markers. The proportion of clonal trees follows a moisture gradient and was lowest in the dry Interior basin (4.5%), followed by the sites at the Alaska Range (9.0%) and Brooks Range (21.7%). At the two latter sites, clonal growth was more frequent in the edge plot. A comparison among 960 aged trees revealed that clonal growth becomes more likely with increasing age and continues over the life span of a tree. Genetic data do not indicate any genetic predisposition for cloning. Most likely, clonal growth in white spruce takes place via layering and depends on environmental conditions. Since performance of the trees, and therefore likely plant reproductive success, is lower in plots with a high proportion of clones, selection for clonal growth seems to be highly unlikely.

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“…The first temperature-limited study site is a latitudinal treeline located on a slope of Nutirwik Creek valley in the central Brooks Range—Cold—Dry Treeline (C-D; 67°56′N, 149°44′W). At C-D, tree growth is mainly limited by low temperatures ( Wilmking et al, 2017 ), yet the mean annual precipitation is comparably low as well, which could lead to occasional drought stress ( Figure 1 ; Trouillier et al, 2019 ). The second temperature-limited site is in Denali National Park—Cold—Moist Treeline (C-M, 63°43′N, 149°00′W).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and Indirect Effects of Environmental Limitations on White Spruce Xylem Anatomy at Treeline

et al. 2021

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Treeline ecosystems are of great scientific interest to study the effects of limiting environmental conditions on tree growth. However, tree growth is multidimensional, with complex interactions between height and radial growth. In this study, we aimed to disentangle effects of height and climate on xylem anatomy of white spruce [Picea glauca (Moench) Voss] at three treeline sites in Alaska; i.e., one warm and drought-limited, and two cold, temperature-limited. To analyze general growth differences between trees from different sites, we used data on annual ring width, diameter at breast height (DBH), and tree height. A representative subset of the samples was used to investigate xylem anatomical traits. We then used linear mixed-effects models to estimate the effects of height and climatic variables on our study traits. Our study showed that xylem anatomical traits in white spruce can be directly and indirectly controlled by environmental conditions: hydraulic-related traits seem to be mainly influenced by tree height, especially in the earlywood. Thus, they are indirectly driven by environmental conditions, through the environment’s effects on tree height. Traits related to mechanical support show a direct response to environmental conditions, mainly temperature, especially in the latewood. These results highlight the importance of assessing tree growth in a multidimensional way by considering both direct and indirect effects of environmental forcing to better understand the complexity of tree growth responses to the environment.

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High frequency growth variability of White spruce clones does not differ from non-clonal trees at Alaskan treelines

Cited by 15 publications

References 34 publications

Xylem Anatomical Variability in White Spruce at Treeline Is Largely Driven by Spatial Clustering

Xylem Anatomical Variability in White Spruce at Treeline Is Largely Driven by Spatial Clustering

Environment drives spatiotemporal patterns of clonality in white spruce (Picea glauca) in Alaska

Direct and Indirect Effects of Environmental Limitations on White Spruce Xylem Anatomy at Treeline

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