Felix, Juri A., Stevenson, Philip C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0736-3619, Barsoum, Nadia and Koricheva, Julia (2025) Stand diversity does not mitigate increased herbivory on climate-matched oaks in an assisted migration experiment. Plant, Cell and Environment. ISSN 0140-7791 (Print), 1365-3040 (Online) (doi:10.1111/pce.15383)

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Abstract

Assisted migration is a tree-planting method where tree species or populations are translocated with the aim of establishing more climate-resilient forests. However, this might potentially increase the susceptibility of translocated trees to herbivory. Stand diversification through planting trees in species or genotypic mixtures may reduce the amount of damage by insect pests, but its effectiveness in mitigation of excess herbivory on climate-matched trees has seldom been explored. Using the Climate Match Experiment which manipulates both tree climatic provenance and stand diversity, we compared growth, insect herbivory and leaf traits of pedunculate oaks (Quercus robur) of local and Italian provenances in monocultures, provenance mixtures or species mixtures. Additionally, we investigated whether tree apparency and light availability cause variation in leaf traits and herbivory and tested whether these factors were influenced by stand diversity. We found that Italian oaks were subject to greater herbivore damage than those of local English provenance regardless of stand diversity and that insect herbivory in Italian oaks was higher on more apparent trees. Italian oaks also had lower concentrations of hydrolysable tannins than English oaks, but tannin concentrations were poor predictors of herbivory. Additionally, we show that leaf trait variation is strongly associated with differences in light availability.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	assisted migration, climate matching, tree diversity, oak, plant-herbivore interactions, chemical defences, species mixture, monoculture
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SD Forestry
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Food Systems Research Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 4 One Health > Chemical Ecology & Plant Biochemistry
Last Modified:	14 Jan 2025 13:43
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/49182

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