Differential growth rate, water-use efficiency and climate sensitivity between males and females of Ilex aquifolium in north-western Spain.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Dioecious plant species, i.e. those in which male and female functions are housed in different individuals, are particularly vulnerable to global environmental changes. For long-lived plant species, such as trees, long-term studies are imperative to understand how growth patterns and their sensitivity to climate variability affect the sexes differentially.

Methods

Here, we explore long-term intersexual differences in wood traits, namely radial growth rates and water-use efficiency quantified as stable carbon isotope abundance of wood cellulose, and their climate sensitivity in Ilex aquifolium trees growing in a natural population in north-western Spain.

Key results

We found that sex differences in secondary growth rates were variable over time, wit

SUBMITTER: Sanchez Vilas J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11805936 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature