2024 journal article
Elevated CO<sub>2</sub> concentration alleviates the negative effect of vapour pressure deficit and soil drought on juvenile poplar growth
CENTRAL EUROPEAN FORESTRY JOURNAL, 70(2), 51–61.
author keywords: growth chamber experiment; vapour pressure deficit; stomatal control; isohydric; short rotation wood coppice
sciendo.com (publisher PDF)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
13. Climate Action
(OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: July 1, 2024
Abstract The growth performance of short-rotation woody coppice (SRWC) is strongly influenced by successful establishment in the initial months after planting. Future climates, expected to be warmer due to elevated atmospheric CO 2 (eCO 2 ), may bring about more frequent soil droughts alongside increased vapour pressure deficit (eVPD). Hence, this growth chamber experiment aimed to explore the interactive effects of eVPD, eCO 2 , and soil drought on growth and physiology traits of juvenile hybrid poplars under warmer climates. Our findings with juvenile hybrid poplar J-105 revealed that eVPD resulted in reductions in leaf area (–21%), root (–20%) and stem biomass (–9%), as well as in net assimilation (–15%), stomatal conductance (–26%), and transpiration (–13%). However, these decreases were relatively minor compared to the compensating effect of eCO 2 , which generally exerted a stronger influence than eVPD. While soil drought emerged as the primary growth-limiting factor in our study, elevated VPD is not expected to pose a significant additional threat to central European SRWC plantations of juvenile hybrid poplars under future conditions of ongoing climate change.