Evaluation of morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits for assessing drought resistance in eleven tree species

Narayan Bhusal; Minsu Lee; Hojin Lee; Arjun Adhikari; Ah Reum Han; Areum Han; Hyun Seok Kim

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146466

Evaluation of morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits for assessing drought resistance in eleven tree species

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 20:779:146466. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146466. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Authors

Narayan Bhusal¹, Minsu Lee², Hojin Lee³, Arjun Adhikari⁴, Ah Reum Han⁵, Areum Han⁵, Hyun Seok Kim⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Interdisciplinary Program in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
⁴ School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Division of Basic Research, National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon-gun 33657, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Interdisciplinary Program in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; National Center for Agro Meteorology, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: cameroncrazies@snu.ac.kr.

PMID: 33744562
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146466

Abstract

The frequency and severity of drought are expected to increase due to climate change; therefore, selection of tree species for afforestation should consider drought resistance of the species for maximum survival and conservation of natural habitats. In this study, three soil moisture regimes: control (100% precipitation), mild drought (40% reduction in precipitation), and severe drought (80% reduction in precipitation) were applied to six gymnosperm and five angiosperm species for two consecutive years. We quantified the drought resistance index based on the root collar diameter and assessed the correlation between species drought resistance and other morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits by regression analysis. The prolonged drought stress altered the morphological, physiological, and biochemical traits, but the responses were species-specific. The species with high drought resistance had high leaf mass per area (LMA), photosynthetic rate (P_n), and midday leaf water potential (Ψ_MD), and low carbon isotopic discrimination (δ¹³C), flavonoid and polyphenol content, superoxide dismutase and DPPH radical scavenging activity. The highly drought-resistant species had a relatively less decrease in leaf size, P_n, and predawn leaf water potential (Ψ_PD), and less increase in δ¹³C, abscisic acid and sucrose content, and LMA compared to the control. The interannual variation in drought resistance (∆R_d) was positively correlated with the species hydroscopic slope (isohydric and anisohydric). Korean pine was highly resistant, sawtooth oak, hinoki cypress, East Asian white birch, East Asian ash, and mono maple were highly susceptible, and Korean red pine, Japanese larch, Sargent cherry, needle fir, and black pine were moderate in drought resistance under long-term drought. These findings will help species selection for afforestation programs and establishment of sustainable forests, especially of drought-tolerant species, under increased frequency and intensity of spring and summer droughts.

Keywords: Anisohydric/isohydric behavior; Antioxidant; Drought resistance; Endogenous hormone; Leaf morphology; Photosynthetic response; Plantation species.

MeSH terms

Droughts*
Forests
Plant Leaves
Quercus*
Trees
Water

Substances

Water