Publication search

Different endophyte communities colonize buds of sprouts compared with mature trees of mountain birch recovered from mot...

Published in Tree physiology

Plant meristems were previously thought to be sterile. Today, meristem-associated shoot endophytes are mainly reported as contaminants from plant tissue cultures, the number of observed species being very low. However, the few strains characterized have the capacity for infecting host cells and affecting plant growth and development. Here we studie...

Tropical dry forest trees and lianas differ in leaf economic spectrum traits but have overlapping water-use strategies.

Published in Tree physiology

Tree species in tropical dry forests employ a wide range of strategies to cope with seasonal drought, including regulation of hydraulic function. However, it is uncertain if co-occurring lianas also possess a diversity of strategies. For a taxonomically diverse group of 14 tree and 7 liana species, we measured morphological and hydraulic functional...

Xylem traits, leaf longevity and growth phenology predict growth and mortality response to defoliation in northern tempe...

Published in Tree physiology

Defoliation outbreaks are biological disturbances that alter tree growth and mortality in temperate forests. Trees respond to defoliation in many ways; some recover rapidly, while others decline gradually or die. Functional traits such as xylem anatomy, growth phenology or non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) storage could explain these responses, but...

Long-term effects of drought on tree-ring growth and carbon isotope variability in Scots pine in a dry environment.

Published in Tree physiology

Drought frequency is increasing in many parts of the world and may enhance tree decline and mortality. The underlying physiological mechanisms are poorly understood, however, particularly regarding chronic effects of long-term drought and the response to increasing temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). We combined analyses of radial growth ...

The interactive impact of root branch order and soil genetic horizon on root respiration and nitrogen concentration.

Published in Tree physiology

In general, respiration (RS) is highly correlated with nitrogen concentration (N) in plant organs, including roots, which exhibit a positive N-RS relationship. Less is known, however, about the relationship between N and RS in roots of different branch orders within an individual tree along a vertical soil profile; this is especially true in trees ...

Drought reduces growth and stimulates sugar accumulation: new evidence of environmentally driven non-structural carbohyd...

Published in Tree physiology

Isohydric species are not necessarily more carbon limited than anisohydric species during drought.

Published in Tree physiology

Isohydry (i.e., strong regulation of leaf water potential, Ψl) is commonly associated with strict stomatal regulation of transpiration under drought, which in turn is believed to minimize hydraulic risk at the expense of reduced carbon assimilation. Hence, the iso/anisohydric classification has been widely used to assess drought resistance and mort...

Nighttime stomatal conductance differs with nutrient availability in two temperate floodplain tree species.

Published in Tree physiology

Nighttime water flow varies between plant species and is a phenomenon for which the magnitude, purpose and consequences are widely discussed. A potential benefit of nighttime stomata opening may be increased nutrient availability during the night since transpiration affects the mass flow of soil water towards plant roots. We investigated how nitrog...

Short-term dynamics of evaporative enrichment of xylem water in woody stems: implications for ecohydrology.

Published in Tree physiology

In ecohydrology, it is generally assumed that xylem water reflects the water source used by plants. Several studies have reported isotopic enrichment within woody tissues, particularly during dormancy periods or after long periods of inactivity. However, little is known about the short-term dynamics of this process. Here we assessed the magnitude a...

Effects of prolonged drought stress on Scots pine seedling carbon allocation.

Published in Tree physiology

As the number of drought occurrences has been predicted to increase with increasing temperatures, it is believed that boreal forests will become particularly vulnerable to decreased growth and increased tree mortality caused by the hydraulic failure, carbon starvation and vulnerability to pests following these. Although drought-affected trees are k...