Dataset Information

Defoliation of interior Douglas-fir elicits carbon transfer and stress signalling to ponderosa pine neighbors through ectomycorrhizal networks.

ABSTRACT: Extensive regions of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, IDF) forests in North America are being damaged by drought and western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis). This damage is resulting from warmer and drier summers associated with climate change. To test whether defoliated IDF can directly transfer resources to ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosae) regenerating nearby, thus aiding in forest recovery, we examined photosynthetic carbon transfer and defense enzyme response. We grew pairs of ectomycorrhizal IDF 'donor' and ponderosa pine 'receiver' seedlings in pots and isolated transfer pathways by comparing 35??m, 0.5??m and no mesh treatments; we then stressed IDF donors either through manual defoliation or infestation by the budworm. We found that manual defoliation of IDF donors led to transfer of photosynthetic carbon to neighboring receivers through mycorrhizal networks, but not through soil or root pathways. Both manual and insect defoliation of donors led to increased activity of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and superoxide dismutase in the ponderosa pine receivers, via a mechanism primarily dependent on the mycorrhizal network. These findings indicate that IDF can transfer resources and stress signals to interspecific neighbors, suggesting ectomycorrhizal networks can serve as agents of interspecific communication facilitating recovery and succession of forests after disturbance.

SUBMITTER: Song YY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4329569 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Defoliation of interior Douglas-fir elicits carbon transfer and stress signalling to ponderosa pine neighbors through ectomycorrhizal networks.

Song Yuan Yuan YY Simard Suzanne W SW Carroll Allan A Mohn William W WW Zeng Ren Sen RS

Scientific reports 20150216

Extensive regions of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, IDF) forests in North America are being damaged by drought and western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis). This damage is resulting from warmer and drier summers associated with climate change. To test whether defoliated IDF can directly transfer resources to ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosae) regenerating nearby, thus aiding in forest recovery, we examined photosynthetic carbon transfer and defense enzyme resp ...[more]

PMID: 25683155

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Project description:Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex Lawson) occupies montane environments throughout western North America, where it is both an ecologically and economically important tree species. A recent study using mitochondrial DNA analysis demonstrated substantial genetic variation among ponderosa pine populations in the western U.S., identifying 10 haplotypes with unique evolutionary lineages that generally correspond spatially with distributions of the Pacific (P. p. var. ponderosa) and Rocky Mountain (P. p. var. scopulorum) varieties. To elucidate the role of climate in shaping the phylogeographic history of ponderosa pine, we used nonparametric multiplicative regression to develop predictive climate niche models for two varieties and 10 haplotypes and to hindcast potential distribution of the varieties during the last glacial maximum (LGM), ~22,000 yr BP. Our climate niche models performed well for the varieties, but haplotype models were constrained in some cases by small datasets and unmeasured microclimate influences. The models suggest strong relationships between genetic lineages and climate. Particularly evident was the role of seasonal precipitation balance in most models, with winter- and summer-dominated precipitation regimes strongly associated with P. p. vars. ponderosa and scopulorum, respectively. Indeed, where present-day climate niches overlap between the varieties, introgression of two haplotypes also occurs along a steep clinal divide in western Montana. Reconstructed climate niches for the LGM suggest potentially suitable climate existed for the Pacific variety in the California Floristic province, the Great Basin, and Arizona highlands, while suitable climate for the Rocky Mountain variety may have existed across the southwestern interior highlands. These findings underscore potentially unique phylogeographic origins of modern ponderosa pine evolutionary lineages, including potential adaptations to Pleistocene climates associated with discrete temporary glacial refugia. Our predictive climate niche models may inform strategies for further genetic research (e.g., sampling design) and conservation that promotes haplotype compatibility with projected changes in future climate.

Project description:Disturbance legacies structure communities and ecological memory, but due to increasing changes in disturbance regimes, it is becoming more difficult to characterize disturbance legacies or determine how long they persist. We sought to quantify the characteristics and persistence of material legacies (e.g., biotic residuals of disturbance) that arise from variation in fire severity in an eastern ponderosa pine forest in North America. We compared forest stand structure and understory woody plant and bird community composition and species richness across unburned, low-, moderate-, and high-severity burn patches in a 27-year-old mixed-severity wildfire that had received minimal post-fire management. We identified distinct tree densities (high: 14.3 ± 7.4 trees per ha, moderate: 22.3 ± 12.6, low: 135.3 ± 57.1, unburned: 907.9 ± 246.2) and coarse woody debris cover (high: 8.5 ± 1.6% cover per 30 m transect, moderate: 4.3 ± 0.7, low: 2.3 ± 0.6, unburned: 1.0 ± 0.4) among burn severities. Understory woody plant communities differed between high-severity patches, moderate- and low-severity patches, and unburned patches (all p < 0.05). Bird communities differed between high- and moderate-severity patches, low-severity patches, and unburned patches (all p < 0.05). Bird species richness varied across burn severities: low-severity patches had the highest (5.29 ± 1.44) and high-severity patches had the lowest (2.87 ± 0.72). Understory woody plant richness was highest in unburned (5.93 ± 1.10) and high-severity (5.07 ± 1.17) patches, and it was lower in moderate- (3.43 ± 1.17) and low-severity (3.43 ± 1.06) patches. We show material fire legacies persisted decades after the mixed-severity wildfire in eastern ponderosa forest, fostering distinct structures, communities, and species in burned versus unburned patches and across fire severities. At a patch scale, eastern and western ponderosa system responses to mixed-severity fires were consistent.

Project description:BACKGROUND:In forest trees, genetic markers have been used to understand the genetic architecture of natural populations, identify quantitative trait loci, infer gene function, and enhance tree breeding. Recently, new, efficient technologies for genotyping thousands to millions of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have finally made large-scale use of genetic markers widely available. These methods will be exceedingly valuable for improving tree breeding and understanding the ecological genetics of Douglas-fir, one of the most economically and ecologically important trees in the world. RESULTS:We designed SNP assays for 55,766 potential SNPs that were discovered from previous transcriptome sequencing projects. We tested the array on ~ 2300 related and unrelated coastal Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) from Oregon and Washington, and 13 trees of interior Douglas-fir (P. menziesii var. glauca). As many as ~ 28 K SNPs were reliably genotyped and polymorphic, depending on the selected SNP call rate. To increase the number of SNPs and improve genome coverage, we developed protocols to 'rescue' SNPs that did not pass the default Affymetrix quality control criteria (e.g., 97% SNP call rate). Lowering the SNP call rate threshold from 97 to 60% increased the number of successful SNPs from 20,669 to 28,094. We used a subset of 395 unrelated trees to calculate SNP population genetic statistics for coastal Douglas-fir. Over a range of call rate thresholds (97 to 60%), the median call rate for SNPs in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ranged from 99.2 to 99.7%, and the median minor allele frequency ranged from 0.198 to 0.233. The successful SNPs also worked well on interior Douglas-fir. CONCLUSIONS:Based on the original transcriptome assemblies and comparisons to version 1.0 of the Douglas-fir reference genome, we conclude that these SNPs can be used to genotype about 10 K to 15 K loci. The Axiom genotyping array will serve as an excellent foundation for studying the population genomics of Douglas-fir and for implementing genomic selection. We are currently using the array to construct a linkage map and test genomic selection in a three-generation breeding program for coastal Douglas-fir.

Dataset Information

Defoliation of interior Douglas-fir elicits carbon transfer and stress signalling to ponderosa pine neighbors through ectomycorrhizal networks.

Publications

Defoliation of interior Douglas-fir elicits carbon transfer and stress signalling to ponderosa pine neighbors through ectomycorrhizal networks.

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