The effects of metabolic and functional traits on bud opening: Comparing warming and defoliation in conifers.

ABSTRACT: Developing buds are crucial carbon sinks that require nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) for growth. However, the trade-off between carbon production in the older internodes and the demand in the growing internodes for bud opening remains unknown. Here, we determined how NSCs and functional traits influence bud phenology in the saplings of 2 conifer species. To manipulate both source and sink, saplings of balsam fir (Abies balsamea, L. Mill) and black spruce (Picea mariana B.S.P. (Mill.) were exposed to 2 simultaneous treatments: warming (+2 °C) and defoliation. Balsam fir, the species with earlier phenology, exhibited greater shoot volume and specific leaf area, promoting water and carbon acquisition for primary growth. Heating led to an earlier phenology but did not affect the leaf trait

SUBMITTER: Deslauriers A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12526955 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature