Abstract

Diversification of genetic plant material in forest plantations is viewed as a promising strategy to promote forest adaptation and resilience to ongoing climate change. However, there is an intense debate about whether foreign populations might outperform local ones under new climatic conditions. Unfortunately, long-term experiments using contrasting provenances are scarce, especially in the Mediterranean region. In this context, the evaluation of the resistance and resilience of individuals from different provenances to drought can help to forecast their performance under different climate change scenarios, and therefore to establish guideline regarding plant material selection in reforestation projects. We evaluated the performance (survival and drought) and drought sensitivity of Quercus ilex saplings from two contrasting provenances growing during eight years in a common garden experiment. For this, we used a combination of dendroecological methods and water-relation measurements, such as leaf water potential (Ψ_pd), cuticular transpiration (E_c), relative water content at the point of stomatal closure (RWC_c) and specific leaf area (SLA). We also compared the resilience and resistance, in terms of radial growth to the intense drought event of 2012 between saplings from both provenances. Our results suggest a lack of idiosyncratic physiological response and growth sensitivity to drought between provenances. However, saplings from the drier provenance showed a superior performance in terms of survival and growth. Survival was greater in saplings from the dry provenance (100 vs. 91 %). Mean annual basal area increment was also greater in saplings from the dry provenance (158.8 ± 13.5 vs. 96.2 ± 8.4 mm²), which resulted in greater diameter eight year after planting (47.5 ± 2.8 vs. 38.3 ± 2.3 mm). The lower values of Ψ_pd, E_c and SLA in the summer of the first two years after planting suggest that climatic conditions after planting rather than isolated drought events was the most critical period for the success of these saplings. In view of our results, the selection of plant material for forest plantation should be carefully evaluated in forest restoration projects, while priority should be given to those actions oriented to increase the early survival of local Q. ilex seedlings.

  Keywords

---

Ecotypes, Quercus ilex, Forest Restoration, Growth Stability, Water-relation, Phenotypic Plasticity, Local Adaptations

Authors’ Info

Paper Info

Citation

Andivia E, Natalini F, Fernández M, Alejano R, Vázquez-Piqué J (2018). Contrasting holm oak provenances show different field performance but similar resilience to drought events eight years after planting in a Mediterranean environment. iForest 11: 259-266. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2573-011

Academic Editor

Tamir Klein

Paper history

Copyright Information

© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2018

  Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Web Metrics

Citation Metrics

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

Total number of cites (since 2018): 5
Average cites per year: 0.83

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

References

Related Content

Response of juvenile progeny of seven forest tree species and their populations to simulated climate change-related stressors, heat, elevated humidity and drought
Pliura A, Jankauskiene J, Lygis V, Suchockas V, Bajerkevičiene G, Verbylaite R
Vol. 11, pp. 374-388 (online: Jun 2018)

Model-based assessment of ecological adaptations of three forest tree species growing in Italy and impact on carbon and water balance at national scale under current and future climate scenarios
Vitale M, Mancini M, Matteucci G, Francesconi F, Valenti R, Attorre F
Vol. 5, pp. 235-246 (online: Oct 2012)

Germination and seedling growth of holm oak (Quercus ilex L.): effects of provenance, temperature, and radicle pruning
Caliskan S
Vol. 7, pp. 103-109 (online: Apr 2014)

Shrub facilitation of Quercus ilex and Quercus pubescens regeneration in a wooded pasture in central Sardinia (Italy)
Alias S, Bianchi L, Calamini G, Gregori E, Sioni S
Vol. 3, pp. 16-22 (online: Jan 2010)

Approaches to classifying and restoring degraded tropical forests for the anticipated REDD+ climate change mitigation mechanism
Sasaki N, Asner GP, Knorr W, Durst PB, Priyadi HR, Putz FE
Vol. 4, pp. 1-6 (online: Jan 2011)

SimHyb: a simulation software for the study of the evolution of hybridizing populations. Application to Quercus ilex and Q. suber suggests hybridization could be underestimated
Soto A, Rodríguez-Martínez D, López De Heredia U
Vol. 11, pp. 99-103 (online: Feb 2018)

Juvenile growth response of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) to sudden change of climatic environment in SE European trials
Mátyás C, Bozic G, Gömöry D, Ivankovic M, Rasztovits E
Vol. 2, pp. 213-220 (online: Dec 2009)

Species-specific climate response of oaks (Quercus spp.) under identical environmental conditions
Sanders TGM, Pitman R, Broadmeadow MSJ
Vol. 7, pp. 61-69 (online: Apr 2014)

Tracing the acclimation of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) populations to climatic stress by analyzing the antioxidant system
Visi-Rajczi E, Hofmann T, Albert L, Mátyás C
Vol. 14, pp. 95-103 (online: Apr 2021)

The missing part of the past, current, and future distribution model of Quercus ilex L.: the eastern edge
Yilmaz OY, Akkemik U, Dogan OH, Yilmaz H, Sevgi O, Sevgi E
Vol. 17, pp. 90-99 (online: Apr 2024)