Abstract
The rate of global warming varies in magnitude between seasons, with warming being more pronounced in winter and spring than in summer and autumn at high latitudes. Winter warming can have profound effects on dormancy release and spring phenology of perennial fruit crops, but potential follow-on impacts on growth, fruit yield or quality have only rarely been investigated. We studied the effects of mild winter warming on spring phenology, current year shoot growth, cropping performance and fruit quality in four field-grown cultivars of blackcurrant with different chilling requirements. Plants were exposed to ambient or slightly elevated (+ 0.5 °C) temperatures from early October to mid-April the following year. Winter warming had few effects on spring phenology and fruit yield, but caused significant changes in berry contents of phenolic compounds and a reduction in soluble sugars. Increased vegetative growth of warmed plants likely accounts for the changes in berry quality. The results demonstrate a persistent effect of winter warming on shoot growth, which indirectly changes fruit quality.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Connie Krogh Damgaard, Finn Kristiansen and Elisabeth Kjemtrup for the outstanding technical assistance and Kwaku Bonsu and Michael Rajeev Vagiri for the analyses of monomeric anthocyanins.
Funding
This work was supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research | Technology and Production Sciences (Grant No. DFF-1335–00182 to MP).
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Conceived and designed the study: M.P., K.H.K.; carried out the experiment: K.H.K., M.P.; analyzed the data: M.P.; writing—original draft preparation: M.P.; writing—review and editing: M.P., K.H.K.; funding acquisition – M.P.
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Pagter, M., Kjær, K.H. Winter warming stimulates vegetative growth and alters fruit quality of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum). Int J Biometeorol 66, 1391–1401 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02284-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02284-4