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The Influence of the Environment during Sexual Reproduction on Adaptations of Conifers along Latitudinal and Altitudinal Gradients

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Book cover Trends in European Forest Tree Physiology Research

Part of the book series: Tree Physiology ((TREE,volume 2))

Abstract

Climatic adaptation seems to be the most important component in the evolutionary process of boreal forest tree species. Recent evidence has been accumulating that this process may be less clear-cut than earlier assumed. In Picea abies, several independent tests have shown that the climate and weather conditions during sexual reproduction influence the adaptive properties of the progenies. The phenomenon is expressed in Norway spruce seed orchards established by moving parent trees, propagated as grafts, from north to south, from high to low elevation, or from outdoor to indoor greenhouse conditions. The progenies exhibit a changed phenology and a delayed development of frost hardiness in the autumn compared to their siblings reproduced in a colder environment. Observations on seedlings from seeds harvested in northern stands of provenances transferred from the south to the north, show that they have tuned their photoperiodic responses towards that the of the local provenances. Results with other conifer species indicate that they express similar effects. A possible explanation for the phenomenon is the existence of a regulatory mechanism, sensing the changes in temperature and/or photoperiod at some stages during the reproductive process in the female flower, and then modifying the expression of genes controlling adaptive traits in the progeny. Regardless of the type of mechanisms involved, these observations have changed our understanding of ecotype formation in Norway spruce, and given us some ideas why this species express strong clinal variation in combination with a large within population variation for the same adaptive traits. The maternal influence will often alter the phenotypic performance of the progenies in the ssame direction as natural selection. It may be one of the reasons why some conifer species under conditions seem so highly adaptable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Forest Research Institute, Høgskoleveien 12, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Øystein Johnsen & Tore Skrøppa

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  1. Øystein Johnsen
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  2. Tore Skrøppa
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Division, Department of Biology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Satu Huttunen

  2. Thule Institute, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Hannele Heikkilä

  3. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Zürich, Switzerland

    Jürg Bucher

  4. Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden

    Björn Sundberg

  5. Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Paul Jarvis

  6. Technical University of Münich, Münich, Germany

    Rainer Matyssek

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Johnsen, Ø., Skrøppa, T. (2001). The Influence of the Environment during Sexual Reproduction on Adaptations of Conifers along Latitudinal and Altitudinal Gradients. In: Huttunen, S., Heikkilä, H., Bucher, J., Sundberg, B., Jarvis, P., Matyssek, R. (eds) Trends in European Forest Tree Physiology Research. Tree Physiology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9803-3_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9803-3_14

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