Metabolic memory in the phenological events of plants: looking beyond climatic factors.
Published in Tree physiology
Gene duplication led to divergence of expression patterns, protein-protein interaction patterns and floral development f...
Published in Tree physiology
The MADS-box family genes play critical roles in the regulation of growth and development of flowering plants. AGAMOUS-LIKE 6 (AGL6)-like genes are one of the most enigmatic subfamilies of the MADS-box family because of highly variable expression patterns and ambiguous functions, which have long puzzled researchers. A lot of AGL6 homologs have been...
Contrasting controls on tree ring isotope variation for Amazon floodplain and terra firme trees.
Published in Tree physiology
Isotopes in tropical trees rings can improve our understanding of tree responses to climate. We assessed how climate and growing conditions affect tree-ring oxygen and carbon isotopes (δ18OTR and δ13CTR) in four Amazon trees. We analysed within-ring isotope variation for two terra firme (non-flooded) and two floodplain trees growing at sites with v...
Inducibility of chemical defences in young oak trees is stronger in species with high elevational ranges.
Published in Tree physiology
Elevational gradients have been highly useful for understanding the underlying forces driving variation in plant traits and plant-insect herbivore interactions. A widely held view from these studies has been that greater herbivory under warmer and less variable climatic conditions found at low elevations has resulted in stronger herbivore selection...
Effects of heater wattage on sap flux density estimates using an improved tree-cut experiment.
Published in Tree physiology
We assessed the effects of heater wattage on sap flux estimates from heat dissipation sensors and generated calibrated equations for 1-year-old Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden trees. We used a total of eight trees ranging from 3 to 6 cm in diameter. Our calibration experiment was performed with a modified tree-cut approach, which allowed us to es...
Black spruce assimilates nitrate in boreal winter.
Published in Tree physiology
Winter has long been considered a dormant season in boreal forests regarding plant physiological activity such as nutrient acquisition. However, biogeochemical data clearly show that soil can remain unfrozen with substantial rates of nutrient transformation for several weeks following autumn snowfall. Here we examined nitrate (NO3--N) assimilation ...
Oak genotype and phenolic compounds differently affect the performance of two insect herbivores with contrasting diet br...
Published in Tree physiology
Research on plant-herbivore interactions has long recognized that plant genetic variation plays a central role in driving insect abundance and herbivory, as well as in determining plant defense. However, how plant genes influence herbivore feeding performances, and which plant defensive traits mediate these effects, remain poorly understood. Here w...
How do newly matured vessels start conducting water? The significance of lateral pathways for connecting newly matured v...
Published in Tree physiology
Despite the long history of research on xylem structure and function, there are no reports in the literature explaining how xylem vessel elements began conducting water just after their maturation. This study was conducted to demonstrate the anatomical arrangement of newly matured vessels, looking specifically for the first pathways connecting newl...
Variations in the intrinsic water-use efficiency of north Patagonian forests under a present climate change scenario: tr...
Published in Tree physiology
The carbon isotope composition (δ13C) in tree rings were used to derive the intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) of Araucaria araucana trees of northern Patagonia along a strong precipitation gradient. It is well known that climatic and ontogenetic factors affect growth performance of this species but little is known about their influence in the p...
Let it snow! Winter conditions affect growth of birch seedlings during the following growing season.
Published in Tree physiology
Air temperatures and precipitation are predicted to increase in the future, especially at high latitudes and particularly so during winter. In contrast to air temperatures, changes in soil temperatures are more difficult to predict, as the fate of the insulating snow cover is crucial in this respect. Soil conditions can also be affected by rain-on-...
