Trees are essential for forest ecosystems’ survival and functioning. Global change is accelerating, and certain tree populations that are too slow to adapt may see their population decline or even disappear. To avoid these scenarios, conservation and forest management strategies can also be used. For example, trees can be moved to more compatible climates (known as assisted gene flow) or to populations that are endangered because they lack genetic diversity (known as evolutionary rescue). For several years, these strategies are committed to forest management authorities. It is important that you anticipate how transplanted tree will respond to their new environment.
Prediction models were based mainly upon the climate of origin for transplanted tree population. Genomic data can provide valuable information about adaptive processes in trees such as growth. The decreasing cost of sequencing technology has made climatic and genome information more readily available. The research team created models that combine both types of data to increase the robustness of predictions and accuracy. The team reported their findings in The American Naturalist.
A model based upon a large-scale experiment with maritime pine in France. Spain. Portugal
The models were created using maritime pine, a symbol of the Mediterranean basin. An experimental monitoring system was established at five locations in France (Cestas Perroton (33)), Spain (13) and Portugal (1Fundo). The system used trees from 34 different maritime pine populations that were collected throughout the species’ natural habitat. Scientists focused their efforts on predicting the height of trees, which is a crucial factor in economic and ecological terms because trees that grow faster have a higher chance of survival and reproduction.
Results show that height variations observed in maritime pine can be explained both by the genetic diversity of their origin and by the climates in which it evolved. Models based only on climatic data had a lower average prediction of population growth of 1425%. However, models that incorporate genomic and climatic data performed better than models that were based on climatic information.
These findings could be used to develop models that predict how transplanted tree population adapt to a new environment, in the contexts of forest conservation and management.
Two species of pine have different growth-climate tolerances depending on their specific environmental conditions
Juliette Archambeau and colleagues, Combining climatic data with genomic data improves range wide tree height growth prediction for a forest tree. The American Naturalist (2022). DOI: 10.1086/720619
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A new model predicts the growth of forest trees in new environments (2022, May 2)
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