Concerns about declining populations of terrestrial orchids make it important to identify the environmental factors crucial to seedling recruitment. This study shows that seedlings of Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid) primarily occur on decomposing wood. Extensive searches of decomposing logs and stumps in mature and successional forests revealed seedlings at 24 sites, of which 15 could be i...

Drought has been frequently discussed as a trigger for forest decline. Today, large-scale Scots pine decline is observed in many dry inner-Alpine valleys, with drought discussed as the main causative factor. This study aimed to analyse the impact of drought on wood formation and wood structure. To study tree growth under contrasting water supply, an irrigation experiment was installed in a matu...

Historically in Puget Lowland rivers, wood jams were integral to maintaining an anastomosing channel pattern and a dynamic channel–floodplain connection; they also created deep pools. In the late 1800s, wood was removed from most rivers, rivers were isolated from their floodplains, and riparian forests were cut down, limiting wood recruitment. An exception to this history is an 11-km-long reach...

Populus tomentosa is an economically important tree crop that produces wood for lumber, pulp, paper, and biofuels. Wood quality traits are likely to be strongly affected by the plant hormone gibberellic acid (GA), which regulates growth. GA20Ox encodes one of the major regulatory enzymes of GA biosynthesis and may therefore play a large role in growth and wood quality. Here, linkage disequilibr...

Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) grown in a Mediterranean climate depends on regular irrigation throughout the growing season. The objective of the current study was to elucidate the changes in carbohydrate storage and utilization by mature, field-grown apple trees in response to water availability to the trees and to the level of cropping. Fourteen-year-old apple trees cv. 'Golden Delicious' w...