Annual aboveground carbon uptake enhancements from assisted gene flow in boreal black spruce forests are not long-lasting.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Girardin MP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7895975 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Annual aboveground carbon uptake enhancements from assisted gene flow in boreal black spruce forests are not long-lasting.
Girardin Martin P MP Isabel Nathalie N Guo Xiao Jing XJ Lamothe Manuel M Duchesne Isabelle I Lenz Patrick P
Nature communications 20210219 1
Assisted gene flow between populations has been proposed as an adaptive forest management strategy that could contribute to the sequestration of carbon. Here we provide an assessment of the mitigation potential of assisted gene flow in 46 populations of the widespread boreal conifer Picea mariana, grown in two 42-year-old common garden experiments and established in contrasting Canadian boreal regions. We use a dendroecological approach taking into account phylogeographic structure to retrospect ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:Soil data and soil mapping are indispensable tools in sustainable forest management. In northern boreal ecosystems, paludification is defined as the accumulation of partially decomposed organic matter over saturated mineral soils, a process that reduces tree regeneration and forest growth. Given this negative effect on forest productivity, spatial prediction of paludification in black spruce stands is important in forest management. This paper provides a description of the soil database to predict organic layer thickness (OLT) as a proxy of paludification in northeastern Canada. The database contains 13,944 OLT measurements (in cm) and their respective GPS coordinates. We collected OLT measurements from georeferenced ground plots and transects from several previous projects. Despite the variety of sources, the sampling design for each dataset was similar, consisting of manual measurements of OLT with a hand probe. OLT measurements were variable across the study area, with a mean ± standard deviation of 21 ± 24?cm (ranging from a minimum of 0?cm to a maximum of 150?cm), and the distribution tended toward positive skewing, with a large number of low OLT values and fewer high OLT values. The dataset has been used to perform OLT mapping at 30-m resolution and predict the risk of paludification in northeastern Canada (Mansuy et al., 2018) [1]. The spatially explicit and continuous database is also available to support national and international efforts in digital soil mapping.
| S-EPMC6288461 | biostudies-other
Project description:Phenology of local populations can exhibit adaptations to the current environmental conditions resulting from a close interaction between climate and genotype. The bud break process and its variations among populations were analyzed in greenhouse by monitoring the growth resumption in black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP] seedlings originating from seeds of five stands across the closed boreal forest in Quebec, Canada. Bud break lasted 15 days and occurred earlier and quicker in northern provenances. Provenance explained between 10.2 and 32.3% of the variance in bud break, while the families accounted for a smaller but still significant part of the variance. The late occurrence of one phenological phase corresponded to a delayed occurrence of the others according to linear relationships. A causal model was proposed in the form of a chain of events with each phase of bud break being related to the previous and successive one, while no link was observed between non-adjacent phases. The adaptation of black spruce populations along the latitudinal gradient points toward a strategy based on rapid physiological processes triggered by temperature increase inducing high metabolic activity. The variation observed in bud break reflects an evolutionary trade-off between maximization of security and taking advantage of the short growing season. This work provides evidence of the phenological adaptations of black spruce to its local environmental conditions while retaining sizeable genetic diversity within populations. Because of the multigenic nature of phenology, this diversity should provide some raw material for adaptation to changing local environmental conditions.
| S-EPMC4211384 | biostudies-other
Project description:Climate change is steering tree breeding programs towards the development of families and genotypes that will be adapted and more resilient to changing environments. Making genotype-phenotype-environment connections is central to these predictions and it requires the evaluation of functional traits such as photosynthetic rates that can be linked to environmental variables. However, the ability to rapidly measure photosynthetic parameters has always been limiting. The estimation of V c,max and J max using CO2 response curves has traditionally been time consuming, taking anywhere from 30 min to more than an hour, thereby drastically limiting the number of trees that can be assessed per day. Technological advancements have led to the development of a new generation of portable photosynthesis measurement systems offering greater chamber environmental control and automated sampling and, as a result, the proposal of a new, faster, method (RACiR) for measuring V c,max and J max . This method was developed using poplar trees and involves measuring photosynthetic responses to CO2 over a range of CO2 concentrations changing at a constant rate. The goal of the present study was to adapt the RACiR method for use on conifers whose measurement usually requires much larger leaf chambers. We demonstrate that the RACiR method can be used to estimate V c,max and J max in conifers and provide recommendations to enhance the method. The use our method in conifers will substantially reduce measurement time, thus greatly improving genotype evaluation and selection capabilities based on photosynthetic traits. This study led to the developpement of an R package (RapidACi, https://github.com/ManuelLamothe/RapidACi) that facilitates the correction of multiple RACiR files and the post-measurement correction of leaf areas.
| S-EPMC6823239 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In scenarios of future climate change, there is a projectedincrease in the occurrence and severity of natural disturbances inboreal forests. Spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana)(SBW) is the main defoliator of conifer trees in the North American boreal forests affecting large areas and causing marked losses of timber supplies. However, the impact and the spatiotemporal patterns of SBW dynamics at the landscape scale over the last century remain poorly known. This is particularly true for northern regions dominated by spruce species. The main goal of this study is to reconstruct SBW outbreaks during the 20th century at the landscape scale and to evaluate changes in the associated spatiotemporal patterns in terms of distribution area, frequency, and severity. We rely on a dendroecological approach from sites within the eastern Canadian boreal forest and draw from a large dataset of almost 4,000 trees across a study area of nearly 800,000 km2. Interpolation and analyses of hotspots determined reductions in tree growth related to insect outbreak periods and identified the spatiotemporal patterns of SBW activity over the last century. The use of an Ordinary Least Squares model including regional temperature and precipitation anomalies allows us to assess the impact of climate variables on growth reductions and to compensate for the lack of non-host trees in northern regions. We identified three insect outbreaks having different spatiotemporal patterns, duration, and severity. The first (1905-1930) affected up to 40% of the studied trees, initially synchronizing from local infestations and then migrating to northern stands. The second outbreak (1935-1965) was the longest and the least severe with only up to 30% of trees affected by SBW activity. The third event (1968-1988) was the shortest, yet it was also the most severe and extensive, affecting nearly up to 50% of trees and 70% of the study area. This most recent event was identified for the first time at the limit of the commercial forest illustrating a northward shift of the SBW distribution area during the 20th century. Overall, this research confirms that insect outbreaks are a complex and dynamic ecological phenomena, which makes the understanding of natural disturbance cycles at multiple scales a major priority especially in the context of future regional climate change.
| S-EPMC6308396 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundWith the introduction of the Trillion Trees Initiative and similar programs, forests' ability to absorb carbon dioxide is increasingly in the spotlight. Many states have mandates to develop climate action plans, of which forest carbon is an important component, and planners need current information on forest carbon stocks and rates of change at relevant spatial scales. To this end, we examine rates of average annual change in live aboveground tree carbon in different forest type groups and provide state-wide and regional summaries of current live tree carbon stock and rates of change for the forests of the conterminous United States. Forest carbon summaries are presented in a format designed to meet the needs of managers, policymakers, and others requiring current estimates of aboveground live tree carbon at state and regional scales.ResultsRegional average aboveground live tree carbon stocks (represented on a per area basis) are generally between 40 and 75 tC/ha but range from 12.8 tC/ha in the Great Plains to 130 tC/ha in the Pacific Northwest West (west-side of Cascades). Regional average annual change in live aboveground tree carbon varies from a low of - 0.18 mtC/ha/y in the Rocky Mountain South to a high value of 1.74 mtC/ha/y in Pacific Northwest West. For individual states, carbon per unit area varies widely, from a low of 11.9 tC/ha in Nevada to a high of 96.4 tC/ha in Washington, with half the states falling between 50 and 75 tC/ha. Rates of average annual change in live aboveground tree carbon vary from a high of 1.82 tC/ha/y in Mississippi to a low of - 0.47 tC/ha/y in Colorado.ConclusionsAboveground live tree carbon stocks and rates of average annual change vary by forest type within regions. While softwood forest types currently exhibit a higher rate of increase in the amount of carbon in aboveground live tree biomass, the current standing stock of carbon per unit area does not consistently follow this pattern. For this reason, we recommend computing and considering both measures -standing stock and average annual change-of carbon storage. The relative importance of each component will depend on management and policy objectives and the time frame related to those objectives. Harvesting and natural disturbance also affect forest carbon stock and change and may need to be considered if developing projections of potential carbon storage.
| S-EPMC8138985 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: The genomic architecture of adaptive traits remains poorly understood in non-model plants. Various approaches can be used to bridge this gap, including the mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in pedigrees, and genetic association studies in non-structured populations. Here we present results on the genomic architecture of adaptive traits in black spruce, which is a widely distributed conifer of the North American boreal forest. As an alternative to the usual candidate gene approach, a candidate SNP approach was developed for association testing. RESULTS: A genetic map containing 231 gene loci was used to identify QTL that were related to budset timing and to tree height assessed over multiple years and sites. Twenty-two unique genomic regions were identified, including 20 that were related to budset timing and 6 that were related to tree height. From results of outlier detection and bulk segregant analysis for adaptive traits using DNA pool sequencing of 434 genes, 52 candidate SNPs were identified and subsequently tested in genetic association studies for budset timing and tree height assessed over multiple years and sites. A total of 34 (65%) SNPs were significantly associated with budset timing, or tree height, or both. Although the percentages of explained variance (PVE) by individual SNPs were small, several significant SNPs were shared between sites and among years. CONCLUSIONS: The sharing of genomic regions and significant SNPs between budset timing and tree height indicates pleiotropic effects. Significant QTLs and SNPs differed quite greatly among years, suggesting that different sets of genes for the same characters are involved at different stages in the tree's life history. The functional diversity of genes carrying significant SNPs and low observed PVE further indicated that a large number of polymorphisms are involved in adaptive genetic variation. Accordingly, for undomesticated species such as black spruce with natural populations of large effective size and low linkage disequilibrium, efficient marker systems that are predictive of adaptation should require the survey of large numbers of SNPs. Candidate SNP approaches like the one developed in the present study could contribute to reducing these numbers.
| S-EPMC3674900 | biostudies-other
Project description:Climate change is expected to increase the extent and severity of wildfires throughout the boreal forest. Historically, black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) forests in interior Alaska have been relatively free of non-native species, but the compounding effects of climate change and an altered fire regime could facilitate the expansion of non-native plants. We tested the effects of wildfire on non-native plant colonization by conducting a seeding experiment of non-native plants on different substrate types in a burned black spruce forest, and surveying for non-native plants in recently burned and mature black spruce forests. We found few non-native plants in burned or mature forests, despite their high roadside presence, although invasion of some burned sites by dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) indicated the potential for non-native plants to move into burned forest. Experimental germination rates were significantly higher on mineral soil compared to organic soil, indicating that severe fires that combust much of the organic layer could increase the potential for non-native plant colonization. We conclude that fire disturbances that remove the organic layer could facilitate the invasion of non-native plants providing there is a viable seed source and dispersal vector.
| S-EPMC5291358 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBlack spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP)-forested peatlands are widespread ecosystems in boreal North America in which peat accumulation, known as the paludification process, has been shown to induce forest growth decline. The continuously evolving environmental conditions (e.g., water table rise, increasing peat thickness) in paludified forests may require tree growth mechanism adjustments over time. In this study, we investigate tree ecophysiological mechanisms along a paludification gradient in a boreal forested peatland of eastern Canada by combining peat-based and tree-ring analyses. Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in tree rings are used to document changes in carbon assimilation rates, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency. In addition, paleohydrological analyses are performed to evaluate the dynamical ecophysiological adjustments of black spruce trees to site-specific water table variations.ResultsIncreasing peat accumulation considerably impacts forest growth, but no significant differences in tree water use efficiency (iWUE) are found between the study sites. Tree-ring isotopic analysis indicates no iWUE decrease over the last 100 years, but rather an important increase at each site up to the 1980s, before iWUE stabilized. Surprisingly, inferred basal area increments do not reflect such trends. Therefore, iWUE variations do not reflect tree ecophysiological adjustments required by changes in growing conditions. Local water table variations induce no changes in ecophysiological mechanisms, but a synchronous shift in iWUE is observed at all sites in the mid-1980s.ConclusionsOur study shows that paludification induces black spruce growth decline without altering tree water use efficiency in boreal forested peatlands. These findings highlight that failing to account for paludification-related carbon use and allocation could result in the overestimation of aboveground biomass production in paludified sites. Further research on carbon allocation strategies is of utmost importance to understand the carbon sink capacity of these widespread ecosystems in the context of climate change, and to make appropriate forest management decisions in the boreal biome.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40663-021-00307-x.
| S-EPMC8550502 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Clipping (i.e., harvesting aboveground plant biomass) is common in agriculture and for bioenergy production. However, microbial responses to clipping in the context of climate warming are poorly understood. We investigated the interactive effects of grassland warming and clipping on soil properties, plant and microbial communities, in particular microbial functional genes. Clipping alone did not change the plant biomass production, but warming and clipping combined increased the C4 peak biomass by 47% and belowground net primary production by 110%. Clipping alone and in combination with warming decreased the soil carbon input from litter by 81% and 75%, respectively. With less carbon input, the abundances of genes involved in degrading relatively recalcitrant carbon increased by 38-137% in response to either clipping or the combined treatment, which could weaken the long-term soil carbon stability and trigger a positive feedback to warming. Clipping alone also increased the abundance of genes for nitrogen fixation, mineralization and denitrification by 32-39%. The potentially stimulated nitrogen fixation could help compensate for the 20% decline in soil ammonium caused by clipping alone, and contribute to unchanged plant biomass. Moreover, clipping tended to interact antagonistically with warming, especially on nitrogen cycling genes, demonstrating that single factor studies cannot predict multifactorial changes. These results revealed that clipping alone or in combination with warming altered soil and plant properties, as well as the abundance and structure of soil microbial functional genes. The aboveground biomass removal for biofuel production needs to be re-considered as the long-term soil carbon stability may be weakened.
2016-09-27 | GSE86527 | GEO
Project description:Under global warming, advances in spring phenology due to rising temperatures have been widely reported. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying the advancement in spring phenology still remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of temperature during the previous growing season on spring phenology of current year based on the start of season extracted from multiple long-term and large-scale phenological datasets between 1951 and 2018. Our findings indicate that warmer temperatures during previous growing season are linked to earlier spring phenology of current year in temperate and boreal forests. Correspondingly, we observed an earlier spring phenology with the increase in photosynthesis of the previous growing season. These findings suggest that the observed warming-induced earlier spring phenology is driven by increased photosynthetic carbon assimilation in the previous growing season. Therefore, the vital role of warming-induced changes in carbon assimilation should be considered to accurately project spring phenology and carbon cycling in forest ecosystems under future climate warming.
| S-EPMC9237039 | biostudies-literature