Project Summary
Global climate change is something that already affects Canada. Average temperatures are increasing, and with them significant droughts are expected to occur more often, particularly in areas that, historically, experience less drought. This means that areas which are commonly used for industrial forestry may be experiencing droughts that planted trees are not adapted for and may be detrimental to growth and survival of planted forest species. New management strategies need to be implemented that allow these areas to adjust to potential climatic shifts. One such strategy is to identify populations that are more drought tolerant. We use chlorophyll fluorescence, an indicator of photosynthetic efficiency, to measure drought tolerance of White Spruce (Picea glauca) seedlings under simulated drought conditions. White Spruce is found across Canada and is an important species for forestry in Alberta, and as a national resource. These seedlings come from regions across Canada, allowing us to examine whether geographic area of origin has an effect on drought tolerance. We pair this with related growth data from long term provenance trials in Alberta. This data has allowed us to see that seedlings from regions that have historically experienced more drought maintained higher photosynthetic efficiency during drought conditions than seedlings from other areas. When paired with the long term growth data, our results indicate that seedlings from central Alberta and Ontario show the most promise for future planting efforts, being that they show relatively high growth rates and moderate drought tolerance. Identifying these populations that show drought tolerance without sacrificing growth we can begin to plan for the uncertain climatic conditions in the future.
Disclaimer: Some or all of this data has been fabricated for RENR 711 project.