Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies
Araucaria araucana is a dioecious evergreen conifer endemic from temperate forests of south Argentina and Chile. It is a long-lived species (maximum age > 1000 years), and it presents a high potential for tree-ring based climate reconstructions. However, the species’ dioecious habit can result in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311845 |
| _version_ | 1818845989780324352 |
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| author | Martín A. Hadad Fidel A. Roig Julieta G. Arco Molina Andrew Hacket-Pain |
| author_facet | Martín A. Hadad Fidel A. Roig Julieta G. Arco Molina Andrew Hacket-Pain |
| author_sort | Martín A. Hadad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Araucaria araucana is a dioecious evergreen conifer endemic from temperate forests of south Argentina and Chile. It is a long-lived species (maximum age > 1000 years), and it presents a high potential for tree-ring based climate reconstructions. However, the species’ dioecious habit can result in distinct sex-specific growth patterns, which introduce novel challenges in the interpretation of tree-ring chronology variations. We used a network of 10 tree-ring chronologies from northwest Patagonia (Argentina) to analyze sex-specific growth patterns in A. araucana and, for the first time, demonstrate that they result from the contrasting responses of ring width index of male (RWImale) and female (RWIfemale) trees to regional mast events (years with high seed production). During the year of seed maturation and seed dispersal, the growth of females was strongly and significantly reduced, while a growth response of similar magnitude was found in male trees in the previous year, corresponding to the year of pollination. We interpret these growth responses as representing contrasting allocation shifts between growth and reproduction in males and females. The sex-specific growth responses associated with mast events resulted in a particularly strong and distinct signal in a RWImale–RWIfemale chronology. Male and female tree-ring chronologies shared a strong common signal, and responded similarly (but not exactly) to broad-scale climatic conditions in the growing season. Our results indicate that sex-specific tree-ring chronologies can be used to isolate mast events in A. araucana chronologies, providing an opportunity to develop unique multi-century reconstructions of large mast events, and improve dendroclimatic calibration for this species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T05:38:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-917572c215ae486490f8edae9d897dab |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T05:38:25Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-917572c215ae486490f8edae9d897dab2022-12-21T20:34:04ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2021-03-01122107245Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologiesMartín A. Hadad0Fidel A. Roig1Julieta G. Arco Molina2Andrew Hacket-Pain3Laboratorio de Dendrocronología de Zonas Áridas CIGEOBIO (CONICET-UNSJ), Gabinete de Geología Ambiental (INGEO-UNSJ), San Juan, Argentina; Corresponding author.Laboratorio de Dendrocronología e Historia Ambiental, IANIGLA-CCT CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina; Hémera Centro de Observación de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Huechuraba, Santiago, ChileLaboratorio de Dendrocronología e Historia Ambiental, IANIGLA-CCT CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, ArgentinaDepartment of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L697ZT, UKAraucaria araucana is a dioecious evergreen conifer endemic from temperate forests of south Argentina and Chile. It is a long-lived species (maximum age > 1000 years), and it presents a high potential for tree-ring based climate reconstructions. However, the species’ dioecious habit can result in distinct sex-specific growth patterns, which introduce novel challenges in the interpretation of tree-ring chronology variations. We used a network of 10 tree-ring chronologies from northwest Patagonia (Argentina) to analyze sex-specific growth patterns in A. araucana and, for the first time, demonstrate that they result from the contrasting responses of ring width index of male (RWImale) and female (RWIfemale) trees to regional mast events (years with high seed production). During the year of seed maturation and seed dispersal, the growth of females was strongly and significantly reduced, while a growth response of similar magnitude was found in male trees in the previous year, corresponding to the year of pollination. We interpret these growth responses as representing contrasting allocation shifts between growth and reproduction in males and females. The sex-specific growth responses associated with mast events resulted in a particularly strong and distinct signal in a RWImale–RWIfemale chronology. Male and female tree-ring chronologies shared a strong common signal, and responded similarly (but not exactly) to broad-scale climatic conditions in the growing season. Our results indicate that sex-specific tree-ring chronologies can be used to isolate mast events in A. araucana chronologies, providing an opportunity to develop unique multi-century reconstructions of large mast events, and improve dendroclimatic calibration for this species.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311845Carbon allocationDendroecologyTrade-offDendroclimatologyPatagonia |
| spellingShingle | Martín A. Hadad Fidel A. Roig Julieta G. Arco Molina Andrew Hacket-Pain Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies Ecological Indicators Carbon allocation Dendroecology Trade-off Dendroclimatology Patagonia |
| title | Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies |
| title_full | Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies |
| title_fullStr | Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies |
| title_short | Growth of male and female Araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events, creating sex-specific patterns in their tree-ring chronologies |
| title_sort | growth of male and female araucaria araucana trees respond differently to regional mast events creating sex specific patterns in their tree ring chronologies |
| topic | Carbon allocation Dendroecology Trade-off Dendroclimatology Patagonia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311845 |
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