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Climate-based seed zones for Mexico: guiding reforestation under observed and projected climate change

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Abstract

Seed zones for forest tree species are a widely used tool in reforestation programs to ensure that seedlings are well adapted to their planting environments. Here, we propose a climate-based seed zone system for Mexico to address observed and projected climate change. The proposed seed zone classification is based on bands of climate variables often related to genetic adaptation of tree species: mean coldest month temperature (MCMT) and an aridity index (AHM). The overlay of the MCMT and AHM for the 1961–1990 period resulted in 63 climate-based zones. Climate change observed over the last three decades has resulted in an increase of + 0.74 °C for MCMT and a shift toward overall drier conditions across Mexico. By the 2050s, MCMT is expected to increase by + 1.7 °C and AHM shifts further towards drier conditions. We recommend moving seed sources from warm, dry locations towards currently wetter and cooler planting sites, to compensate for climate change that has already occurred and is expected to continue for the next decades. We contribute a straight-forward climate-based seed zone system that allows practitioners to match seed procurement regions with planting regions under observed and anticipated climate change. Our transfer recommendations using climate-based zones can be implemented within the existing seed zone system, which often span large climate gradients.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is an undertaking of the Forest Genetic Resources Working Group/North American Forest Commission/Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Funding was provided to CSR by the Mexican National Forest Commission (CONAFOR; special thanks to Jesús Carrasco-Gómez, Alfredo Arciniega-Mendoza, Fernando Miranda-Piedragil, Yanet B. García-Cruz and Cinthya V. Velarde-Nuño), an NSERC Discovery Grant (#330527) to AH, and Mexican Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) scholarships to DCA (#253855) and to EGP (#291197). Valuable comments of the journal assigned Associated Editor and two anonymous reviewers helped to improve significantly the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada

    Dante Castellanos-Acuña & Andreas Hamann

  2. The Conservation Planning Institute, 8285 NW Wynoochee Dr, Corvallis, OR, 97330-2878, USA

    Kenneth W. Vance-Borland

  3. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    J. Bradley St. Clair

  4. Postgrado en Ciencias Forestales, Colegio de Postgraduados, 56230, Texcoco, México, Mexico

    Javier López-Upton

  5. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (IIAF-UMSNH), Av. San Juanito Itzícuaro s/n, Col. Nueva Esperanza, 58330, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Erika Gómez-Pineda & Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero

  6. Facultad de Biología, UMSNH, Ciudad Universitaria, Avenida Francisco J. Múgica s/n, 58030, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Juan Manuel Ortega-Rodríguez

Authors
  1. Dante Castellanos-Acuña
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  2. Kenneth W. Vance-Borland
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  4. Andreas Hamann
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  8. Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero
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Correspondence to Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero.

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Castellanos-Acuña, D., Vance-Borland, K.W., St. Clair, J.B. et al. Climate-based seed zones for Mexico: guiding reforestation under observed and projected climate change. New Forests 49, 297–309 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-017-9620-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-017-9620-6

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