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Tree Physiology Advance Access originally published online on December 5, 2008
Tree Physiology 2009 29(2):191-198; doi:10.1093/treephys/tpn015
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Lack of genetic variation in tree ring {delta}13C suggests a uniform, stomatally-driven response to drought stress across Pinus radiata genotypes

Douglas M. Rowell1,2, Peter K. Ades1, Michael Tausz1, Stefan K. Arndt1 and Mark A. Adams3

1 Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010, Australia
2 Corresponding author (rowelldm{at}unimelb.edu.au)
3 Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia


  Abstract

We assessed the variation in {delta}13C signatures of Pinus radiata D. Don stemwood taken from three genetic trials in southern Australia. We sought to determine the potential of using {delta}13C signatures as selection criteria for drought tolerance. Increment cores were taken from P. radiata and were used to determine the basal area increment and the {delta}13C signature of extracted cellulose. Both growth increment and cellulose {delta}13C were affected by water availability. Growth increment and {delta}13C were negatively correlated suggesting that growth was water-limited. While there was significant genetic variation in growth, there was no significant genetic variation in cellulose {delta}13C of tree rings. This suggests that different genotypes of P. radiata display significant differences in growth and yet respond similarly to drought stress. The {delta}13C response to drought stress was more due to changes in stomatal conductance than to the variation in photosynthetic capacity, and this may explain the lack of genetic variation in {delta}13C. The lack of genetic variation in cellulose {delta}13C of tree rings precludes its use as a selection criterion for drought tolerance among P. radiata genotypes.

Keywords: carbon isotope discrimination, dendroclimatology, increment core

Received July 28, 2008; Accepted September 2, 2008


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