Abstract: Key message: Pterocarpus officinalisis able to (1) improve its acclimation capacity if soil salinity increases slowly and (2) benefit from afreshwater episode.
Abstract: One likely effect of global change is an increase of the amplitude of salt variations in the soil of brackish coastal wetland forests. In the Antilles, such forests are dominated by the species Pterocarpus officinalis. The study aimed to determine the effect of 3 salinity levels (freshwater, moderate, and hypersalinity—i.e., 0, 10, and 30 ‰, respectively) and 3 patterns of salinity variation (fast or slow salinity increase, fluctuating salinity) on the growth and ecophysiology of P. officinalis seedlings. P. officinalis proved tolerant to 10 ‰ salinity, even if at this salt concentration the water constraint altered the plant’s water status and reduced stomatal conductance. No impact of the pattern of salinity variation was observed at 10 ‰. Seedlings were strongly affected by hypersalinity, but were able to acclimatize efficiently and to improve their performances (higher survival, total biomass, and photosynthesis) when salinity increased slowly. Young P. officinalis were also able to take advantage of a freshwater episode on the longer term, certainly through leaf desalination associated with enhanced photosynthesis and water use efficiency. Higher soil salinity and more intense dry seasons in the context of climate change could affect the stand-level regeneration potential of P. officinalis seedlings. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Abstract: Key message: Sapwood area and the radial growth rate of the trunk follow the same pattern at breast height, with an initial increase and subsequent constant value, resulting from the increasing growth allocation toward the crown rather than tree decline. Heartwood area and heartwood volume in the trunk increase more rapidly after this shift occurs. Abstract: Sapwood (SW) and heartwood (HW) are two functionally distinct classifications of wood in perennial stems for which quantities can vary greatly in tropical trees. Numerous positive correlations have been found between the radial growth rate (RGR) and SW quantity; however, variations in the SW/HW quantities have not been studied in light of the ontogenetic variation of RGR. Wood core sampling, intensive measurements of tree structure (number of branches, stem volumes), and radial growth monitoring were performed on an abundant and highly exploited tree species in French Guiana (Dicorynia guianensis) to investigate the relationship between RGR, SW/HW quantity, tree structure, and their variations on the course of a tree’s ontogeny. SW area and RGR followed the same pattern of variation throughout tree development, both increasing first and reaching a steady state after 50 cm DBH (diameter at breast height). After this value, we observed a strong increase in both the HW area and HW volume increment, concomitant with a more rapid increase in crown volume. The stabilization of RGR for trees with DBH > 50 cm was related not to a tree’s decline but rather to an increasing wood allocation to the crown, confirming that RGR at breast height is a poor indicator of whole-tree growth for bigger individuals. We also confirmed that HW formation is an ontogenetic process managing SW quantity that is continuously and increasingly produced within the crown as the tree grows. This study highlights the effect of growth-mediated ontogenetic changes on the localization of water and carbohydrate storage within a tree, resulting from SW and HW dynamics throughout tree ontogeny. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Abstract: Tree steins shrink in diameter during the day and swell during the night in response to changes in water tension in the xylem. Stein shrinkage can easily be measured in a nondestructive way, to derive continuous information about tree water status. The relationship between the strain and the change in water tension can be evaluated by empirical calibrations, or can be related to the structure of the plant. A mechanical analysis was performed to make this relationship explicit. The stem is modeled as a cylinder made of multiple layers of tissues, including heartwood, sapwood, and inner and outer bark. The effect of changes in water tension on the apparent strain at the surface of a tissue is quantified as a function of parameters defining stem anatomy and the mechanical properties of the tissues. Various possible applications in the context of tree physiology are suggested.

Abstract: Variability of leaf traits related to photosynthesis was assessed in seedlings from 14 tree species growing in the tropical rain forest of French Guiana. Leaf photosynthetic capacity (maximum rate of carboxylation and maximum rate of electron transport) was estimated by fitting a biochemical model of photosynthesis to response curves of net CO2 assimilation rate versus intercellular CO2 mole fraction. Leaf morphology described by leaf mass per unit leaf area (LMA), density and thickness, as well as area- and mass-based nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) concentrations, were recorded on the same leaves. Large interspecific variability was detected in photosynthetic capacity as well as in leaf structure and leaf N and C concentrations. No correlation was found between leaf thickness and density. The correlations between area- and mass-based leaf N concentration and photosynthetic capacity were poor. Conversely, the species differed greatly in relative N allocation to carboxylation and bioenergetics. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that, of the recorded traits, only the computed fraction of total leaf N invested in photosynthesis was tightly correlated to photosynthetic capacity. We also used PCA to test to what extent species with similar shade tolerances displayed converging leaf traits related to photosynthesis. No clear-cut ranking could be detected among the shade-tolerant groups, as confirmed by a one-way ANOVA. We conclude that the large interspecific diversity in photosynthetic capacity was mostly explained by differences in the relative allocation of N to photosynthesis and not by leaf N concentration, and that leaf traits related to photosynthetic capacity did not discriminate shade-tolerance ranking of these tropical tree species.

Abstract: In beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), the number of leaf primordia preformed in the buds determines the length and the type (long versus short) of annual growth units, and thus, branch growth and architecture. We analyzed the correlation between the number of leaf primordia and the hydraulic conductance of the vascular system connected to the buds. Terminal buds of short growth units and axillary buds of long growth units on lower branches of mature trees were examined. Buds with less than four and more than five leaf primordia formed short and long growth units, respectively. Irrespective of the type of growth unit the bud was formed on, the occurrence of a large number of leaf primordia was associated with high xylem hydraulic conductance. Xylem conductance was correlated to the area of the outermost annual ring. These results suggest that organogenesis and primary growth in buds correlates with secondary growth of the growth units and thus with their hydraulic architecture. Possible causal relationships between the variables are discussed.