Augusto L, Borelle R, Boča A, Bon L, Orazio C, Arias-González A, Bakker M R, Gartzia-Bengoetxea N, Auge H, Bernier F, Cantero A, Cavender-Bares J, Correia A H, De Schrijver A, Diez-Casero J J, Eisenhauer N, Fotelli M N, Gâteblé G, Godbold D L, Gomes-Caetano-Ferreira M, Gundale M J, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Larsson M, Laudicina V A, Legout A, Martín-García J, Mason W L, Meredieu C, Mereu S, Montgomery R A, Musch B, Muys B, Paillassa E, Paquette A, Parker J D, Parker W C, Ponette Q, Reynolds C, Rozados-Lorenzo M J, Ruiz-Peinado R, Santesteban-Insausti X, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Silva-Pando F J, Smolander A, Spyroglou G, Teixeira-Barcelos E B, Vanguelova E I, Verheyen K, Vesterdal L, Charru M
INRAE, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, UMR 1391 ISPA, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia.
Nature. 2025 Apr;640(8058):395-401. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-08692-x. Epub 2025 Mar 19.
Trees are an important carbon sink as they accumulate biomass through photosynthesis. Identifying tree species that grow fast is therefore commonly considered to be essential for effective climate change mitigation through forest planting. Although species characteristics are key information for plantation design and forest management, field studies often fail to detect clear relationships between species functional traits and tree growth. Here, by consolidating four independent datasets and classifying the acquisitive and conservative species based on their functional trait values, we show that acquisitive tree species, which are supposedly fast-growing species, generally grow slowly in field conditions. This discrepancy between the current paradigm and field observations is explained by the interactions with environmental conditions that influence growth. Acquisitive species require moist mild climates and fertile soils, conditions that are generally not met in the field. By contrast, conservative species, which are supposedly slow-growing species, show generally higher realized growth due to their ability to tolerate unfavourable environmental conditions. In general, conservative tree species grow more steadily than acquisitive tree species in non-tropical forests. We recommend planting acquisitive tree species in areas where they can realize their fast-growing potential. In other regions, where environmental stress is higher, conservative tree species have a larger potential to fix carbon in their biomass.
树木是重要的碳汇，因为它们通过光合作用积累生物量。因此，识别生长迅速的树种通常被认为对于通过植树造林有效缓解气候变化至关重要。尽管物种特征是造林设计和森林管理的关键信息，但实地研究往往未能发现物种功能性状与树木生长之间的明确关系。在这里，通过整合四个独立数据集，并根据其功能性状值对趋同型和保守型物种进行分类，我们发现，被认为是速生树种的趋同型树种在野外条件下通常生长缓慢。当前范式与实地观察结果之间的这种差异可以通过与影响生长的环境条件的相互作用来解释。趋同型物种需要湿润温和的气候和肥沃的土壤，而这些条件在野外通常无法满足。相比之下，被认为是生长缓慢的保守型物种，由于其耐受不利环境条件的能力，通常表现出更高的实际生长速度。一般来说，在非热带森林中，保守型树种比趋同型树种生长得更稳定。我们建议在能够实现其速生潜力的地区种植趋同型树种。在其他环境压力较高的地区，保守型树种在其生物量中固定碳的潜力更大。
