Speaker
Description
Understanding drought-induced changes in tree carbon dynamics is crucial, as forests play a significant role in regulating the global carbon cycle. Tree-rings can serve as detailed archives of intra-seasonal environmental changes, such as intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) in their stable carbon isotope composition (δ13CRing). However, it remains unclear how multiple, simultaneous physiological responses to drought affect these records. In a controlled greenhouse manipulation experiment, we exposed seven-year-old Pinus sylvestris to drought and subsequent recovery, and traced associated physiological responses from leaves to phloem, roots, and tree-rings using δ13C analysis of sucrose, high-resolution δ13CRing analysis by laser ablation and leaf gas exchange. Although sucrose captured leaf-level processes, intra-annual δ13CRing was intermittently uncoupled from leaf-level processes over time. When scaled to the conventional approach in δ13CRing research—analysing whole annual rings or distinguishing between earlywood and latewood sections—the drought event was not detectable. This study emphasises the need for cautious interpretation when using conventional δ13CRing analysis to study plant stress responses, while demonstrating the potential of high-resolution intra-annual δ13CRing for uncovering tree adaptation mechanisms in the context of climate change.
| Are you participating to the "AnaEE Environmental Rising Star Award "? | No |
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