Intraspecific Variation in Drought Response of Three Populations of Cryptocarya alba and Persea lingue, Two Native Species From Mediterranean Central Chile

Abstract

An increase in the severity of drought events on Mediterranean climates highlights the need of using plant material adapted to drought during restoration efforts. Thus, we investigated between-population morpho-physiological differences in Cryptocarya alba and Persea lingue, two native species from Mediterranean central Chile, for traits that could effectively discriminate population performance in response to water restriction (WR) testing. Three populations from each species were subjected to WR treatment and physiological, morphological, and growth parameters were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. In C. alba, the most xeric population displayed smaller plants with mesophyllous leaves and lower photosynthetic rates indicating a resource saving strategy. Moreover, the xeric population performed better during WR than the most mesic populations, exhibiting higher water use efficiency (iWUE) and maintenance of growth rates. All C. alba populations responded equally to WR in terms of morphology and biomass partitioning. In contrast, differences among P. lingue populations were subtle at the morpho-physiological level with no apparent relation to provenance environmental conditions, and no morphological traits were affected by WR. However, in response to WR application, the most mesic population was, as observed through reduction in relative growth rates, more affected than xeric populations. We attribute such discrete differences between P. lingue provenances to the lower distributional range of selected populations. Our results show that relative growth rates in both species, and iWUE only in C. alba, exhibited population specific responses upon WR imposition; these results correspond with the environmental conditions found at the origin of each populations. Both traits could further assist in the selection of populations for restoration according to their response to water stress.

Linkages between stomatal density and minor leaf vein density across different altitudes and growth forms

“…In our study, SD and VLA of trees exhibited a decoupled pattern, which may be largely affected by LA. Prior research had mostly focused on the separate relationship of SD and VLA with LA ( Sack et al., 2012 ; Alvarez-Maldini et al., 2020 : Zhao et al., 2017 ) and it is uncommon for studies to take into account the impact of LA to SD-VLA relationship. Our study showed a significantly positive relationship between SD and LA in trees ( P <0.05), whereas VLA was unaffected by LA ( Supplementary Figure S1 ).…”

“…For example, Carins Murphy et al (2012) found that leaf expansion resulted in the coordinated development of SD and VLA in Toona ciliate. However, other studies found that minor VLA is little affected by LA (Sack et al, 2012;Zhao et al, 2016), whereas SD and LA revealed different types of associations (Carins Murphy et al, 2014;Alvarez-Maldini et al, 2020). In fact, these differences may be caused by species differences.…”

Hydroscapes: A Useful Metric for Distinguishing Iso-/Anisohydric Behavior in Almond Cultivars

“…Then, irrigation was interrupted, allowing a progressive decrease in substrate water content. The gravimetric substrate water content (GSWC, %) was calculated according to the following equation: where Pot is the weight of the pot at each measurement time, Pot dry is the weight of the pot with the substrate dried in an oven until achieving a constant weight, and Pot wet is the weight of the pots at container capacity [34].…”

“…At the end of the desiccation experiment, three plants per cultivar (2) and irrigation treatment (2) (12 plants in total) were randomly selected for biomass and leaf area measurements. The specific leaf area (SLA) was obtained according to [34].…”

Assisted Migration Field Tests in Canada and Mexico: Lessons, Limitations, and Challenges

“…Climate change is expected to decouple forest tree populations from the climates to which they have become locally adapted over many generations [1][2][3][4]. Local adaptation can involve critical trade-offs; frequently, populations from colder sites are more frost resistant, although they have less growth potential than populations from warmer locations that have genetically extended growing seasons [5][6][7], and populations from drier locations may be more drought resistant or tolerant [8,9]. Suitable climatic habitat for given biomes, tree species, and their populations is predicted to occur at more polar latitudes and higher elevations as climate change progresses [10][11][12][13][14].…”