{"id":22750,"date":"2017-01-27T03:25:07","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T11:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=22750"},"modified":"2017-01-27T11:13:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T19:13:02","slug":"how-trees-adapt-to-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/01\/27\/how-trees-adapt-to-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"How trees adapt to conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Weizmann Tree Lab, left to right: Dr. Tamir Klein, Ido Rog, Yael Wagner, Omri Lapidot and Shacham Magidish. (screenshot from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While studying trees during his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Tamir Klein made such a startling discovery that his research supervisor at the University of Basel at first declared that it must have been a mistake. In the forest, trees are known to compete for resources such as light and nutrients, but Klein found that the same trees also engage in sharing: he showed that carbon molecules taken up by the canopies of mature spruce trees were passed through the soil in large quantities to neighbouring beech, larch and pine. As he reported in Science<\/em> in 2016, the carbon was being transferred via \u201cunderground highways\u201d formed by overlapping networks of root fungi.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeighbouring trees interact with one another in complex ways,\u201d said Klein. \u201cOf course, there is a great deal of competition among them, but they also form communities, sorts of \u2018guilds,\u2019 within which individual trees share valuable resources. In fact, trees belonging to a \u2018guild\u2019 usually do much better than those that don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his new lab in the Weizmann Institute\u2019s plant and environmental sciences department, Klein follows up on these findings to investigate tree ecophysiology: how the tree functions in its ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudies on \u2018underground\u2019 tree collaboration may reveal which tree species get along well, and this may help determine which trees should be planted next to one another,\u201d he said. \u201cOur studies have additional relevance to forestry and agriculture because we elaborate on the mechanisms of growth and drought resistance of different tree species.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only five percent of Israel\u2019s land is covered by forest, but the country nonetheless offers unique advantages for forest research: its hot, dry climate provides an opportunity for investigating how trees adapt to drought and stress. Many trees common to Israel are already resistant to drought; understanding the mechanisms that allow them to live with little rain may help develop varieties of lemons, almonds, olives and other tree crops that can grow in even drier areas.<\/p>\n

\"image
A micro-computer tomography scan of a Jerusalem pine branch, performed after a dry spell, reveals large amounts of air (blue) filling the water channels. (image from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Projects in Klein\u2019s lab aim to clarify how trees manage their water and carbon budgets \u2013 both separately and as a forest community. In one study, the team focuses on emboli: tiny air bubbles that form inside the tree\u2019s water channels during drought. When drought persists, the emboli can kill a tree, much like blood vessel clots that can cause a fatal heart attack in a human being. After injecting fluids into tree branches at different pressures, Klein and his students analyze the emboli in the minutest detail, using micro-computed tomography.<\/p>\n

In Weizmann\u2019s greenhouses, Klein\u2019s team members experiment with seedlings of pine, cypress, carob and other trees commonly found in Israel. The researchers make use of advanced technologies, including nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, to study hydraulic conductivity in trees and a special lamp-equipped belowground camera to study the growth of tree roots in the soil.<\/p>\n

When conducting field studies on their research plot near Beit Shemesh, Klein and his students hug trees \u2013 not to have a spiritual experience, but to follow a tree\u2019s growth by encircling the trunk with a measuring tape. In parallel, they apply laser isotope analysis and analytical chemistry techniques to trace carbon metabolism in individual trees, and they investigate carbon transfer among trees via different types of fungal \u201chighways.\u201d The scientists also employ thermal imaging, which enables remote temperature measurements, to study the rate of evaporation in the foliage.<\/p>\n

These studies will help predict how future climate changes, including global warming and the rise in greenhouse gases, may affect forests. In one set of experiments, for example, Klein will double the concentration of CO2<\/sub> to mimic the atmospheric conditions that may emerge on earth as a result of pollution. Klein hasn\u2019t owned a car in 10 years, so as not to contribute to CO2<\/sub> emissions, but he warns against jumping to conclusions when it comes to the impact of increased CO2<\/sub> on tree biology. \u201cHigher CO2<\/sub> concentrations don\u2019t help trees grow faster \u2013 contrary to the hopes of industrialists \u2013 but, surprisingly, recent research suggests they might render the trees more resistant to drought-induced stress. This doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s OK to carry on with CO2<\/sub> pollution, but it does mean that we need to deepen our understanding of its effects on trees in general and on agricultural tree crops in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klein is the incumbent of the Edith and Nathan Goldenberg Career Development Chair. His research is supported by Nella and Leon Y. Benoziyo; and Norman Reiser. More on Weizmann Institute research can be found at wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Weizmann Tree Lab, left to right: Dr. Tamir Klein, Ido Rog, Yael Wagner, Omri Lapidot and Shacham Magidish. (screenshot from wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il) While studying trees during his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Tamir Klein made such a startling discovery that his research supervisor at the University of Basel at first declared that it must have been a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[3203,6707,2225,6706,4381],"class_list":["post-22750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-climate-change","tag-ecophysiology","tag-science","tag-trees","tag-weizmann-institute"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}