Picturing local adaptation: Spectral and structural traits from drone remote sensing reveal clinal responses to climate transfer in common‐garden trials of interior spruce (<i>Picea engelmannii</i> × <i>glauca</i>)

Grubinger, Samuel; Coops, Nicholas C.; O’Neill, Gregory A.

doi:10.1111/gcb.16855

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 96 publications

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“…Advancement of image processing for high‐throughput phenotyping in plants (e.g. Exposito‐Alonso et al ., 2018; Grubinger et al ., 2023) could also improve assessments of drought tolerance in trees substantially and allow for multi‐trait measurements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weak local adaptation to drought in seedlings of a widespread conifer

Candido‐Ribeiro,

Aitken

2024

New Phytologist

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Summary Tree seedlings from populations native to drier regions are often assumed to be more drought tolerant than those from wetter provenances. However, intraspecific variation in drought tolerance has not been well‐characterized despite being critical for developing climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, and for predicting the effects of drought on forests. We used a large‐scale common garden drought‐to‐death experiment to assess range‐wide variation in drought tolerance, measured by decline of photosynthetic efficiency, growth, and plastic responses to extreme summer drought in seedlings of 73 natural populations of the two main varieties of Douglas‐fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii and var. glauca). Local adaptation to drought was weak in var. glauca and nearly absent in menziesii. Var. glauca showed higher tolerance to drought but slower growth than var. menziesii. Clinal variation in drought tolerance and growth species‐wide was mainly associated with temperature rather than precipitation. A higher degree of plasticity for growth was observed in var. menziesii in response to extreme drought. Genetic variation for drought tolerance in seedlings within varieties is maintained primarily within populations. Selective breeding within populations may facilitate adaptation to drought more than assisted gene flow.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weak local adaptation to drought in seedlings of a widespread conifer

Candido‐Ribeiro,

Aitken

2024

New Phytologist

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Prioritizing commercial thinning: quantification of growth and competition with high-density drone laser scanning

Irwin,

Coops,

Riofrío

et al. 2024

Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research

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Laser scanning sensors mounted on drones enable on-demand quantification of forest structure through the collection of high-density point clouds (500+ points m−2). These point clouds facilitate the detection of individual trees enabling the quantification of growth-related variables within a stand that can inform precision management. We present a methodology to link incremental growth data obtained from tree cores with crown models derived from drone laser scanning, quantifying the relative growth condition of individual trees and their neighbours. We stem-mapped 815 trees across five stands in north-central British Columbia, Canada of which 16% were cored to quantify recent basal area growth. Point clouds from drone laser scanning and orthomosaic imagery were used to locate trees, model three-dimensional crown features, and derive competition metrics describing the relative distribution of crown sizes. Local access to water and light were simulated using topographic wetness and potential solar irradiance indices derived from high-resolution terrain and surface models. Wall-to-wall predictions of recent basal area growth were produced from the best-performing model and summarized across a grid alongside a tree-level competition index. Overall, crown volume was most strongly correlated with observed differences in 5-year basal area increment (R2 = 0.70, P < .001). Competition and solar irradiance metrics were significant as univariate predictors (P < .001) but nonsignificant when included in multivariate models with crown volume. Using predictions from the best-performing model and laser-scanning-derived competition metrics, we present a newly developed growth competition index to assess variability and inform commercial thinning prescription prioritization. Growth predictions, competition metrics, and the growth competition index are summarized into maps that could be used in an operational workflow. Our methodology presents a new capacity to capture and quantify intra-stand variation in growth by combining competition metrics and measures of recent growth with high-density drone laser scanning data.

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Climatic conditions at provenance origin influence growth stability to changes in climate in two major tree species

Di Fabio,

Buttò,

Chakraborty

et al. 2024

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Climate change is expected to outpace the rate at which populations of forest trees can migrate. Hence, in forestry there is growing interest in intervention strategies such as assisted migration to mitigate climate change impacts. However, until now the primary focus when evaluating candidates for assisted migration has been mean or maximum performance. We explore phenotypic plasticity as a potentially new avenue to help maintain the viability of species and populations in the face of climate change. Capitalizing on large, multi-site international provenance trials of four economically and ecologically important forest tree species (Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies, Picea engelmannii, Pinus contorta), we quantify growth stability as the width of the response function relating provenance growth performance and trial site climate. We found significant differences in growth stability among species, with P. engelmannii being considerably more stable than the other three species. Additionally, we found no relationship between growth performance and growth stability of provenances, indicating that there are fast-growing provenances with a broad climate optimum. In two of the four species, provenances’ growth stability showed a significant relationship with the climate of the seed source, the direction of which depends on the species. When taken together with data on growth performance in different climate conditions, a measure of growth stability can improve the choice of species and provenances to minimize future risks in forest restoration and reforestation.

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Picturing local adaptation: Spectral and structural traits from drone remote sensing reveal clinal responses to climate transfer in common‐garden trials of interior spruce (Picea engelmannii × glauca)

Cited by 4 publications

References 96 publications

Weak local adaptation to drought in seedlings of a widespread conifer

Weak local adaptation to drought in seedlings of a widespread conifer

Prioritizing commercial thinning: quantification of growth and competition with high-density drone laser scanning

Climatic conditions at provenance origin influence growth stability to changes in climate in two major tree species

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