Elevated CO2 concentration alleviates the negative effect of vapour pressure deficit and soil drought on juvenile poplar growth

0587379 - ÚVGZ 2025 RIV SK eng J - Journal Article
Orság, Matěj - Berhongaray, G. - Fischer, Milan - Klem, Karel - Ceulemans, R. - King, J. S. - Hlaváčová, Marcela - Trnka, Miroslav
Elevated CO2 concentration alleviates the negative effect of vapour pressure deficit and soil drought on juvenile poplar growth.
CENTRAL EUROPEAN FORESTRY JOURNAL. Roč. 70, č. 2 (2024), s. 51-61. ISSN 2454-034X. E-ISSN 2454-0358
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) EH22_008/0004635
Institutional support: RVO:86652079
Keywords : biomass production * atmospheric demand * leaf-area * rotation * transpiration * coppice * water * productivity * populus * impact * growth chamber experiment * vapour pressure deficit * stomatal control * isohydric * short rotation wood coppice
OECD category: Forestry
Method of publishing: Open access
https://sciendo.com/pl/article/10.2478/forj-2024-0017

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 CO2 (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.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0354589