Environmental gradients as "natural labs" for elucidating adaptation and plasticity of forestry species to different climatic scenarios

ARANA, MV

Conferencia; Adapting Forest ecosystems and wood products to biotic and abiotic stress; 2019

Several reports indicate that the ranges of plants and animals are moving in response to recent changes in climate. As temperatures rise, species´ survival will depend on their phenotypical plasticity, capacity of adaptation and ultimately, their ability of keeping pace with moving climates as the climate?s ultimate persistence. A fundamental question is how trees will cope with these changes, given their long generational times that yield low population turnover. In this talk we will discuss the use of a strategy that combines experiments in an altitudinal gradient in Patagonia with physiological and genomics approaches designed to contribute to this question. We will be focused on the study of the responses to temperature of Nothofagus obliqua and N. pumilio. These are two emblematic native tree species of the Andean-Patagonian region, which constitute examples of extremes of adaptation to altitude, inhabiting non-overlapping thermal niches. We will see the way in small changes in temperature across elevation modify phenology in the early stages of the life cycle of both species, with consequences on fitness. I will also show evidences indicating that influence of the temperature on the performance of the circadian clock, a master regulator of growth and development, contributes to thermal adaptation and plasticity in N. obliqua and N. pumilio across altitude. Finally, we will discuss the way in which these responses may contribute to phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to trees in a context of global climate change.