Leaf wettability, anatomy and ultra-structure of Nothofagus antarctica and N. betuloides grown under a CO enriched atmosphere.

Increasing CO air concentration may affect wettability, anatomy and ultra-structure of leaves of Patagonian forest species, evergreen and deciduous plants potentially responding differently to such CO increases. In this study, we analysed the wettability, anatomy and ultra-structure of leaves of Nothofagus antarctica (deciduous) and N. betuloides (evergreen) grown under high CO concentrations.

Use of near-infrared spectroscopy to estimate physical, anatomical and hydraulic properties of Eucalyptus wood.

Tree breeding programs and wood industries require simple, time- and cost-effective techniques to process large volumes of samples. In recent decades, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been acknowledged as one of the most powerful techniques for wood analysis, making it the most used tool for high-throughput phenotyping. Previous studies have shown that a significant number of anatomical, physical, chemical and mechanical wood properties can be estimated through NIRS, both for angiosperm and gymnosperm species.

Narrow vessels cavitate first during a simulated drought in Eucalyptus camaldulensis.

Establishing drying-limits for mortality of different tree species and understanding the anatomical and physiological traits involved is crucial to predict forests' responses to climate change. The xylem of Eucalyptus camaldulensis presents a complex of solitary vessels surrounded by different imperforate tracheary elements and parenchyma that influence, in a poorly known way, its hydraulic functioning. We aimed at describing the dynamics of embolism propagation in this type of xylem, seeking any vessel-size pattern, and unraveling the threshold of xylem embolism leading to nonrecovery after drought in E.

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of soil methane fluxes in forests: Global patterns and among-biomes differences.

Forest soils are the most important terrestrial sink of atmospheric methane (CH ). Climatic, soil and anthropogenic drivers affect CH fluxes, but it is poorly known the relative weight of each driver and whether all drivers have similar effects across forest biomes. We compiled a database of 478 in situ estimations of CH fluxes in forest soils from 191 peer-reviewed studies.

Essential Nutrient and Trace Element Foliar Resorption of Two Co-Existing Species Grown Under Different Environmental Conditions in Southern Patagonia.

Nutrient resorption is crucial for mineral element conservation and efficiency of forest species, but knowledge on its significance and the mechanisms involved is still limited for most species and habitats. Focusing on the harsh conditions for plant growth and survival of southern Patagonia, a field study for comparing the rate of foliar resorption of macro-, micro-nutrients, and trace elements in coexisting and forests was performed. Forests located in three contrasting productivity sites (with different soil and climatic conditions) were selected, and mature, functional versus senescent leaves of both species were collected at two different dates of the growing season.

Functional relationships between wood structure and vulnerability to xylem cavitation in races of Eucalyptus globulus differing in wood density.

Wood density can be considered as a measure of the internal wood structure, and it is usually used as a proxy measure of other mechanical and functional traits. Eucalyptus is one of the most important commercial forestry genera worldwide, but the relationship between wood density and vulnerability to cavitation in this genus has been little studied. The analysis is hampered by, among other things, its anatomical complexity, so it becomes necessary to address more complex techniques and analyses to elucidate the way in which the different anatomical elements are functionally integrated.

First insights into the functional role of vasicentric tracheids and parenchyma in eucalyptus species with solitary vessels: do they contribute to xylem efficiency or safety?

The relationship between hydraulic specific conductivity (k) and vulnerability to cavitation (VC) with size and number of vessels has been studied in many angiosperms. However, few of the studies link other cell types (vasicentric tracheids (VT), fibre-tracheids, parenchyma) with these hydraulic functions. Eucalyptus is one of the most important genera in forestry worldwide.