Review
Plant Sciences
Zhicheng Chen, Shan Li, Xianchong Wan, Shirong Liu
Summary: Trees employ leaf stomatal regulation and stem xylem embolism resistance as important strategies to prevent hydraulic failure and carbon starvation when facing drought. Species with greater investment in leaves and stems are more likely to maintain stomatal opening and resist stem embolism under drought conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Mireia Gomez-Gallego, Lucia Galiano, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Jan Stenlid, Hernan D. Capador-Barreto, Malin Elfstrand, J. Julio Camarero, Jonas Oliva
Summary: This study investigated the physiological processes leading to drought-induced mortality in Norway spruce and Scots pine saplings infected with Heterobasidion annosum. The results showed that pathogen infection decreased carbon reserves in spruce, reducing their ability to cope with drought and resulting in increased mortality rates. The study also found that defoliation, relative water content, and starch concentration were predictors of mortality under both drought and pathogen infection.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Weibin Li, Nate G. McDowell, Hongxia Zhang, Wenzhi Wang, D. Scott Mackay, Riley Leff, Peipei Zhang, Nicholas D. Ward, Matt Norwood, Steve Yabusaki, Allison N. Myers-Pigg, Stephanie C. Pennington, Alexandria L. Pivovaroff, Scott Waichler, Chonggang Xu, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Vanessa L. Bailey
Summary: Increasing seawater exposure is causing death of coastal trees globally. The impact of changing atmospheric CO2 concentration, temperature, and vapor pressure deficit on seawater-induced tree mortality is uncertain. This study found that hydraulic failure is the main cause of seawater-induced mortality, while changing CO2 and climate have little influence on coastal tree mortality.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiaqi Yao, Jifeng Deng
Summary: The increasing occurrences of drought induced forest mortality have sparked global scientific discussions about how heat kills trees and their mechanisms. Drought affects tree hydraulics and carbon balance, potentially leading to tree mortality.
FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Chun-Yang Duan, Ming-Yong Li, Chi Zhang, Xue-Wei Gong, Jiao-Jun Zhu, Yu Cao, De-Dong Wu, Guang-You Hao
Summary: Intensifying drought poses challenges to tree growth and survival globally. Understanding the physiological mechanisms of drought-induced decline and using silvicultural approaches become important. This study investigates whether thinning enhances tree growth vigor and drought resilience in Mongolian pine plantations, finding that thinning effectively reverses growth decline. Thinned stands exhibit higher water potentials, hydraulic conductivities, and carbon reserves. Thinning improves xylem hydraulic transport efficiency, reduces carbon imbalance, and mitigates early aging of Mongolian pine plantations in water-limited environments.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Jing-Xian Shen, Yong-Jiang Zhang, Phisamai Maenpuen, Shu-Bin Zhang, Lan Zhang, Lin Yang, Lian-Bin Tao, Peng-Yun Yan, Zhi-Ming Zhang, Shu-Qiong Li, Xia Yuan, Wanwalee Kongjarat, Sasiwimol Kaewkamol, Pimnara Tinprabat, Ya-Jun Chen
Summary: Extreme drought events have a significant impact on plant survival. This study focused on savanna shrubs in Southwest China and found that they exhibit high tolerance to extreme drought, with some stems showing high resistance to water loss and shedding of vulnerable branches to maintain water and carbon balance.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tomomi Nakamura, Atsushi Ishida, Kiyosada Kawai, Kanji Minagi, Shin-Taro Saiki, Kenichi Yazaki, Jin Yoshimura
Summary: Global warming leads to more frequent tropical typhoons and prolonged droughts, causing forest degradation. The combination of climate extremes and mast seed reproduction can severely impact tree resilience, with stored carbohydrates playing a crucial role in tree regrowth after extreme events. Understanding the cumulative effects of multiple events on individual trees is essential for predicting future forest changes.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Anne Griebel, Jennifer M. R. Peters, Daniel Metzen, Chelsea Maier, Craig V. M. Barton, Heather N. Speckman, Matthias M. Boer, Rachael H. Nolan, Brendan Choat, Elise Pendall, Roberto Tognetti
Summary: Mistletoes play a significant role in tree mortality globally, especially during droughts. In Australian temperate woodlands, mistletoes are expanding while their hosts are experiencing unprecedented heat and drought stress. The excessive water use of mistletoes has been found to increase the vulnerability of the host's hydraulic system, leading to a higher risk of hydraulic failure for infected trees.
