Foliar water uptake in Pinus species depends on needle age and stomatal wax structures.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Foliar water uptake (FWU) has been documented in many species and is increasingly recognized as a non-trivial factor in plant-water relationships. However, it remains unknown whether FWU is a widespread phenomenon in Pinus species, and how it may relate to needle traits such as the form and structure of stomatal wax plugs. In this contribution, these questions were addressed by studying FWU in current-year and 1-year-old needles of seven Pinus species. METHODS: We monitored FWU gravimetrically and analysed the needle surface via cryo-scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, we considered the effect of artificial wax erosion by application of the surfactant Triton X-100, which is able to alter wax crystals. KEY RESULTS: The results show for all species that (1) FWU occurred, (2) FWU is higher in old needles compared to young needles and (3) there is substantial erosion of stomatal wax plugs in old needles. FWU was highest in Pinus canariensis, which has a thin stomatal wax plug. Surfactant treatment enhanced FWU. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide evidence for (1) widespread FWU in Pinus, (2) the influence of stomatal wax plugs on FWU and (3) age-related needle surface erosion.

Post-glacial biogeography of trembling aspen inferred from habitat models and genetic variance in quantitative traits.

Using species distribution models and information on genetic structure and within-population variance observed in a series of common garden trials, we reconstructed a historical biogeography of trembling aspen in North America. We used an ensemble classifier modelling approach (RandomForest) to reconstruct palaeoclimatic habitat for the periods 21,000, 14,000, 11,000 and 6,000 years before present. Genetic structure and diversity in quantitative traits was evaluated in common garden trials with 43 aspen collections ranging from Minnesota to northern British Columbia. Our main goals were to examine potential recolonisation routes for aspen from southwestern, eastern and Beringian glacial refugia. We further examined if any refugium had stable habitat conditions where aspen clones may have survived multiple glaciations. Our palaeoclimatic habitat reconstructions indicate that aspen may have recolonised boreal Canada and Alaska from refugia in the eastern United States, with separate southwestern refugia for the Rocky Mountain regions. This is further supported by a southeast to northwest gradient of decreasing genetic variance in quantitative traits, a likely result of repeated founder effects. Stable habitat where aspen clones may have survived multiple glaciations was predicted in Mexico and the eastern United States, but not in the west where some of the largest aspen clones have been documented.

An ecophysiological and developmental perspective on variation in vessel diameter.

Variation in xylem vessel diameter is one of the most important parameters when evaluating plant water relations. This review provides a synthesis of the ecophysiological implications of variation in lumen diameter together with a summary of our current understanding of vessel development and its endogenous regulation. We analyzed inter-specific variation of the mean hydraulic vessel diameter (Dv ) across biomes, intra-specific variation of Dv under natural and controlled conditions, and intra-plant variation. We found that the Dv measured in young branches tends to stay below 30 µm in regions experiencing winter frost, whereas it is highly variable in the tropical rainforest. Within a plant, the widest vessels are often found in the trunk and in large roots; smaller diameters have been reported for leaves and small lateral roots. Dv varies in response to environmental factors and is not only a function of plant size. Despite the wealth of data on vessel diameter variation, the regulation of diameter is poorly understood. Polar auxin transport through the vascular cambium is a key regulator linking foliar and xylem development. Limited evidence suggests that auxin transport is also a determinant of vessel diameter. The role of auxin in cell expansion and in establishing longitudinal continuity during secondary growth deserve further study.

Weak tradeoff between xylem safety and xylem-specific hydraulic efficiency across the world's woody plant species.

The evolution of lignified xylem allowed for the efficient transport of water under tension, but also exposed the vascular network to the risk of gas emboli and the spread of gas between xylem conduits, thus impeding sap transport to the leaves. A well-known hypothesis proposes that the safety of xylem (its ability to resist embolism formation and spread) should trade off against xylem efficiency (its capacity to transport water). We tested this safety-efficiency hypothesis in branch xylem across 335 angiosperm and 89 gymnosperm species. Safety was considered at three levels: the xylem water potentials where 12%, 50% and 88% of maximal conductivity are lost. Although correlations between safety and efficiency were weak (r(2)  < 0.086), no species had high efficiency and high safety, supporting the idea for a safety-efficiency tradeoff. However, many species had low efficiency and low safety. Species with low efficiency and low safety were weakly associated (r(2)  < 0.02 in most cases) with higher wood density, lower leaf- to sapwood-area and shorter stature. There appears to be no persuasive explanation for the considerable number of species with both low efficiency and low safety. These species represent a real challenge for understanding the evolution of xylem.

Leaf size serves as a proxy for xylem vulnerability to cavitation in plantation trees.

Hybrid poplars are an important renewable forest resource known for their high productivity. At the same time, they are highly vulnerable to water stress. Identifying traits that can serve as indicators for growth performance remains an important task, particularly under field conditions. Understanding which trait combinations translate to improved productivity is key in order to satisfy the demand for poplar wood in an uncertain future climate. In this study, we compared hydraulic and leaf traits among five hybrid poplar clones at 10 plantations in central Alberta. We also assessed the variation of these traits between 2- to 3-year-old branches from the lower to mid-crown and current-year long shoots from the mid to upper crown. Our results showed that (1) hybrid poplars differed in key hydraulic parameters between branch type, (2) variation of hydraulic traits among clones was relatively large for some clones and less for others, and (3) strong relationships between measured hydraulic traits, such as vessel diameter, cavitation resistance, xylem-specific and leaf-specific conductivity and leaf area, were observed. Our results suggest that leaf size could serve as an additional screening tool when selecting for drought-tolerant genotypes in forest management and tree improvement programmes.

Sixteen years of winter stress: an assessment of cold hardiness, growth performance and survival of hybrid poplar clones at a boreal planting site.

In recent years, thousands of hectares of hybrid poplar plantations have been established in Canada for the purpose of carbon sequestration and wood production. However, boreal planting environments pose special challenges that may compromise the long-term survival and productivity of such plantations. In this study, we evaluated the effect of winter stress, that is, frequent freeze-thaw and extreme cold events, on growth and survival of 47 hybrid poplar clones in a long-term field experiment. We further assessed physiological and structural traits that are potentially important for cold tolerance for a selected set of seven clones. We found that trees with narrow xylem vessels showed reduced freezing-induced embolism and showed superior productivity after 16 growing seasons. With respect to cold hardiness of living tissues, we only observed small differences among clones in early autumn, which were nonetheless significantly correlated to growth. Maximum winter cold hardiness and the timing of leaf senescence and budbreak were not related to growth or survival. In conclusion, our data suggest that reduction of freezing-induced embolism due to small vessel diameters is an essential adaptive trait to ensure long-term productivity of hybrid poplar plantations in boreal planting environments.

Genetic variation of hydraulic and wood anatomical traits in hybrid poplar and trembling aspen.

Intensive forestry systems and breeding programs often include either native aspen or hybrid poplar clones, and performance and trait evaluations are mostly made within these two groups. Here, we assessed how traits with potential adaptive value varied within and across these two plant groups. Variation in nine hydraulic and wood anatomical traits as well as growth were measured in selected aspen and hybrid poplar genotypes grown at a boreal planting site in Alberta, Canada. Variability in these traits was statistically evaluated based on a blocked experimental design. We found that genotypes of trembling aspen were more resistant to cavitation, exhibited more negative water potentials, and were more water-use-efficient than hybrid poplars. Under the boreal field test conditions, which included major regional droughts, height growth was negatively correlated with branch vessel diameter (Dv ) in both aspen and hybrid poplars and differences in Dv were highly conserved in aspen trees from different provenances. Differences between the hybrid poplars and aspen provenances suggest that these two groups employ different water-use strategies. The data also suggest that vessel diameter may be a key trait in evaluating growth performance in a boreal environment.