Review
Plant Sciences
Lilian P. Matallana-Ramirez, Ross W. Whetten, Georgina M. Sanchez, Kitt G. Payn
Summary: The warming of Earth's atmosphere is leading to changes in temperature and precipitation, impacting forest ecosystems. New technologies offer opportunities to address these changes, but also come with challenges. Management and breeding strategies can enhance forest resilience to climate change.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yue Yu, Sally N. Aitken, Loren H. Rieseberg, Tongli Wang
Summary: In this study, a landscape genomics approach was used to delineate seed and breeding zones for lodgepole pine. The study identified winter-related climate as a major factor influencing the genomic patterns of local adaptation in lodgepole pine. Based on the predicted genomic gradients, the distribution range of lodgepole pine in British Columbia and Alberta was divided into six seed and breeding zones.
Article
Forestry
Jackson P. Audley, Christopher J. Fettig, A. Steven Munson, Justin B. Runyon, Leif A. Mortenson, Brytten E. Steed, Kenneth E. Gibson, Carl L. Jorgensen, Stephen R. McKelvey, Joel D. McMillin, Jose F. Negron
Summary: The study identified factors influencing the fall rates of lodgepole pines killed by bark beetles, with slope aspect having the strongest influence. Northern aspects, increased canopy cover, and taller snag heights decreased the probability of snag fall, while southern aspects and increased height:dbh ratios increased the probability. The predicted half-life for snag fall was around 16 years since death, with a gradual decline in snag survival probability beyond that point.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Katarzyna Izworska, Elzbieta Muter, Pawel Matulewski, Tomasz Zielonka
Summary: This study focuses on the tree-ring changes of Stone pine in cliff forests of the Western Carpathians to better understand their growth release pattern and the influence of climate. The growth of stone pine is strongly related to summer temperature and the negative influence of summer precipitation has decreased in recent decades. The adaptability of Swiss stone pine to extreme cliff environments and its long lifespan make it an excellent species for studying climate change.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Valerie Poupon, A. Salvador, Silvio Schueler, Milan Lstibuerek
Summary: European larch, an ecologically and economically important tree species, shows genotype x environment interaction (GxE) in response to rapidly changing climate. In this study, factor analytic modeling was used to analyze the growth traits and wood density of a larch provenance in multiple environments. The results revealed the presence of GxE and identified environmental variables that may affect it. This methodology proves to be a valuable tool for selecting suitable genotypes adapted to specific environmental conditions.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Andrew D. Sims, Gary F. Peter, Katherine Smith, W. Patrick Cumbie, Dominic Kain, Jeremy T. Brawner
Summary: This study investigates the impact of Fusarium circinatum on pine and spruce trees, finding that hybrid pines and spruce exhibit better disease resistance compared to slash pine. Additionally, the virulence of F. circinatum isolates varies across different pine taxa.
Article
Forestry
Dawei Luo, Barb R. Thomas
Summary: Tree improvement is crucial in addressing the shrinking forest land-base in Alberta, Canada, with a focus on quantifying potential harvest from improved trees. This study compared and adjusted age-age correlation equations for white spruce and lodgepole pine, finding that the re-estimated Lambeth equations are the most suitable for both species. Incorporating these equations into growth and yield models showed that white spruce has a higher age-age correlation and volume improvement compared to lodgepole pine, regardless of rotation age.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Maximilian Rembe, Jochen Christoph Reif, Erhard Ebmeyer, Patrick Thorwarth, Viktor Korzun, Johannes Schacht, Philipp H. G. Boeven, Pierrick Varenne, Ebrahim Kazman, Norman Philipp, Sonja Kollers, Nina Pfeiffer, C. Friedrich H. Longin, Niklas Hartwig, Mario Gils, Yusheng Zhao
Summary: This study empirically investigated the potential and limitations of reciprocal recurrent genomic selection in wheat breeding, finding that it can significantly improve hybrid wheat breeding efficiency with a selection gain of 1.0 dt ha(-1) compared to the original 20 parental lines. However, the need to develop robust genome-wide predictive equations was also highlighted for successful implementation.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Mostarin Ara, Bradley D. Pinno, Francis Scaria, Robert E. Froese, Mike Bokalo
Summary: The positive effect of thinning on individual tree growth is well-known, but the long-term growth dynamics of individual trees after thinning remain uncertain. In this study, we used an individual tree growth model to investigate the thinning response of lodgepole pine over a rotation. Our findings show that thinning increased the overall growth and reduced growth variability of individual trees throughout the rotation. Pre-commercial thinning followed by commercial thinning resulted in maximum growth and less growth variability. The positive effect of thinning was immediate and diminished over time, with most of the response occurring within the first 10-15 years.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Luiza Tyminska-Czabanska, Pawel Hawrylo, Piotr Janiec, Jaroslaw Socha
Summary: Understanding the impact of stand factors on forest mortality is crucial for forest management and adaptation strategies in the face of climate change. By using remote sensing tools, the influence of tree and forest variables on the probability of Scots pine stands' mortality was assessed. In the Katowice region of Poland, the most significant factors affecting tree mortality were found to be stand height and height growth rate, with the highest mortality probability observed in the densest stands. Identifying key stand characteristics that predispose forests to mortality can contribute to future research on forest structure.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Rao-Qiong Yang, Pei-Li Fu, Ze-Xin Fan, Shankar Panthi, Jie Gao, Ying Niu, Zong-Shan Li, Achim Brauning
Summary: A better understanding of the growth-climate sensitivity of trees can reduce uncertainties in simulating forest carbon budgets. This study examined the spatial heterogeneity of Pinus yunnanensis and Pinus kesiya's growth-climate sensitivity in Southwest China. Results show that the growth of both pine species is positively correlated with precipitation and evaporative demand during the early growing season, while high precipitation and evaporative demand during the late growing season reduce tree growth. Additionally, the sensitivity of tree growth to temperature and moisture varied among the two species.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Jonathan P. Lynch
Summary: Most terrestrial plants experience multiple soil-related stresses concurrently, which can interact with each other in various ways. Existing theoretical paradigms do not fully account for these interactions. Plant growth is affected by soil stress, and root adaptations can either mitigate or exacerbate other stresses. Global climate change is likely to worsen soil stress, particularly in developing nations. Understanding the interactions among soil stresses is crucial for the development of resilient and stress-tolerant crops and cropping systems.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Letitia M. Da Ros, Barb R. Thomas, Shawn D. Mansfield
Summary: Climate-driven tree mortality threatens temperate boreal forests. Progeny trials found minimal impact of aridity on wood density and microfibril angle. Genetic differences between families did not affect transition out of juvenile wood production.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiao Zhang, Zhaofei Fan, Zhongjie Shi, Leilei Pan, SeMyung Kwon, Xiaohui Yang, Yanshu Liu
Summary: Global climate change and increased drought frequency and intensity have resulted in forest decline and tree mortality. By studying the resilience components of tree growth to drought, including resistance, recovery, and resilience, as well as the influencing factors, this study helps assess the production and ecological stability of forests under a changing climate. The findings highlight the importance of drought severity and individual-tree characteristics in influencing drought resilience components, which can inform future adaptive management of natural Mongolian pine forests.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Chengzhi Yuan, Zhen Zhang, Guoqing Jin, Yi Zheng, Zhichun Zhou, Linshan Sun, Huabiao Tong
Summary: The study investigated genotype by environment interaction in Masson pine family tests planted in different regions of China. Significant effects were found on growth traits among different sites and families, with varying levels of heritability. The analysis suggested that families performing well in specific environments can be planted accordingly for optimal genetic gains.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)