Article
Environmental Sciences
T. Ziehn, Y-P Wang, Y. Huang
Summary: The study reveals that nutrient limitation, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, significantly impacts land carbon uptake and feedback strength, with vegetation productivity playing a key role in determining feedback strength in all three nutrient configurations.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
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)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Nate G. McDowell, Marilyn Ball, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Matthew L. Kirwan, Ken W. Krauss, J. Patrick Megonigal, Maurizio Mencuccini, Nicholas D. Ward, Michael N. Weintraub, Vanessa Bailey
Summary: Observations of woody plant mortality in coastal ecosystems are common worldwide, but the processes and mechanisms underlying these deaths are not well understood. This lack of knowledge, combined with changing water levels and climatic factors, creates uncertainty in predicting how coastal ecosystems will respond to global change. This study synthesizes existing research to propose a hypothesis framework for understanding the mechanisms driving coastal woody plant mortality.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Junyan Ding, Nate McDowell, Yilin Fang, Nicholas Ward, Matthew L. Kirwan, Peter Regier, Patrick Megonigal, Peipei Zhang, Hongxia Zhang, Wenzhi Wang, Weibin Li, Stephanie C. Pennington, Stephanie J. Wilson, Alice Stearns, Vanessa Bailey
Summary: Relative sea level rise is causing the formation of ghost forests, leading to impacts on coastal ecosystems. By incorporating physiological effects of salinity and hypoxia into a vegetation model, researchers have explored the mechanisms of conifer tree mortality on the east and west coasts of the USA. Different patterns of mortality were observed, with carbon starvation dominating on the east coast and hydraulic failure dominating on the west coast due to different forms of seawater exposure.
Article
Ecology
Qiuyu Liu, Changhui Peng, Robert Schneider, Dominic Cyr, Zelin Liu, Xiaolu Zhou, Daniel Kneeshaw
Summary: Globally, increasing drought-induced tree mortality rates under climate change are projected to have far-reaching effects on forest ecosystems. Among these forest ecosystems, the boreal forest is considered a 'tipping element' of the Earth's climate system. This study introduces the new TRIPLEX-Mortality submodule for the Canadian boreal forests, successfully incorporating two advanced drought-induced physiological mortality mechanisms for the first time. The model was found to have good performance in simulating drought-induced mortality in boreal forests, with sensitivity analysis showing the most sensitive parameter for simulating tree mortality in intensified drought scenarios.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Laure Bouyer, Cecile Vincent-Barbaroux, Isabelle Le Jan, Alain Delaunay, Lorene Marchand, Muriel Feinard-Duranceau, Aurelien Salle, David Chassagnaud, Tete Severien Barigah, Herve Cochard, Franck Brignolas, Regis Fichot
Summary: We compared the effects of differential nitrogen supply and water deficits on the growth, leaf gas exchange, xylem hydraulic dysfunction, and non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in two poplar hybrid genotypes. Moderate water deficit had marginal effects on NSC but generated intermediate embolism rates, while severe water deficit led to progressive hydraulic failure and NSC reduction, ultimately resulting in tree death. The availability of nitrogen primarily affected growth and NSC dynamics, not embolism dynamics. Our findings suggest that carbon starvation alone is unlikely in hydraulically vulnerable species like poplar, but starch depletion is associated with hydraulic failure under lethal water deficit. The nutritional status can shape drought responses by adjusting carbon source-sink relations in a genotype-dependent manner.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Marylou Mantova, Paulo E. Menezes-Silva, Eric Badel, Herve Cochard, Jose M. Torres-Ruiz
Summary: Global climatic models predict an increase in drought events, impacting forest dieback. This study aimed to identify key physiological traits determining tree recovery from drought. Results suggest that RWCStem and EL, rather than PLC, are better indicators of tree recovery capacity. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings for angiosperm species.
PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM
(2021)
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Paula Ballikaya, Ivano Brunner, Claudia Cocozza, Daniel Grolimund, Ralf Kaegi, Maria E. Murazzi, Marcus Schaub, Leonie C. Schoenbeck, Brian Sinnet, Paolo Cherubini
Article
Plant Sciences
Philipp Schuler, Valentina Vitali, Matthias Saurer, Arthur Gessler, Nina Buchmann, Marco M. M. Lehmann
Summary: Recent methodological advancements have allowed us to determine the nonexchangeable hydrogen isotopic composition of plant carbohydrates, providing insights into the drivers of hydrogen isotope fractionation processes in plants. In our study, we examined the influence of phylogeny on the isotopic composition of various plant tissues, and found that phylogeny plays a role in hydrogen isotope fractionation in plant carbohydrates, particularly in leaf sugars. Our findings also suggest that the original phylogenetic signal of autotrophic processes is modified by species-specific metabolism. These results have important implications for dendrochronological and ecophysiological studies and can improve hydrogen isotope fractionation models for plant carbohydrates.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Roman Zweifel, Christoforos Pappas, Richard L. Peters, Flurin Babst, Daniel Balanzategui, David Basler, Ana Bastos, Mirela Beloiu, Nina Buchmann, Arun K. Bose, Sabine Braun, Alexander Damm, Petra D'Odorico, Jan U. H. Eitel, Sophia Etzold, Patrick Fonti, Elham Rouholahnejad Freund, Arthur Gessler, Matthias Haeni, Guenter Hoch, Ansgar Kahmen, Christian Korner, Jan Krejza, Frank Krumm, Michael Leuchner, Christoph Leuschner, Mirko Lukovic, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Radim Matula, Henning Meesenburg, Patrick Meir, Roman Plichta, Rafael Poyatos, Brigitte Rohner, Nadine Ruehr, Roberto L. Salomon, Tobias Scharnweber, Marcus Schaub, David N. Steger, Kathy Steppe, Christopher Still, Marko Stojanovic, Volodymyr Trotsiuk, Yann Vitasse, Georg von Arx, Martin Wilmking, Cedric Zahnd, Frank Sterck
Summary: Forests account for a significant amount of the world's biomass and biodiversity. To better understand forest dynamics, a global monitoring network is needed. This network should be capable of connecting existing monitoring sites and providing real-time data for assessments and predictions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mirela Beloiu, Lucca Heinzmann, Nataliia Rehush, Arthur Gessler, Verena C. Griess
Summary: The study successfully used the Convolutional Neural Network algorithm, Faster R-CNN, and open-source aerial RGB imagery to geolocate and identify four tree species in heterogeneous forests. The average detection accuracy of single-species models was 0.76, and the accuracy increased in multi-species models. The performance of the models was mainly influenced by forest stand structure.
Article
Plant Sciences
Yan-Li Zhang, Yue Yang, Matthias Saurer, Marcus Schaub, Arthur Gessler, Marco M. M. Lehmann, Andreas Rigling, Marco Walser, Beat Stierli, Noureddine Hajjar, Daniel Christen, Mai-He Li
Summary: This study investigated the uptake and metabolism of exogenous sugars in plants using infusion experiments with bonsai trees, maple trees, and pine trees. The results showed that xylem infusion significantly increased the C-13 values in plant tissues, while phloem infusion had a significant effect on the C-13 values in pine trees. This tree infusion method provides new opportunities for studying the carbon balance and regulation in response to environmental factors and extreme stress conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ao Wang, Arun K. Bose, Marco M. Lehmann, Andreas Rigling, Arthur Gessler, Longfei Yu, Maihe Li
Summary: The study found that there are strong relationships between European mistletoe and its host trees in terms of water and nutrient-related traits. However, there is no significant relationship in terms of carbon-related traits, indicating that the mistletoe can adjust its physiology to survive on different deciduous tree species hosts and under different site conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Jan U. H. Eitel, David Basler, Sabine Braun, Nina Buchmann, Petra D'Odorico, Sophia Etzold, Arthur Gessler, Kevin L. Griffin, Jan Krejza, Yunpeng Luo, Andrew J. Maguire, Mukund P. Rao, Yann Vitasse, Lorenz Walthert, Roman Zweifel
Summary: This study successfully monitored the onset and mid-stages of stem growth using high-resolution satellite imagery combined with observed data. However, the accuracy of monitoring the cessation stage was low. It was also emphasized that resolving individual tree crowns is important for mixed forests. In conclusion, the development of new spectral indices is needed to capture the relationship between stem growth and canopy properties for remote sensing of climate-induced changes in leaf phenology and stem growth.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Enkh-Uchral Batkhuyag, Marco M. Lehmann, Paolo Cherubini, Bilguun Ulziibat, Tseren-Ochir Soyol-Erdene, Marcus Schaub, Matthias Saurer
