Publication
Title
Counter-intuitive response to water limitation in a Southern European Provenance of Frangula alnus Mill. in a common garden experiment
Author
Abstract
Climate change will intensify drought periods during the growing season in Western Europe. We mimicked this prediction by withholding water in summer from young rooted cuttings of Frangula alnus Mill., a common shrub species, originating from different latitudes in Europe (Italy, Belgium and Sweden) and growing in a common garden environment in Belgium. We followed the responses to the drought up to two years after the treatment. Counter-intuitively, the Italian provenance displayed earlier symptoms and stronger effects of water limitation than the other two provenances. A putative higher transpiration in this provenance could be suggested based on a relative larger shoot growth, larger leaves and a higher stomatal density. After the post-drought re-watering, the droughted plants of the Italian provenance entered leaf senescence later than the control plants, likely as a compensation mechanism for the lost growing time. Bud burst in the first year after the drought treatment and leaf senescence in the next autumn were both advanced in the drought treated group when compared with the control plants. Bud burst in the second year after the drought treatment did not display any differentiation anymore between control and drought treated plants. Growth traits also displayed legacies of the water limitation. For example, the drought treated plants showed a lower number of reshoots upon pruning in the year after the drought treatment. Our results suggest that assisted migration from southern Europe to western Europe as a climate change adaptation strategy might not always follow the expected patterns.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Forests
Publication
2020
DOI
10.3390/F11111186
Volume/pages
11 :11 (2020) , 21 p.
Article Reference
1186
ISI
000593198900001
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
What makes leaves fall in autumn? A new process description for the timing of leaf senescence in temperate and boreal trees (LEAF-FALL).
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.01.2021
Last edited 02.10.2024
To cite this reference