@article{10272/27177,
year = {2025},
month = {9},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10272/27177},
abstract = {The predicted increase in drought frequency with climate change and its impact on boreal tree species are growing concerns. In this study, we assessed how three boreal tree species in western Quebec used stem water storage during a three-week drought. We estimated stem water deficit from radial variations using point dendrometers installed on 50 mature trees (10 trembling aspen, 20 jack pine, and 20 black spruce) located on clay (all three species) and sandy sites (only conifers). Air temperature/humidity and soil moisture measurements were used to model their effect on stem water storage. Our results reveal contrasted stem water storage use across species during drought. Before the drought, jack pine maintained higher relative stem water storage at night than both black spruce and trembling aspen (all paired p < 0.05) but became more water-depleted during the drought (all p < 0.1). Similarly, black spruce showed the same pattern as jack pine when compared to trembling aspen, both before and during the drought (p < 0.05). Acclimation of jack pine and black spruce to moderately dry conditions on sandy soils was evident, as relative tree water deficit remained low and stable across 20%–60% relative soil extractable water, but it increased sharply below 20%. Our research highlights that boreal trees may substantially mediate drought stress using water storage pools. Our findings emphasize the need to consider stem water storage when determining which boreal tree species will be more affected by increasingly frequent droughts.},
organization = {This research and experimental design would not have been possible without the funding of MRC Abitibi and MRC Abitibi-Ouest. The research was also supported by the Canadian Research Chair in dendroecology and dendroclimatology (CRC-2021-00368), the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF; contract No. 142332177-D), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant No. RGPIN-2021-03553 and Alliance Grants No. ALLRP 557148-20 and ALLRP 597420-24, obtained in partnership with the MRNF, Resolute Forest Products and MRC Abitibi-Ouest), and the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Nature et technologies (Research Support for New Academics; grant No. 328874).},
publisher = {MDPI},
title = {Stem Water Storage Dynamics of Three Boreal Tree Species Under Short-Term Drought},
doi = {10.3390/f16091448},
author = {Thivierge-Lampron, Jeanny and Montoro Girona, Miguel and Pappas, Christoforos and Duchesne, Louis and Chavardès, Raphaël D. and Balducci, Lorena and Lemay, Marc-André and Peters, Richard L. and Gennaretti, Fabio},
}