Article
Plant Sciences
Domen Arnic, Luka Krajnc, Jozica Gricar, Peter Prislan
Summary: This study analyzed the relationship between wood structure and density in Norway spruce and European beech. Significant correlations were found between tree-ring and wood-anatomical features in both species, although the specific correlations varied between species.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Xiaoxia Li, Sergio Rossi, Shalik Ram Sigdel, Binod Dawadi, Eryuan Liang
Summary: This study found a close relationship between cambial phenology and hydraulic diameter in Himalayan birch trees, indicating that climate changes may lead to earlier growth resumption and larger, more efficient hydraulic diameters, but also make them more vulnerable to drought-induced cavitation.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jose Carlos Miranda, Chiara Calderaro, Claudia Cocozza, Bruno Lasserre, Roberto Tognetti, Georg von Arx
Summary: This study assesses the wood anatomical responses of European beech to environmental variability and silvicultural practices, finding that beech has limited trait plasticity and high-elevation trees are more hydraulically limited. Cessation of coppicing results in a safer anatomical structure.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Domen Arni, Jozica Gricar, Jernej Jevsenak, Gregor Bozic, Georg von Arx, Peter Prislan
Summary: The study found significant differences in tree-ring width (TRW), vessel density (VD), and relative conductive area (RCTA) among different sites. Precipitation and maximum temperature were identified as key climatic factors influencing TRW and vessel characteristics. Differences in climate-growth relationships were confirmed between sites, with late-flushing beech population showing the least pronounced response to climate. Mean vessel area (MVA) had no relationship with TRW or other vessel features. Wet and dry years resulted in reduced TRW and changes in vessel area for beech across all sites. The findings suggest that predicted changes in temperature and precipitation regimes due to climate change will impact tree-ring increments and wood structure in beech, but responses may vary between sites or populations.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
J. M. Olano, H. Hernandez-Alonso, G. Sangueesa-Barreda, V Rozas, A. Garcia-Cervigon, M. Garcia-Hidalgo
Summary: The response of European beech to climate warming and water shortage was investigated in this study. The findings suggest that precipitation plays a significant role in cambial activity and hydraulic control. Summer precipitation affects ring width, while water availability during vessel expansion phase affects mean vessel area. The effect of chronology type on climatic response is stronger than geographical location or altitude.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
J. M. Olano, H. Hernandez-Alonso, G. Sanguesa-Barreda, V Rozas, Ai Garcia-Cervigon, M. Garcia-Hidalgo
Summary: The study reveals that precipitation plays a crucial role in controlling the secondary growth and xylem structure of European beech, with different effects on ring width and vessel size. Regional differences were significant but less important compared to the influence of chronology type, suggesting common climate constraints on beech's growth and anatomy along its dry edge.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Lorene Julia Marchand, Inge Dox, Jozica Gricar, Peter Prislan, Jan Van den Bulcke, Patrick Fonti, Matteo Campioli
Summary: This study found that tree growth characteristics and previous year's autumn phenology have significant impacts on the timing of spring wood formation. The timing of cambium reactivation and fully differentiated earlywood vessels were correlated with tree age, tree diameter, average ring-width of the last ten years, and previous year's autumn phenology. The research also demonstrated that multivariate models could explain a high percentage of the variability in cambium reactivation and fully differentiated earlywood vessels formation.
Article
Ecology
Zhuangpeng Zheng, Feifei Zhou, Patrick Fonti, Ping Ren, Xiaoxia Li, Guofang Miao, Zhipeng Dong, Keyan Fang
Summary: Monitoring cambial activity in subtropical evergreen forests provides insights into the mechanisms behind xylem growth responses to climate change, aiding tree-ring-based climate reconstructions. Research on Cryptomeria fortunei and Cunninghamia lanceolata revealed that these subtropical conifers have longer vegetation periods compared to temperate and boreal forests, with growth patterns influenced by summer drought and yearly stress. These findings offer specific information on tree growth and the cellular-level impacts of climate in subtropical regions.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Dongyue Zhu, Zhuorong Li, Shurong Deng, Qifeng Liu, Jiangting Wu, Xin Chen, Yang Wang, Yao Cheng, Lingyu Yang, Mengyan Zhou, Chenlin Jia, Jing Zhou, Wenguang Shi, Payam Fayyaz, Zhi-Bin Luo
Summary: To understand the physiological and anatomical changes in the wood of Populus species under different light and nitrogen availability, researchers conducted experiments on Populus alba x P. glandulosa saplings exposed to control or high light intensity with low, normal, or high levels of nitrogen. The results showed that high light led to increased CO2 assimilation rate, higher concentrations of sugars and starch, changes in enzyme activities, phytohormone contents, fiber characteristics, and thickness of fiber wall in the wood. Changes in gene expression related to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, phytohormones, and water transport corresponded to these physiological and anatomical changes. It suggests that transcriptomic reprogramming plays a critical role in the acclimation of wood to changing light and nitrogen availability.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Michael P. D'Antonio
Summary: It is suggested that the expansion of arborescent lycopsid cambium in radial wood growth was accompanied by the broadening of fusiform initials, which led to the progressive outward expansion of tracheid diameters without the formation of new tracheid files. However, a fossil of proximal trunk vasculature of Sigillaria approximata shows some deviations from the expected lycopsid wood production model, with inner and outer wood tracheids having similar lumen diameters and de novo cell files commonly appearing within the wood. The rate of cambial circumference expansion is closely correlated with the rate of new wood tracheid file appearance, suggesting that the addition of new files is the primary way the cambium expanded proximally.
BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jinsu Lee, Hyemin Kim, Sin-Gi Park, Hyeona Hwang, Seung-il Yoo, Wonsil Bae, Eunhui Kim, Jaehoon Kim, Hwa-Yong Lee, Tae-Young Heo, Kwon Kyoo Kang, Yuree Lee, Chang Pyo Hong, Hyunwoo Cho, Hojin Ryu
Summary: The BR-SlBZR1/2-WAT1 signaling network in vascular cambium contributes to high levels of auxin signaling, promoting wood differentiation and formation.
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Min-Ha Kim, Eun-Kyung Bae, Hyoshin Lee, Jae-Heung Ko
Summary: Woody plants undergo volumetric growth through wood formation, which is important for carbon sequestration. Understanding the molecular mechanism of wood formation is crucial for addressing environmental issues and climate change.
Article
Forestry
Tomasz Jelonek, Karol Tomczak, Bartlomiej Naskrent, Katarzyna Klimek, Arkadiusz Tomczak, Karol Lewandowski
Summary: The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of browsing by deer on infection rate development in beech trees. The results showed that the infection only affects the rings formed before the tree was injured. The average size of stem decay was 7.75% of its area, spreading at a rate of 2.52% per year. Furthermore, the study found a significant correlation between the size of the wound and the time elapsed since the tree was damaged.
Article
Forestry
Adele J. Chabert, Emmanuel Fredon, Romain Remond
Summary: This study explored the use of environmentally friendly chemicals to improve the properties of beech wood through polyester treatments. Results showed significant improvements in anti-swelling efficiency and bulking coefficient, indicating efficient penetration within the cell walls. Additionally, the leaching rates of treatments and extractables remained low, while the equilibrium moisture content decreased by 50% compared to untreated beech wood.
Review
Plant Sciences
Joyce G. Onyenedum, Marcelo R. Pace
Summary: Evo-devo sheds light on the connection between developmental patterning and phenotypic change in evolutionary time, offering insights into the evolution of xylem. It highlights the impact of heterochrony, homeosis, heterometry, exaptation, interplay between developmental and capacity constraints, and novelty on generating wood diversity, while suggesting future research opportunities combining wood ontogeny with robust phylogenetic hypotheses and molecular biology.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Inge Dox, Tore Skroppa, Mieke Decoster, Peter Prislan, Aina Gasco, Jozica Gricar, Holger Lange, Matteo Campioli
Summary: This study monitored the leaf and wood phenological events of silver birch in Norway and found that drought advanced wood growth and delayed leaf phenology. It also observed an unexpected advance in leaf phenology in 2019 compared to 2018 and 2020. Additionally, the study showed that wood growth is more sensitive to site fertility than autumn leaf phenology.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Peter Prislan, Edurne Martinez del Castillo, Gregor Skoberne, Neza Spenko, Jozica Gric
Summary: This article and its corresponding video demonstrate the optimal sample preparation procedure for wood and phloem formation analyses.
Article
Forestry
Luka Krajnc, Peter Prislan, Gregor Bozic, Marjana Westergren, Domen Arnic, Csaba Matyas, Jozica Gricar, Hojka Kraigher
Summary: Provenance trials of European beech were conducted in various environments, showing differences in radial growth and wood density among different provenances. Some provenances exhibited faster growth in favorable weather conditions, while overall differences in wood density were found to be relatively small. The Idrija provenance from Slovenia likely has higher wood density compared to other studied provenances.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Jozica Gricar, Peter Prislan
Summary: Quantitative phloem anatomy is important in dendroecological studies. Phloem traits can indicate tree performance in different environments. Seasonal variations affect phloem width and structure, and sampling time is crucial.
Article
Plant Sciences
Shan Li, Xin Li, Yafang Yin, Xiaomei Jiang, Jingming Zheng, Li Wang, Zhicheng Chen, Peter Prislan
Summary: The study found that phloem sieve cells of G. biloba undergo obvious seasonal structural changes depending on their ages, in accordance with their seasonal conducting functions in these deciduous trees. Youngest phloem parenchyma cells also showed seasonal structural variation with regards to cytoplasm density and frequency of lipid droplets.
PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Isabel Dorado-Linan, Blanca Ayarzaguena, Flurin Babst, Guobao Xu, Luis Gil, Giovanna Battipaglia, Allan Buras, Vojtech Cada, J. Julio Camarero, Liam Cavin, Hugues Claessens, Igor Drobyshev, Balazs Garamszegi, Michael Grabner, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Claudia Hartl, Andrea Hevia, Pavel Janda, Alistair S. Jump, Marko Kazimirovic, Srdjan Keren, Juergen Kreyling, Alexander Land, Nicolas Latte, Tom Levanic, Ernst van der Maaten, Marieke Van der Maaten-Theunissen, Elisabet Martinez-Sancho, Annette Menzel, Martin Mikolas, Renzo Motta, Lena Muffler, Paola Nola, Momchil Panayotov, Any Mary Petritan, Ion Catalin Petritan, Ionel Popa, Peter Prislan, Catalin-Constantin Roibu, Milos Rydval, Raul Sanchez-Salguero, Tobias Scharnweber, Branko Stajic, Miroslav Svoboda, Willy Tegel, Marius Teodosiu, Elvin Toromani, Volodymyr Trotsiuk, Daniel-Ond Turcu, Robert Weigel, Martin Wilmking, Christian Zang, Tzvetan Zlatanov, Valerie Trouet
Summary: The study reveals that extreme changes in the summer jet stream position in Europe create a dipole in beech forest productivity between northwestern and southeastern Europe, resulting in regional anomalies in forest carbon uptake and growth.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nina Skrk, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, Martin de Luis, Katarina Cufar
Summary: Climate change is expected to affect the spatial distribution of tree species in Europe, including the drought-sensitive European beech. This study utilized forest inventory data and modeled climate data to explore the relationship between climate variables and the dominance of beech trees in forest stands.
Article
Plant Sciences
Tanja Mrak, Benjamin Grasic, Peter Prislan, Jozica Gricar, Ziga Laznik, Grega E. Voglar
Summary: The study investigated the effects of soil contamination and root herbivory on root surface area and stem anatomical properties in young common beech plants. The results showed that soil contamination significantly reduced root surface area, mean ring width, vessel radial diameter, and potential stem conductivity. However, it increased vessel density, vessel grouping index, and mean group size of grouped cells. Late exposure to root herbivory did not induce significant changes in root surface area or stem anatomy.
ACTA PHYSIOLOGIAE PLANTARUM
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jian-Guo Huang, Yaling Zhang, Minhuang Wang, Xiaohan Yu, Annie Deslauriers, Patrick Fonti, Eryuan Liang, Harri Makinen, Walter Oberhuber, Cyrille B. K. Rathgeber, Roberto Tognetti, Vaclav Treml, Bao Yang, Lihong Zhai, Jiao-Lin Zhang, Serena Antonucci, Yves Bergeron, Jesus Julio Camarero, Filipe Campelo, Katarina Cufar, Henri E. Cuny, Martin De Luis, Marek Fajstavr, Alessio Giovannelli, Jozica Gricar, Andreas Gruber, Vladimir Gryc, Aylin Gueney, Tuula Jyske, Jakub Kaspar, Gregory King, Cornelia Krause, Audrey Lemay, Feng Liu, Fabio Lombardi, Edurne Martinez del Castillo, Hubert Morin, Cristina Nabais, Pekka Nojd, Richard L. Peters, Peter Prislan, Antonio Saracino, Vladimir V. Shishov, Irene Swidrak, Hanus Vavrcik, Joana Vieira, Qiao Zeng, Yu Liu, Sergio Rossi
Summary: Despite ongoing debates, evidence suggests the existence of a threshold temperature for forests' response to rising temperatures, separating conifers into cold and warm thermal niches. This study collected data on xylem cell-wall-thickening onset dates in 20 coniferous species across the Northern Hemisphere and identified a threshold temperature of 4.9 +/- 1.1 degrees C, above which the response of xylem phenology to temperature decline significantly. The findings highlight the importance of incorporating this thermal threshold into Earth-System-Models to better understand and predict spring phenology in response to global warming.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Welmoed A. Out, Kirsti Hanninen, Maks Merela, Anton Veluscek, Caroline Vermeeren, Katarina Cufar
Summary: This study examines the use of woodland resources in the wetland basin of Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia, from 3700-2400 BCE, using age/diameter analysis of waterlogged wood from Eneolithic pile dwellings. The results indicate selective use of oak and ash, but no clear evidence of woodland management practices. The findings contribute to the ongoing discussions about woodland management in Europe.
