Studying the role of climate and sex in flowering dynamics of black poplar across time and space

Abstract

Global change has a major impact on rivers and their associated terrestrial compartment, the riparian forest. The black poplar (Populus nigra L.), the dominant species of the European riparian forest, is considered an indicator of the biodiversity dynamics of these ecosystems, but is threatened with extinction in several parts of its range. The species is dioecious and shows wide variability in many traits, enabling it to adapt to a broad range of environmental conditions. A detailed characterization of this natural variability is therefore a key issue both for the conservation of natural populations and for biological engineering aimed at restoring riverbanks. Phenology is both an indicator of climate change and an adaptation lever for populations, particularly in perennial species such as trees. In this study, we characterized the spatial and temporal variability in flowering phenology by studying 13 natural black poplar populations along the Loire River, France. Flowering date and duration showed substantial variability both within and between populations, and males generally flowered earlier than females. Despite this variability, the ranking of individual trees' flowering dates was highly consistent across years. Most male-female pairs shared several days of overlapping flowering each year, and this overlap was moderately stable across years. Flowering dates advanced by about five to six days per degree Celsius during early spring, with no detectable difference in sensitivity between sexes. This work contributes to the characterization of flowering variability in an economically important tree species and may inform both the conservation of genetic resources and breeding.