Biological Flora of the British Isles: Sorbus torminalis

1.This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz (Wild Service-tree) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characters, herbivores and disease, history, and conservation.2.Sorbus torminalis is an uncommon, mostly small tree (but can reach 33 m) native to lowland England and Wales, and temperate and Mediterranean regions of mainland Europe. It is the most shade-tolerant member of the genus in the British Isles and as a result it is more closely associated with woodland than any other British species. Like other British Sorbus species, however, it grows best where competition for space and sunlight is limited. Seedlings are shade tolerant but adults are only moderately so. This, combined with its low competitive ability, restricts the best growth to open areas. In shade, saplings and young adults form a sapling bank, showing reproduction and extensive growth only when released. Sorbus torminalis tolerates a wide range of soil reaction (pH 3.5-8.0) but grows best on calcareous clays and thin soils over limestone.3.Sorbus torminalis is a sexual, diploid, non-apomictic species that has hybridised with a number of other Sorbus species to form microspecies. The hermaphrodite flowers are primarily insect pollinated. Seed production is reliable only in warm years, especially at the edge of its range, although even then seed viability is low. The fruits are primarily dispersed by carnivorous mammals. Seeds display embryo dormancy but most will germinate the first spring after falling.4.This tree is very tolerant of short droughts but only moderately tolerant of frost, hence its southerly and lowland distribution. It faces no particular individual threats although the small size of most populations makes it susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation, particularly through the loss of open coppiced areas. As a consequence it appears to be declining throughout Britain and Europe despite its wide range of historical uses and the high value of its timber. The extent to which these losses will be offset by increases due to climate change is unknown.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

More than a century of human impact on gene flows of French mountain pines rnd fir trees

À la fin du XIXe siècle, pour reconstituer les forêts alors en ruine, de considérables transferts de graines (donc de gènes) ont eu lieu à partir de sécheries ou d'achats à l'étranger. Les archives d'une sécherie des Pyrénées-Orientales ayant, à cette époque, traité le Pin à crochets de Cerdagne et le Sapin de l'Aude montrent que ces flux ont été tels qu'ils pourraient déformer la diversité génétique des populations des sites d'accueil. Elles montrent surtout que nombre de Sapins actuellement dans le Massif central ou en Normandie sont d'origine audoise, ce qui conforte les analyses de variabilité génétique faites par ailleurs. De même, une très forte proportion des Pins à crochets présents dans les Alpes du Sud est de provenance pyrénéo-orientale

Real-time patterns of pollen flow in the wildservice tree, Sorbus torminalis (rosaceae) III. Mating patterns and the ecological maternal neighborhood.

International audienceUnderstanding the role of mother plants as pollen recipients in shaping mating patterns is essential for understanding the evolution of populations and in particular to predict the consequence of habitat fragmentation. Here, we investigated variation in mating patterns due to maternal phenotypic traits, phenological variance, and landscape features in Sorbus torminalis, a hermaphroditic, insect‐pollinated and low‐density, European temperate forest tree. The diversity and composition of pollen clouds received by maternal trees in S. torminalis were mainly determined by their conspecific neighborhood: isolated individuals sample more diversity through more even paternal contributions, low relatedness among paternal genes, and high rates of long‐distance pollen dispersal within their progenies. Maternal phenotypic traits related to pollinator attractiveness also had an effect, but only when competition was strong: in this case, larger mother trees with more flowers sampled more diversity. The floral architecture of S. torminalis, with multiple‐seeded fruit, strongly shaped mating patterns, with higher levels of correlated paternity among seeds belonging to the same fruit (30% full sibs) than among seeds belonging to different fruits (14% full sibs). Finally, flowering phenology affected the distribution of diversity among maternal pollen clouds, but the earliest and latest mother trees did not receive less diversity of pollen than the others

Plantações e mudanças climáticas em florestas temperadas : problemas e desafios

Présenté devant un groupe coopératif d'industriels forestiers et d'universitaires brésiliens, à l'invitation du CIRAD et de l'Ambassade de France au Brésil, l'exposé donne un point de vue européen sur les forêts et le changement climatique, le situant en particulier vis-à-vis de la diversité des forêts françaises à objectif de production et de leurs contrastes avec les sylviculture de plantation brésiliennes. La communication cherche, au-delà des différences de contexte biogéographique, social et industriel, à montrer l'importance de l'itinéraire technique plantation dans la mise en œuvre des différentes options de changement de gestion

Déterminants et conséquences de la qualité génétique des graines et semis lors de la phase initiale de régénération naturelle des peuplements forestiers

National audienc