Hyperspectral Leaf Reflectance Detects Interactive Genetic and Environmental Effects on Tree Phenotypes, Enabling Large-Scale Monitoring and Restoration Planning Under Climate Change.

ABSTRACT: Plants respond to rapid environmental change in ways that depend on both their genetic identity and their phenotypic plasticity, impacting their survival as well as associated ecosystems. However, genetic and environmental effects on phenotype are difficult to quantify across large spatial scales and through time. Leaf hyperspectral reflectance offers a potentially robust approach to map these effects from local to landscape levels. Using a handheld field spectrometer, we analyzed leaf-level hyperspectral reflectance of the foundation tree species Populus fremontii in wild populations and in three 6-year-old experimental common gardens spanning a steep climatic gradient. First, we show that genetic variation among populations and among clonal genotypes is detectable with leaf spectra, usin

SUBMITTER: Corbin JPM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11788971 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature