Tree Resilience Indices of Norway Spruce Provenances Tested in Long-Term Common Garden Experiments in the Romanian Carpathians

Alin Madalin Alexandru; Georgeta Mihai; Emanuel Stoica; Alexandru Lucian Curtu

doi:10.3390/plants13162172

Tree Resilience Indices of Norway Spruce Provenances Tested in Long-Term Common Garden Experiments in the Romanian Carpathians

Plants (Basel). 2024 Aug 6;13(16):2172. doi: 10.3390/plants13162172.

Authors

Alin Madalin Alexandru^{1

2}, Georgeta Mihai¹, Emanuel Stoica^{1

2}, Alexandru Lucian Curtu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, "Marin Dracea" National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, 077190 Voluntari, Romania.
² Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500123 Brasov, Romania.

Abstract

Provenance trials provide a valuable opportunity to evaluate the impact of extreme events on growth and wood properties. In this study, we have evaluated 81 Norway spruce provenances, tested in three provenance trials established in the Romanian Carpathians in 1972. The response to drought of the Norway spruce provenances has been examined using the following tree resilience indices: resistance, recovery, resilience, and relative resilience. The relationship between climate and growth, the correlations between wood traits, and the coordinates of the origin and tree resilience indices were also analysed. In each provenance trial, there were significant differences between provenances and years regarding wood widths and latewood percentage (LWP). Regarding drought extreme events, the years when they occurred in all three provenance trials were 2000 and 2003. Significant differences between provenances for at least one tree resilience index have been found in all provenance trials, for the year 2000. By using subperiods of 25 years, changes in the relationship between climate and growth have been observed. Several provenances with high radial growth and good resistance and/or recovery have been identified. Provenances that performed better in common garden experiments could be used in assisted migration, even in the proximity of the current natural range.

Keywords: Norway spruce; climate change; drought resilience; drought stress; provenance trials.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation, in the BIOSERV Nucleu Program, within the framework of project PN 19070303 (Revision of the provenance regions for the production and deployment of forest reproductive materials in Romania to increase the adaptability of forest ecosystems to climate change) and “Programul 1—Dezvoltarea sistemului naţional de cercetare—dezvoltare, Subprogram 1.2—Performanţă instituţională—Proiecte de finanţare a excelenţei în CDI”—project “Creșterea capacității și performanței instituționale a INCDS “Marin Drăcea”) în activitatea de CDI—CresPerfInst” (Contract No. 34PFE./30.12.2021).