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Physiological differences of five H olm oak ( Q uercus ilex L .) ecotypes growing under common growth conditions were related to native local climate
Author(s) -
Varone Laura,
Vitale Marcello,
Catoni Rosangela,
Gratani Loretta
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/1442-1984.12103
Subject(s) - ecotype , biology , climate change , botany , ecology
An increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic conditions is expected for the M editerranean area as a response to climate change. As a consequence, the ability of M editerranean plant species to adapt to complex and stressful environmental conditions plays an important role in driving their future distribution. The adaption of plant species may be expressed by ecotypes already adapted to local climate. Our goal was to analyse the seasonal physiological behaviour of five Q uercus ilex ecotypes coming from different Italian geographical areas (from the north to the south) in order to test if ecotypes maintained their physiological traits when grown in the same environmental conditions. Measurements of gas exchange, biochemistry and chlorophyll fluorescence carried out during winter, spring and summer underlined that the response of the considered ecotypes reflected the climate of the original provenances, particularly under suboptimal conditions. The ecotypes from the northernmost and the southernmost limits were the most sensitive to high and low temperatures, respectively. Our results can be used to advance hypotheses about the respone of Q . ilex to climate change.