Summary: The Ulaanbaatar area in Mongolia has become highly polluted due to urbanization, industrial activity, and traffic. However, the impact of air pollution on surrounding forests is not well understood. This study uses stable isotope analyses and trace element analysis to investigate the effects of air pollution and climate change on forests in and around Ulaanbaatar. The results show pollution effects in foliar material and increased concentrations of trace elements in leaves and needles, indicating the threat to forests in urban areas.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Zishu Tang, Biying Zhai, Genxu Wang, Arthur Gessler, Shouqin Sun, Zhaoyong Hu
Summary: The changes in stem hydraulic characteristics of Abies fabri along an elevational gradient were studied in a subalpine ecosystem in southwest China. Xylem hydraulic efficiency decreased with increasing elevation, while hydraulic dysfunction and vulnerability to embolism increased at higher altitudes. The trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and safety was weak at higher elevations due to low temperature and excessive precipitation.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yunpeng Luo, Arthur Gessler, Petra D'Odorico, Koen Hufkens, Benjamin D. Stocker
Summary: Land carbon dynamics in temperate and boreal ecosystems are affected by environmental change. Accurate simulation of gross primary productivity (GPP) and its seasonality is crucial for carbon cycle projections. However, there are significant biases in early spring GPP simulations of northern forests, where observations suggest a later resumption of photosynthesis than predicted by models. By considering the delayed effects of minimum temperatures on light use efficiency (LUE), the model bias in springtime GPP simulations was effectively resolved, providing an approach to improve GPP estimates and simulations in northern forests.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
M. Schaub, M. Alsaaod, C. Syring, J. Becker, S. Pluss, S. Blatter, F. Rachidi, A. Starke, A. Steiner
Summary: By analyzing animal and treatment data of 3256 cattle in two large Swiss cattle mountain pastures, risk groups for infectious foot disorders were identified. The study found that cattle aged 365-730 days, inseminated heifers, and non-inseminated heifers were at a higher risk for the disease, while meat breeds had a lower risk compared to dairy breeds. Knowing these risk groups is important for selecting animals and planning pasture management to reduce the occurrence of infectious foot disorders and the use of antibiotics in the future.
SCHWEIZER ARCHIV FUR TIERHEILKUNDE
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Iris Le Ronce, Elia Dardevet, Samuel Venner, Leonie Schonbeck, Arthur Gessler, Isabelle Chuine, Jean-Marc Limousin
Summary: Using a fruit removal experiment, the authors tested whether preventing fruit development would increase nutrient and carbohydrates storage and modify allocation to reproduction and vegetative growth the following year. The results showed that fruit removal prevented the depletion of nitrogen and zinc in leaves during fruit growth, and modified the seasonal dynamics in zinc, potassium and starch in twigs. Fruit removal increased the production of female flowers and leaves the following year, and decreased the production of male flowers.
Article
Ecology
Mauro Hermann, Matthias Rothlisberger, Arthur Gessler, Andreas Rigling, Cornelius Senf, Thomas Wohlgemuth, Heini Wernli
Summary: Forest dieback in Europe has intensified and expanded, influenced by meteorological variations of temperature and precipitation. This study quantitatively investigates the meteorological history preceding events of reduced forest greenness and identifies the impact of the hottest summer on record in 2022, negatively affecting 37% of temperate and Mediterranean forest regions. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the forest-meteorology interaction for forest dieback in a changing climate.
Article
Forestry
Paula Ballikaya, Ivano Brunner, Claudia Cocozza, Daniel Grolimund, Ralf Kaegi, Maria Elvira Murazzi, Marcus Schaub, Leonie C. Schoenbeck, Brian Sinnet, Paolo Cherubini
Summary: This study investigated the uptake and transport mechanisms of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) in European beech and Scots pine trees. The results showed that both tree species were capable of taking up and transporting Au-NPs to their stem. European beech exhibited higher uptake of Au-NPs, possibly due to its higher stomatal density and wood characteristics.
