Photochemical efficiency of photosystem II in rapidly dehydrating leaves of 11 temperate and tropical tree species differing in their tolerance to drought

Les diminutions d'efficience photochimique du PS II en réponse à une déshydratation rapide et sévère des feuilles ont été comparées sur 11 espèces d'arbres connues pour présenter des degrés variables de tolérance à la sécheresse. Des semis de Quercus robur, Q. petraea, Q. pubescens, Q. rubra, Q. cerris, Q. ilex, Dalbergia sissoo, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Acacia holosericea, Azadirachta indica et Populus candicans ont été élevés en serre. Cinquante à soixante disques foliaires ont été prélevés sur des plants. Ils ont transpiré librement à l'obscurité pendant des temps variables pouvant aller jusqu'à 6 h. Leur degré de déshydratation a été estimé par leur teneur en eau relative et leurs cinétiques d'induction de fluorescence ont été enregistrées. Toutes les espèces ont présenté une remarquable stabilité de la fluorescence de base et de la fluorescence maximale, ainsi que de l'efficience photochimique du photosystème II. Les premiers signes de dysfonctionnement observés ont consisté en une baisse de l'efficience photochimique qui a débuté à des déficits de teneur en eau relative de l'ordre de 0,23 à 0,40 suivant l'espèc

Contribution of vegetation (trees and ground vegetation) on the methane budget of a temperate forest

Methane (CH4) is one the most important greenhouse gas and is responsible for approximatively 20% of the global warming (IPCC, 2013). Soils and mainly upland forest soils where aerobic environment prevails, are one of the main global sink of methane (IPCC 2013). At the soil-atmosphere interface, the net methane efflux consists in a net balance between the production of CH4 by methanogenic bacteria mainly in deep anaerobic soil layers and the consumption by methanotrophic bacteria in the aerobic soil horizons of the methane produced in the soil or diffusing from the atmosphere into the soil. In upland forest, some episodic temporary waterlogging may exist, especially in managed forest where trafficked work on silty or clayey soils compacts the soil and then, enhanced the waterlogging (Startsev and McNabb, 2000). But the methane budget of ecosystem may be improved when considering not only soil but also plant compartments. Plants can impact the CH4 production and consumption by different pathways (enhance production, consumption, and/or gases transport). When the soil is submitted to compaction and then, to an increase of waterlogging, the ground vegetation is modified in favor of vegetation with aerenchymous tissues (Goutal-Pousse et al, 2012) and the soil can shift from a methane sink to an episodic methane source (Epron et al 2016). In the present study, our objectives were to determine (i) if vegetation emits CH4, (ii) if abiotic factors drive the seasonal CH4 flux pattern by plants (ground vegetation and trees) and (iii) to quantify the impact of the emissions by vegetation (tree and ground vegetation) on the methane budget of a forest submitted to compaction. We hypothesized that in an upland forest, vegetation (ground vegetation and tree stems) by enhancing the CH4 emission or by producing CH4 may reduce the methane sink of the forest ecosystem. This study was carried out in a 6-ha experimental site set up in 2007 in the state-owned forest of "les Hauts Bois" (north-eastern France) to assess the long-term impact of a loaded forwarder. To study this effect, the soil was compacted before afforestation. We recorded CH4 fluxes during 7 months at a 3-hour frequency using automated chambers on stem tree, bare soil and soil with vegetation, connected to a laser-based gas analyser in a forest site where the ground-vegetation consists mainly in two aerenchymous plants (glyceria striata and juncus sp) and trees in planted Quercus petraea. In contradiction with our hypothesis and previous studies, in this studied site, the presence of ground vegetation increases the methane forest ecosystem uptake compared to the bare soil but with an impact varying during the season. In addition, the increase in the methane uptake depended on the species, from 80 % to 120%. Methane emission by tree stem were low compared to methane uptake by soil (-3.6 ± 0.4 kg ha-1 and 0.90 ± 0.31 g ha-1 respectively) but methane emission by stem was enhanced when methane was produced into the soil

Diurnal variations in the thickness of the inner bark of tree trunk in relation to xylem water potential and phloem turgor

The inner bark plays important roles in tree stems, including radial exchange of water with the xylem and translocation of carbohydrates. Both processes affect the water content and the thickness of the inner bark on a diurnal basis. For the first time, we simultaneously measured the diurnal variations in the inner bark thickness of hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) by using point dendrometers and those of local xylem potential by using stem psychrometers located next to the dendrometers to determine how these variations were related to each other, to phloem turgor and carbohydrate transport. We also estimated the axial hydrostatic pressure gradient by measuring the osmolality of the sap extracted from the inner bark. The inner bark shrunk during the day and swelled during the night with an amplitude related to day-to-day and seasonal variations in climate. The relationship between changes in xylem water potential and inner bark thickness exhibited a hysteresis loop during the day with a median lag of 2 h. A phloem turgor-related signal can be retrieved from the diurnal variations in the inner bark thickness, which was higher at the upper than at the lower position along the trunk. However, a downward hydrostatic pressure gradient was only observed at dawn, suggesting diurnal variations in the phloem sap flow velocity

Sources of carbon supporting the fast growth of developing immature moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) culms: inference from carbon isotopes and anatomy

Phyllostachys edulis is a spectacularly fast-growing species that completes its height growth within 2 months after the shoot emerges without producing leaves (fast-growing period, FGP). This phase was considered heterotrophic, with the carbon necessary for the growth being transferred from the mature culms via the rhizomes, although previous studies observed key enzymes and anatomical features related to C₄-carbon fixation in developing culms. We tested whether C₄-photosynthesis or dark-CO₂ fixation through anaplerotic reactions significantly contributes to the FGP, resulting in differences in the natural abundance of δ¹³C in bulk organic matter and organic compounds. Further, pulse-¹³CO₂-labelling was performed on developing culms, either from the surface or from the internal hollow, to ascertain whether significant CO2 fixation occurs in developing culms. δ¹³C of young shoots and developing culms were higher (−26.3 to −26.9 ‰) compared to all organs of mature bamboos (−28.4 to −30.1 ‰). Developing culms contained chlorophylls, most observed in the skin tissues. After pulse-¹³CO₂-labelling, the polar fraction extracted from the skin tissues was slightly enriched in ¹³C, and only a weak ¹³C enrichment was observed in inner tissues. Main carbon source sustaining the FGP was not assimilated by the developing culm, while a limited anaplerotic fixation of respired CO₂ cannot be excluded and is more likely than C₄-photosynthetic carbon fixation

Effects of experimental warming on Carbon sink function of a temperate pristine mire : The project PEATWARM

International audienceWithin the PEATWARM project, we use Sphagnum peatlands as a model to analyse their vulnerability to climate change using an experimental system (ITEX) that simulates in situ an increase in average temperature. We aim to determine the effects of temperature increase on the vegetation, the balance of above- and belowground gas fluxes (CO2 and CH4), the microbial diversity and activity in Sphagnum mosses and in peat, and the dynamics of labile and recalcitrant organic matter of peat. The ultimate objective is the creation of a biogeochemical model of C coupled with N and S cycles that includes interactions between these key compartments. Keywords: Global warming, C, N, S cycles, ITEX manipulations, ecosystem structure and function, biogeochemical model of C