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Wood density proxies of adaptive traits linked with resistance to drought in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco)

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Abstract

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Proxies of adaptive traits for resistance to drought were discovered among original annual ring density variables in Douglas fir.

Abstract

A comparison of dead and surviving Douglas fir trees following the 2003 drought was made to define proxies of adaptive traits for resistance to drought. Increment cores were sampled from trees from three French regions: Centre, Midi-Pyrénées and Burgundy. Original tree-ring variables were calculated, based on a sliding density criterion dividing the microdensity profile into high- and low-density segments. Tree rings were analysed at each site in a number of consecutive annual rings before the 2003 drought event. Comparison between pairs of surviving and dead trees and between pairs of randomly selected trees (whether dead or alive) supports the evidence of systematic dissimilarities between surviving and dead trees in a number of original density variables. Correlation analysis between original and conventional ring density variables indicates a weak association. We found that the surviving trees were denser than the dead trees in all three sites, but that the denser part of the ring varied from region to region. We identified several original density variables intended to be used as proxies of adaptive traits in future studies of genetic determinism of Douglas fir resistance to drought.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank F. Gérémia, Y. Lefèvre, N. Métral, P. Behr, T. Paul and B. Issenut for their technical assistance during field data collection and F. Millier for fieldwork and laboratory measurements. The fieldwork was possible thanks to the help of agents from CRPF in the Midi-Pyrénées and Burgundy regions. We thank L. Sanchez and S. Marin for discussions during the preliminary steps of the study. We also thank all public and private forest owners for allowing tree coring. The research was funded by the National Research Agency (DRYADE project, ANR-06-VULN-004), the Centre region Research Project Xylome n° 2009 0003 8263 and the Regional Council of Burgundy region. A.S. Sergent received a PhD grant from the Regional Council of Centre region, France, M. Ruiz-Diaz received fundings from the Parque Tecnológico Misiones and the Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Argentina.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parque Tecnológico Misiones, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Félix de Azara 182, Ruta 12 km 7 Miguel Lanus, 3300, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina

    Manuela Ruiz Diaz Britez

  2. INRA Val de Loire, UR0588, Unité d′Amélioration Génétique et Physiologie Forestières, 2163 Avenue de la Pomme de Pin, CS 40001 Ardon, 45075, Orléans Cedex 2, France

    Manuela Ruiz Diaz Britez, Anne-Sophie Sergent & Philippe Rozenberg

  3. INTA, EEA Bariloche, Unidad de Ecología Forestal, CC 277, 8400, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

    Anne-Sophie Sergent & Alejandro Martinez Meier

  4. INRA-UHP, UMR 1137, Forest Ecology and Ecophysiology Unit, 54280, Champenoux, France

    Nathalie Bréda

Authors
  1. Manuela Ruiz Diaz Britez
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  2. Anne-Sophie Sergent
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  3. Alejandro Martinez Meier
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  4. Nathalie Bréda
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  5. Philippe Rozenberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philippe Rozenberg.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Braeuning.

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Ruiz Diaz Britez, M., Sergent, AS., Martinez Meier, A. et al. Wood density proxies of adaptive traits linked with resistance to drought in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). Trees 28, 1289–1304 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-014-1003-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-014-1003-4

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