Drought and heat are major abiotic stresses that reduce crop productivity and weaken global food security, especially given the current and growing impacts of climate change and increases in the occurrence and severity of both stress factors. Plants have developed dynamic responses at the morphological, physiological and biochemical levels allowing them to escape and/or adapt to unfavorable env...

At the molecular level, folivory activity on plants has mainly been related to the foliar concentrations of nitrogen (N) and/or particular metabolites. We studied the responses of different nutrients and the whole metabolome of Quercus ilex to seasonal changes and to moderate field experimental conditions of drought, and how this drought may affect folivory activity, using stoichiometric and me...

Acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) is a synthetic functional analog of salicylic acid which can induce systemic acquired resistance in plants, but its effects on abiotic stress tolerance is not well known. The objectives of this study were to examine effects of acibenzolar-S-methyl on heat or drought tolerance in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and to determine major ASM-responsive metabolite...

We investigate the sensitivity of the relict, endemic Cretan tree species Zelkova abelicea (Lam.) Boiss. (Ulmaceae) to several climate variables (temperature, precipitation and drought). For this purpose, we establish the first centennial tree-ring chronology for the species, and the first ever tree-ring chronology for a broadleaved species on Crete. We demonstrate the strong sensitivity of Z. ...

Heat waves that trigger severe droughts are predicted to increase globally; however, we lack an understanding of how trees respond to the combined change of extreme temperatures and water availability. Here, we studied the impacts of two consecutive heat waves as well as post-stress recovery in young Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco (Douglas-fir) and Robinia pseudoacacia L. (black locust) g...

Drought & flood events, especially the drought & flood combination events (DFCEs) on the North China Plain (NCP), known as an important grain production region in China, constitute a serious threat to China’s food security. Studies on DFCEs in this region are of great significance for the rational allocation of water resources and the formulation of integrated response strategy for droughts and...