Publications by authors named "N Delpierre"
Pollen limitation has a considerable influence on forest masting, the highly variable and synchronised seed production, on which forest regeneration and ecosystem dynamics largely rely. Depending on the various mechanisms possibly involved in pollen limitation, the consequences of climate change on masting could be very different. These mechanisms were investigated in 10 oak populations along a climatic gradient using surveys of airborne pollen and fruiting rate as a proxy of pollen limitation.
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- - The study examines the relationship between tree maturation size and reproduction, finding that larger tree species tend to start reproducing at a smaller size than expected, challenging previous assumptions.
- - Researchers analyzed seed production data from 486 tree species across different climates, revealing that maturation size increases with maximum size but not in a straightforward manner.
- - The results indicate that this trend is particularly pronounced in colder climates, highlighting the importance of understanding maturation size to better predict how forests will respond to climate change and disturbances.
Studying the forest subsurface is a challenge because of its heterogeneous nature and difficult access. Traditional approaches used by ecologists to characterize the subsurface have a low spatial representativity. This review article illustrates how geophysical techniques can and have been used to get new insights into forest ecology.
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- Masting is when trees produce a lot of seeds at different times, which helps them survive by confusing animals that eat seeds.
- However, this can be bad for the animals that help trees spread their seeds because they rely on a steady food supply.
- Researchers found that some trees avoid masting to keep their disperser animals happy, especially in different climates and depending on how much nutrients they need to grow.
Climate change is imposing drier atmospheric and edaphic conditions on temperate forests. Here, we investigated how deep soil (down to 300 cm) water extraction contributed to the provision of water in the Fontainebleau-Barbeau temperate oak forest over two years, including the 2018 record drought. Deep water provision was key to sustain canopy transpiration during drought, with layers below 150 cm contributing up to 60% of the transpired water in August 2018, despite their very low density of fine roots.
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