Snowpack permanence shapes the growth and dynamic of non-structural carbohydrates in Juniperus communis in alpine tundra.

Climate warming is altering snowpack permanence in alpine tundra, modifying shrub growth and distribution. Plant acclimation to snowpack changes depends on the capability to guarantee growth and carbon storage, suggesting that the content of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in plant organs can be a key trait to depict the plant response under different snow regimes. To test this hypothesis, we designed a 3-years long manipulative experiment aimed at evaluating the effect of snow melt timing (i.

No effect of snow on shrub xylem traits: Insights from a snow-manipulation experiment on Disko Island, Greenland.

Widespread shrubification across the Arctic has been generally attributed to increasing air temperatures, but responses vary across species and sites. Wood structures related to the plant hydraulic architecture may respond to local environmental conditions and potentially impact shrub growth, but these relationships remain understudied. Using methods of dendroanatomy, we analysed shrub ring width (RW) and xylem anatomical traits of 80 individuals of Salix glauca L.

Growth form and leaf habit drive contrasting effects of Arctic amplification in long-lived woody species.

Current global change is inducing heterogeneous warming trends worldwide, with faster rates at higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Consequently, tundra vegetation is experiencing an increase in growth rate and uneven but expanding distribution. Yet, the drivers of this heterogeneity in woody species responses are still unclear.

Improving ecological insights from dendroecological studies of Arctic shrub dynamics: Research gaps and potential solutions.

Rapid climate change has been driving changes in Arctic vegetation in recent decades, with increased shrub dominance in many tundra ecosystems. Dendroecological observations of tundra shrubs can provide insight into current and past growth and recruitment patterns, both key components for understanding and predicting ongoing and future Arctic shrub dynamics. However, generalizing these dynamics is challenging as they are highly scale-dependent and vary among sites, species, and individuals.

Contrasting Climate Sensitivity of Tree-Ring Traits in the Carpathians.

High-elevation ecosystems are one of the most sensitive to climate change. The analysis of growth and xylem structure of trees from marginal populations, especially the ones growing at the treeline, could provide early-warning signs to better understand species-specific responses to future climate conditions. In this study, we combined classical dendrochronology with wood density and anatomical measurements to investigate the climate sensitivity of L.

Transient Effects of Snow Cover Duration on Primary Growth and Leaf Traits in a Tundra Shrub.

With the recent climate warming, tundra ecotones are facing a progressive acceleration of spring snowpack melting and extension of the growing season, with evident consequences to vegetation. Along with summer temperature, winter precipitation has been recently recognised as a crucial factor for tundra shrub growth and physiology. However, gaps of knowledge still exist on long-living plant responses to different snowpack duration, especially on how intra-specific and year-to-year variability together with multiple functional trait adjustments could influence the long-term responses.

Chemical signature of Eurois occulta L. outbreaks in the xylem cell wall of Salix glauca L. in Greenland.

Insect defoliations are a major natural disturbance in high-latitude ecosystems and are expected to increase in frequency and severity due to current climatic change. Defoliations cause severe reductions in biomass and carbon investments that affect the functioning and productivity of tundra ecosystems. Here we combined dendro-anatomical analysis with chemical imaging to investigate the direct and lagged effects of insect outbreaks on carbon investment.

Juniperus communis populations exhibit low variability in hydraulic safety and efficiency.

The performance and distribution of woody species strongly depend on their adjustment to environmental conditions based on genotypic and phenotypic properties. Since more intense and frequent drought events are expected due to climate change, xylem hydraulic traits will play a key role under future conditions, and thus, knowledge of hydraulic variability is of key importance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the variability in hydraulic safety and efficiency of the conifer shrub Juniperus communis based on analyses along an elevational transect and a common garden approach.

Long-Term Impacts of Defoliator Outbreaks on Larch Xylem Structure and Tree-Ring Biomass.

Defoliator insects are a major disturbance agent in many forests worldwide. During outbreaks, they can strongly reduce photosynthetic carbon uptake and impact tree growth. In the Alps, larch budmoth () outbreaks affect European larch () radial growth over several years.

Winter precipitation - not summer temperature - is still the main driver for Alpine shrub growth.

High latitude and altitude environments are universally recognized as particularly sensitive to environmental changes and the current climate warming is inducing remarkable transformations on vegetation assemblage in these temperature-limited regions. However, next to the wealth of studies describing the effect of rising growing season temperature on trees, much less is known about the concurrent effects of precipitation and snowpack dynamics on the other key component of alpine vegetation represented by prostrate life forms. Selecting the most widespread shrub species in the North Hemisphere, we assembled a monospecific (Juniperus communis L.

Xylem anatomical adjustments prioritize hydraulic efficiency over safety as Norway spruce trees grow taller.

As a tree grows taller, the increase in gravitational pressure and path length resistance results in lower water potentials at a given flow rate and higher carbon construction costs to transport a given amount of water to the leaves. We investigated how hydraulic safety and efficiency are coordinated under the constraints of higher cavitation risks and higher carbon construction costs with increasing tree height. We combined measurements of xylem tracheid anatomical traits with the vulnerability to drought-induced embolism and hydraulic conductivity of the apical shoots of 2- to 37-m tall Picea abies trees growing at two sites in the Dolomites (Italian Eastern Alps).

Quantification of uncertainties in conifer sap flow measured with the thermal dissipation method.

Trees play a key role in the global hydrological cycle and measurements performed with the thermal dissipation method (TDM) have been crucial in providing whole-tree water-use estimates. Yet, different data processing to calculate whole-tree water use encapsulates uncertainties that have not been systematically assessed. We quantified uncertainties in conifer sap flux density (F ) and stand water use caused by commonly applied methods for deriving zero-flow conditions, dampening and sensor calibration.

Tree differences in primary and secondary growth drive convergent scaling in leaf area to sapwood area across Europe.

Trees scale leaf (A ) and xylem (A ) areas to couple leaf transpiration and carbon gain with xylem water transport. Some species are known to acclimate in A  : A balance in response to climate conditions, but whether trees of different species acclimate in A  : A in similar ways over their entire (continental) distributions is unknown. We analyzed the species and climate effects on the scaling of A vs A in branches of conifers (Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies) and broadleaved (Betula pendula, Populus tremula) sampled across a continental wide transect in Europe.

Retrospective Analysis of Wood Anatomical Traits Reveals a Recent Extension in Tree Cambial Activity in Two High-Elevation Conifers.

The study of xylogenesis or wood formation is a powerful, yet labor intensive monitoring approach to investigate intra-annual tree growth responses to environmental factors. However, it seldom covers more than a few growing seasons, so is in contrast to the much longer lifespan of woody plants and the time scale of many environmental processes. Here we applied a novel retrospective approach to test the long-term (1926-2012) consistency in the timing of onset and ending of cambial activity, and in the maximum cambial cell division rate in two conifer species, European larch and Norway spruce at high-elevation in the Alps.

Quantitative Wood Anatomy-Practical Guidelines.

Quantitative wood anatomy analyzes the variability of xylem anatomical features in trees, shrubs, and herbaceous species to address research questions related to plant functioning, growth, and environment. Among the more frequently considered anatomical features are lumen dimensions and wall thickness of conducting cells, fibers, and several ray properties. The structural properties of each xylem anatomical feature are mostly fixed once they are formed, and define to a large extent its functionality, including transport and storage of water, nutrients, sugars, and hormones, and providing mechanical support.

Osmolality and Non-Structural Carbohydrate Composition in the Secondary Phloem of Trees across a Latitudinal Gradient in Europe.

Phloem osmolality and its components are involved in basic cell metabolism, cell growth, and in various physiological processes including the ability of living cells to withstand drought and frost. Osmolality and sugar composition responses to environmental stresses have been extensively studied for leaves, but less for the secondary phloem of plant stems and branches. Leaf osmotic concentration and the share of pinitol and raffinose among soluble sugars increase with increasing drought or cold stress, and osmotic concentration is adjusted with osmoregulation.