Article
Agronomy
Lea Veuillen, Bernard Prevosto, Raquel Alfaro-Sanchez, Vincent Badeau, Giovanna Battipaglia, Santiago Begueria, Felipe Bravo, Thomas Boivin, J. Julio Camarero, Katarina Cufar, Hendrik Davi, Martin De Luis, Antonio Del Campo, Miren Del Rio, Alfredo Di Filippo, Michael Dorman, Marion Durand-Gillmann, Juan Pedro Ferrio, Guillermo Gea-Izquierdo, Maria Gonzalez-Sanchis, Elena Granda, Frederic Guibal, Emilia Gutierrez, Manon Helluy, Ali El Khorchani, Tamir Klein, Joseph Levillain, Juan Carlos Linares, Angela Manrique-Alba, Jordi Martinez Vilalta, Antonio J. Molina, Cristina Moreno-Gutierrez, Antoine Nicault, Jorge Olivar, Andreas Papadopoulos, Avi Perevolotsky, Cyrille Rathgeber, Montse Ribas, Francesco Ripullone, Irene Ruano, Francois-Xavier Saintonge, Raul Sanchez-Salguero, Dimitrios Sarris, Xavier Serra-Maluquer, Tal Svoray, Clara Tallieu, Teresa Valor, Michel Vennetier, Jordi Voltas, Maxime Cailleret
Summary: Severe droughts have a significant impact on tree growth and forest productivity globally, and this impact is expected to worsen in the coming decades. However, the specific effects of drought intensity and climatic conditions in countries across the Mediterranean basin are still uncertain.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Skrk Dolar, Edurne Martinez del Castillo, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, Martin de Luis Arrillaga, Klemen Novak, Maks Merela, Katarina Cufar
Summary: The declining growth trends of European beech in Slovenia pose a major challenge due to its ecological and economic importance. This study examined the effects of climate change on beech forests in Slovenia and found that average growth decline occurred between different time periods, with warm marginal areas being more affected and cold marginal areas showing increased growth potential. These findings highlight the importance of considering the variability of climate and geographical factors when assessing the impact of climate change on beech populations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
G. Battipaglia, J. P. Kabala, A. Pacheco-Solana, F. Niccoli, A. Braeuning, F. Campelo, K. Cufar, M. de Luis, V. De Micco, M. Klisz, M. Koprowski, I. Garcia-Gonzalez, C. Nabais, J. Vieira, P. Wrzesinski, N. Zafirov, P. Cherubini
Summary: By analyzing a large tree-ring database of 11 species from 89 sites across eight European countries, it was found that climate variations drive the formation of Intra-Annual Density Fluctuations (IADFs). The study suggests that the occurrence of IADFs is nonlinearly related to ring width in gymnosperms and angiosperms, and decreases with altitude and age. Additionally, higher temperatures and precipitation play significant roles in the formation of IADFs, particularly in species with drought tolerance capability and bimodal growth patterns.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Angel Gonzalez-Zamora, Laura Almendra-Martin, Martin de Luis, Jaime Gaona, Jose Martinez-Fernandez
Summary: This study examines the relationship between soil moisture and the growth of four main pine species in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their response to soil drought. The study also evaluates the role of climatic and geographic factors in the resilience of these species to drought events. The results show that species with lower dependence on soil moisture perform better during droughts, while those with higher dependence show greater adaptability. Climatic and geographic factors have a stronger influence on species' resilience to soil drought at higher altitudes.