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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Forest Ecophysiology
Volume 7 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2024.1369464

Addressing the altitudinal and geographical gradient in European beech via photosynthetic parametersa case study on Calabrian beech transplanted to Denmark

Provisionally accepted
Daniel Provazník Daniel Provazník 1,2*Jan Stejskal Jan Stejskal 1Ole K. Hansen Ole K. Hansen 2Jaroslav Čepl Jaroslav Čepl 1Eva R. Erichsen Eva R. Erichsen 2Jon K. Hansen Jon K. Hansen 2Dagmar Zádrapová Dagmar Zádrapová 1Ivana Tomášková Ivana Tomášková 1
  • 1 Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czechia
  • 2 Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is becoming one of the go-to species in reconstructing declining conifer stands in Europe under climate change. Assisted migration may be considered when looking for suitable beech seedlings. Knowledge about the photosynthetic performance of beech seedlings is fundamental to understanding an essential part of their growth and survival potential in different planting conditions. We investigated the within-provenance variation in photosynthetic performance driven by altitude in contrast to inter-provenance variation given by geographical distance. The experiment was conducted on seedlings replanted in a Danish common garden comprising a cluster of provenances with various altitudinal subgroups transplanted from the Calabria region (Italy) and two local Danish provenances. Provenance and within-provenance variation in chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) kinetics, gas exchange (GE), flushing, and senescence were assessed. ChlF measurements revealed within-provenance differences based on altitude of origin and could distinguish between the two Danish provenances. In contrast, GE parameters detected variation in the geographical distance among Italian provenances. High-elevation subgroups of Italian provenances showed the best leaflevel photosynthetic performance in Danish weather conditions with high precipitation levels.Altitude of origin can be a significant source of within-provenance variation. We demonstrated that assessing this variation in young trees may be instrumental in maximizing the potential of provenance variation across diverse planting sites.

    Keywords: OJIP transient, Photosynthesis, common garden, beech refugia, Phenology

    Received: 12 Jan 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Provazník, Stejskal, Hansen, Čepl, Erichsen, Hansen, Zádrapová and Tomášková. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Daniel Provazník, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czechia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.