Linking Leaf Gas Exchange to Non-Structural Carbohydrate Allocation to Understand the Early Establishment of Young <i>Quercus</i> and <i>Fraxinus</i> Species.

ABSTRACT: Forest restoration programs are increasingly adopted to mitigate climate change-driven ecosystem degradation, yet the plant functional strategies underpinning successful tree establishment are not fully understood. We investigated the effect of vapour pressure deficit and soil conditions on the interplay between leaf gas exchange and carbon metabolism in three-year-old saplings of different species characterised by distinct functional strategies, as well as non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) partitioning at plant desiccation. We performed two complementary experiments to evaluate interspecific functional differences between Fraxinus ornus L., Quercus cerris L., and Quercus pubescens Willd. in a Mediterranean restored woodland and to compare them with fully irrigated nur

SUBMITTER: Spennati E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12899296 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature