New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming
Abstract Strong seasonality in the subarctic causes unfavorable conditions for plant growth driving strong latitudinal clines in growth onset and cessation related to temperature and photoperiodic cues. Results from controlled experiments indeed show such clines, but results from field experiments s...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4818f95d0f35404a983533185ef417a0 2023-05-15T18:28:18+02:00 New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming B. J. H. M. Possen M. Rousi S. Keski‐Saari T. Silfver S. Kontunen‐Soppela E. Oksanen J. Mikola 2021-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3520 https://doaj.org/article/4818f95d0f35404a983533185ef417a0 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3520 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.3520 https://doaj.org/article/4818f95d0f35404a983533185ef417a0 Ecosphere, Vol 12, Iss 5, Pp n/a-n/a (2021) climate change common garden height growth local adaptation silver birch soil nitrogen Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3520 2022-12-31T14:48:56Z Abstract Strong seasonality in the subarctic causes unfavorable conditions for plant growth driving strong latitudinal clines in growth onset and cessation related to temperature and photoperiodic cues. Results from controlled experiments indeed show such clines, but results from field experiments seem to indicate that such clines may depend on site characteristics, suggesting that environmental variation, other than temperature and photoperiod, is relevant under climate change. Here, we increase our understanding of the effects of climate change on survival, height growth, and the phenological cycle by investigating their inter‐ and intrapopulation variation using three common gardens and six silver birch (Betula pendula) populations (each represented by up to five cloned genotypes) spanning the Finnish subarctic. We found clinal south–north variation among populations in survival and growth and in spring and autumn phenology to be largely absent. Sapling survival decreased with a transfer of over five degrees of latitude southward, but growth and phenology showed little evidence for adaptation to the local climate. Instead, ample genetic variation and plastic responses were found for all traits studied. Higher soil N availability increased sapling survival and growth, and phenology seemed to be adapted to soil N and day length rather than to temperature. Our results suggest that the climatic conditions predicted for the end of this century may, at least for poor soils, reduce the survival of northern silver birch trees in their early growth. However, those saplings that survive seem to have sufficient phenotypic plasticity to acclimatize to the changing climate. Along with climate, soil fertility plays a significant role and clearly warrants inclusion in the future tests of the effects of climate warming on tree growth and survival. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecosphere 12 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change common garden height growth local adaptation silver birch soil nitrogen Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
climate change common garden height growth local adaptation silver birch soil nitrogen Ecology QH540-549.5 B. J. H. M. Possen M. Rousi S. Keski‐Saari T. Silfver S. Kontunen‐Soppela E. Oksanen J. Mikola New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
topic_facet |
climate change common garden height growth local adaptation silver birch soil nitrogen Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Strong seasonality in the subarctic causes unfavorable conditions for plant growth driving strong latitudinal clines in growth onset and cessation related to temperature and photoperiodic cues. Results from controlled experiments indeed show such clines, but results from field experiments seem to indicate that such clines may depend on site characteristics, suggesting that environmental variation, other than temperature and photoperiod, is relevant under climate change. Here, we increase our understanding of the effects of climate change on survival, height growth, and the phenological cycle by investigating their inter‐ and intrapopulation variation using three common gardens and six silver birch (Betula pendula) populations (each represented by up to five cloned genotypes) spanning the Finnish subarctic. We found clinal south–north variation among populations in survival and growth and in spring and autumn phenology to be largely absent. Sapling survival decreased with a transfer of over five degrees of latitude southward, but growth and phenology showed little evidence for adaptation to the local climate. Instead, ample genetic variation and plastic responses were found for all traits studied. Higher soil N availability increased sapling survival and growth, and phenology seemed to be adapted to soil N and day length rather than to temperature. Our results suggest that the climatic conditions predicted for the end of this century may, at least for poor soils, reduce the survival of northern silver birch trees in their early growth. However, those saplings that survive seem to have sufficient phenotypic plasticity to acclimatize to the changing climate. Along with climate, soil fertility plays a significant role and clearly warrants inclusion in the future tests of the effects of climate warming on tree growth and survival. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
B. J. H. M. Possen M. Rousi S. Keski‐Saari T. Silfver S. Kontunen‐Soppela E. Oksanen J. Mikola |
author_facet |
B. J. H. M. Possen M. Rousi S. Keski‐Saari T. Silfver S. Kontunen‐Soppela E. Oksanen J. Mikola |
author_sort |
B. J. H. M. Possen |
title |
New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
title_short |
New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
title_full |
New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
title_fullStr |
New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
New evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
title_sort |
new evidence for the importance of soil nitrogen on the survival and adaptation of silver birch to climate warming |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3520 https://doaj.org/article/4818f95d0f35404a983533185ef417a0 |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
Ecosphere, Vol 12, Iss 5, Pp n/a-n/a (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3520 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.3520 https://doaj.org/article/4818f95d0f35404a983533185ef417a0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3520 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
5 |
_version_ |
1766210714084573184 |