Prof. Hao Guangyou and doctoral student Yin Xiaohan from the Plant Physiology and Ecology Group of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as researchers from the Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group of Wageningen University, recently conducted a study to explore the trade-off between the growth and the Winter Embolism Repair of trees, both of which consume the Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC) such as starch and soluble sugars.

The researchers investigated the degree of xylem embolism, the NSC content, and the growth rates of fifteen tree species from the genus Acer (maples), Betula (birches) and Populus (poplars) in the Korean pine and broad-leaved trees mixed forests in Changbai Mountain Area. 

The researchers found that tree species (maples and birches) that can generate positive root and/or stem pressure for xylem repair had higher contents of soluble sugar in winter and lower vulnerability to xylem cavitation and embolism, as compared with the species (poplars) without generating positive root pressure and xylem repair. In addition, they found a negative correlation between radial growth rates and soluble sugar contents of trees, which confirmed that the interspecific difference in carbon input for embolism repair in winter mediated the trade-off between the growth of trees and their hydraulic safety.

These findings enrich the knowledge about functional diversity and adaptive strategy of temperate trees.

The study entitled “A trade-off between growth and hydraulic resilience against freezing leads to divergent adaptations among temperate tree species” has been published in Functional Ecology, and it was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the "large team program" of the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.