Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change

Sustainable woody biofeedstock production systems require a reliable supply of woody biomass that could be affected by future climate change. However, there is limited understanding of the climatic sensitivity of short rotation woody crops, such as hybrid aspens. The general objective of this study...

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Main Author: Sophan Chhin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2016-01-01
Series:Geosciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/6/1/7
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author Sophan Chhin
author_facet Sophan Chhin
author_sort Sophan Chhin
collection DOAJ
description Sustainable woody biofeedstock production systems require a reliable supply of woody biomass that could be affected by future climate change. However, there is limited understanding of the climatic sensitivity of short rotation woody crops, such as hybrid aspens. The general objective of this study is to identify climatically resilient hybrid aspen clones for woody biomass feedstock development. Specifically, tree-ring analysis methods (dendrochronology) were used to quantify the influence of climate on stem growth rates of hybrid aspens by measuring year-to-year changes in tree-ring width from different cultivars of hybrid aspen and relating annual growth patterns with past instrumental climate records (i.e., temperature and moisture index). Tree-ring analysis was conducted on a full-sib progeny plantation of different cultivars of hybrid aspens (Populus × smithii derived from different geographical variants of aspen parents: trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata) located on Michigan State University property in the Sandhill Research Area (42.7°N latitude; 84.5°W longitude). Overall, the hybrid aspen families examined in this study were more sensitive to moisture related stressors compared to a weaker or no response to temperature stressors. By the end of the 21st century (2071–2100), 11 out of the 18 hybrid aspen families will be vulnerable to future changes in moisture stress, while the remaining families were screened to be resilient to future changes in moisture stress.
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spelling doaj.art-fafbdf88a06844a99c85b6bc0dce32a72022-12-21T19:19:47ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632016-01-0161710.3390/geosciences6010007geosciences6010007Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate ChangeSophan Chhin0Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, 126 Natural Resources Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1222, USASustainable woody biofeedstock production systems require a reliable supply of woody biomass that could be affected by future climate change. However, there is limited understanding of the climatic sensitivity of short rotation woody crops, such as hybrid aspens. The general objective of this study is to identify climatically resilient hybrid aspen clones for woody biomass feedstock development. Specifically, tree-ring analysis methods (dendrochronology) were used to quantify the influence of climate on stem growth rates of hybrid aspens by measuring year-to-year changes in tree-ring width from different cultivars of hybrid aspen and relating annual growth patterns with past instrumental climate records (i.e., temperature and moisture index). Tree-ring analysis was conducted on a full-sib progeny plantation of different cultivars of hybrid aspens (Populus × smithii derived from different geographical variants of aspen parents: trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata) located on Michigan State University property in the Sandhill Research Area (42.7°N latitude; 84.5°W longitude). Overall, the hybrid aspen families examined in this study were more sensitive to moisture related stressors compared to a weaker or no response to temperature stressors. By the end of the 21st century (2071–2100), 11 out of the 18 hybrid aspen families will be vulnerable to future changes in moisture stress, while the remaining families were screened to be resilient to future changes in moisture stress.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/6/1/7bioenergybiofuelsclimate changedendrochronologydrought sensitivityecophysiologyhybrid aspentree rings
spellingShingle Sophan Chhin
Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change
Geosciences
bioenergy
biofuels
climate change
dendrochronology
drought sensitivity
ecophysiology
hybrid aspen
tree rings
title Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change
title_full Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change
title_fullStr Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change
title_full_unstemmed Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change
title_short Screening the Resilience of Short-Rotation Woody Crops to Climate Change
title_sort screening the resilience of short rotation woody crops to climate change
topic bioenergy
biofuels
climate change
dendrochronology
drought sensitivity
ecophysiology
hybrid aspen
tree rings
url http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/6/1/7
work_keys_str_mv AT sophanchhin screeningtheresilienceofshortrotationwoodycropstoclimatechange