Agriculture and forestry are two economic sectors most dependent on climate, climate change has a direct indirect impact biotic abiotic disturbances with strong implications. The air temperature is one of the major environmental factors affecting growth, development, yields crops. Despite undeniable global warming, damage to crops by frost freezing temperatures causes serious loss farmers in ma...

Foliar frost resistance of three endemic New Zealand land trees, Nothofagus menziesii (Hook. f.) Oerst. (Fagaceae), Pittosporum eugenioides A. Cunn. (Pittosporaceae) and Griselinia littoralis Forst. f. (Cornaceae), was examined as the trees hardened from late summer to midwinter in a lowland forest site. The lowest temperatures causing 50% damage (LT(50)) occurred in late winter and were simila...

Miscanthus × giganteus grown in cool temperate regions of North America and Europe can exhibit severe mortality in the year after planting, and poor frost tolerance of leaves. Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass), a productive C4 perennial grass native to North America, has been suggested as an alternative biofuel feedstock for colder regions; however, its cold tolerance relative to M. × giga...

Trees are sensitive to extreme weather and environmental conditions. This sensitivity is visible in tree-ring widths and cell structure. In our study, we hypothesized that the sudden frost noted at the beginning of May in both 2007 and 2011 affected cambial activity and, consequently, the number and size of vessels in the tree rings. It was decided to test this hypothesis after damage to leaves...

Anurag A. Agrawal,* Jeffrey K. Conner and John R. Stinchcombe Department of Botany, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3B2 Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, 3700 East Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, MI 49060, USA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box G-W, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912,...

Stockpiling herbage can redistribute nutrient availability and supplement quantity for livestock, depending on production objectives. Brassicas (Brassica spp.) and improved prairiegrass (Bromus catharticus Vahl.) cultivars are adapted to growing conditions occurring in the Appalachian region and provide nutritionally valuable herbage in autumn; however, highly digestible brassica herbage may re...

Winter frost resistance (WFR), midwinter frost hardening and frost dehardening potential of Pinus cembra L. were determined in situ by means of a novel low-temperature freezing system at the alpine timberline ecotone (1950 m a.s.l., Mt Patscherkofel, Innsbruck, Austria). In situ liquid nitrogen (LN₂)-quenching experiments should check whether maximum WFR of P. cembra belonging to the frost hard...