Hultine Kevin R, Allan Gerard J, Blasini Davis, Bothwell Helen M, Cadmus Abraham, Cooper Hillary F, Doughty Chris E, Gehring Catherine A, Gitlin Alicyn R, Grady Kevin C, Hull Julia B, Keith Arthur R, Koepke Dan F, Markovchick Lisa, Corbin Parker Jackie M, Sankey Temuulen T, Whitham Thomas G
Department of Research, Conservation and Collections, Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 North Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, AZ 85008, USA.
Department of Biological Sciences and Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, 617 South Beaver Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA.
Conserv Physiol. 2020 Jul 13;8(1):coaa061. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaa061. eCollection 2020.
(Fremont cottonwood) is recognized as one of the most important foundation tree species in the southwestern USA and northern Mexico because of its ability to structure communities across multiple trophic levels, drive ecosystem processes and influence biodiversity via genetic-based functional trait variation. However, the areal extent of cover has declined dramatically over the last century due to the effects of surface water diversions, non-native species invasions and more recently climate change. Consequently, gallery forests are considered amongst the most threatened forest types in North America. In this paper, we unify four conceptual areas of genes to ecosystems research related to capacity to survive or even thrive under current and future environmental conditions: (i) hydraulic function related to canopy thermal regulation during heat waves; (ii) mycorrhizal mutualists in relation to resiliency to climate change and invasion by the non-native tree/shrub, ; (iii) phenotypic plasticity as a mechanism for coping with rapid changes in climate; and (iv) hybridization between and other closely related species where enhanced vigour of hybrids may preserve the foundational capacity of in the face of environmental change. We also discuss opportunities to scale these conceptual areas from genes to the ecosystem level via remote sensing. We anticipate that the exploration of these conceptual areas of research will facilitate solutions to climate change with a foundation species that is recognized as being critically important for biodiversity conservation and could serve as a model for adaptive management of arid regions in the southwestern USA and around the world.
弗里蒙特杨被认为是美国西南部和墨西哥北部最重要的基础树种之一，因为它能够构建跨越多个营养级的群落，驱动生态系统过程，并通过基于基因的功能性状变异影响生物多样性。然而，由于地表水改道、外来物种入侵以及最近气候变化的影响，其覆盖面积在过去一个世纪中急剧下降。因此，河岸森林被认为是北美最受威胁的森林类型之一。在本文中，我们整合了基因到生态系统研究的四个概念领域，这些领域与弗里蒙特杨在当前和未来环境条件下生存甚至繁荣的能力相关：（i）与热浪期间树冠热调节相关的水力功能；（ii）与气候变化适应能力以及对外来树木/灌木入侵的抵抗力相关的菌根共生体；（iii）作为应对气候快速变化机制的表型可塑性；（iv）弗里蒙特杨与其他密切相关杨属物种之间的杂交，杂交种增强的活力可能在面对环境变化时保持弗里蒙特杨的基础能力。我们还讨论了通过遥感将这些概念领域从基因扩展到生态系统层面的机会。我们预计，对这些研究概念领域的探索将有助于利用一种对生物多样性保护至关重要的基础物种来应对气候变化，并可为美国西南部及全球干旱地区的适应性管理提供范例。
