© 2007 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Variation in cold hardiness and carbohydrate concentration from dormancy induction to bud burst among provenances of three
European oak species
Xavier Morin (1,2), Thierry Améglio (3), Rein Ahas (4), Cathy Kurz-Besson (5), Vojtech Lanta (6), François Lebourgeois (7), Franco Miglietta (8) and Isabelle Chuine (1)
1. Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Équipe BIOFLUX, CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France / 2. Corresponding author (xavier.morin@cefe.cnrs.fr) / 3. UMR PIAF (INRA - Université Blaise Pascal), Site INRA de Crouelle, 234 avenue du Brézet, 63100 Clermont-Ferrand cedex 2, France
/ 4. Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, Tartu 51014, Estonia / 5. Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Dept. Botânica e Engenharia Biológica, Tapada da Ajuda, 1394-017 Lisboa, Portugal / 6. Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic / 7. UMR LERFOB (INRA-ENGREF), Équipe Écologie Forestière, ENGREF - Centre de Nancy, 14 rue Girardet, CS 14216, 54042 Nancy Cedex,
France / 8. IBIMET (Institute of Biometeorology - CNR), Via Caproni, 8, 50145 Firenze, Italy / Received June 2, 2006; accepted November 7, 2006; published online March 1, 2007
Summary
Although cold hardiness is known to be a major determinant of tree species distribution, its dynamics and the factors that
regulate it remain poorly understood. Variation in cold hardiness and carbohydrate concentration, from dormancy induction
until bud burst, were investigated in populations of two deciduous (Quercus robur L. and Quercus pubescens Willd.) and one evergreen (Quercus ilex L.) European oak. Mean cold hardiness values in January were –56, –45 and –27 °C for Q. robur, Q. pubescens and Q. ilex, respectively. Soluble carbohydrate concentrations were closely related to instantaneous cold hardiness, estimated by the
electrolyte leakage method, whereas total carbohydrate concentration was related to maximum cold hardiness. Both cold hardiness
and carbohydrate concentration showed a close linear relationship with temperatures at the location of the sampled population.
Our results show that temporal variation in both the inter- and intraspecific cold hardiness in European oaks can be related
to variations in the concentrations of soluble carbohydrates and that these relationships appear to be driven by temperature.
Keywords:
adult individuals, climate, distribution, frost damage, natural populations, phenology, Quercus robur, Quercus pubescens, Quercus ilex.
