Annual aboveground carbon uptake enhancements from assisted gene flow in boreal black spruce forests are not long-lasting.

ABSTRACT: Assisted gene flow between populations has been proposed as an adaptive forest management strategy that could contribute to the sequestration of carbon. Here we provide an assessment of the mitigation potential of assisted gene flow in 46 populations of the widespread boreal conifer Picea mariana, grown in two 42-year-old common garden experiments and established in contrasting Canadian boreal regions. We use a dendroecological approach taking into account phylogeographic structure to retrospectively analyse population phenotypic variability in annual aboveground net primary productivity (NPP). We compare population NPP phenotypes to detect signals of adaptive variation and/or the presence of phenotypic clines across tree lifespans, and assess genotype-by-environment interactions by evalua

SUBMITTER: Girardin MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7895975 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature