Leaf spectroscopy reveals drought response variation inFagus sylvaticasaplings from across the species’ range
Authors: Kurath Dave , van Moorsel Sofia J. , Klaver Jolanda , Voortman Tis , Siegfried Barbara , Brügger Yves-Alain , Moradi Aboubakr , Czyż Ewa A. , de La Harpe Marylaure , Wiesenberg Guido L. , Schaepman Michael E. , Schuman Meredith C. 
Published: July 2024

The common European beech (F. sylvatica), sensitive to prolonged drought, is expected to shift its distribution with climate change. To persist in novel environments, young trees rely on the capacity to express diverse response phenotypes. Several methods exist to study drought effects on trees and their diverse adaptive mechanisms, but these are usually destructive and challenging for the large sample numbers needed to investigate biological variation.

We conducted a common garden experiment outdoors, but under controlled watering conditions, with 180 potted two-year-old saplings from 16 beech provenances across the species’ range, representing three distinct genetic clusters. Drought stress was simulated by interrupting irrigation and stomatal conductance and soil moisture were used to assess drought severity. We measured leaf reflectance of visible to short-wave infrared electromagnetic radiation to determine droughtinduced changes in biochemical and structural traits derived from spectral indices and a model of leaf optical properties.

We quantified changes in pigmentation, water balance, nitrogen, lignin, epicuticular wax, and leaf mass per area in drought-treated saplings, revealing differences in likely adaptive responses to drought.Fagus sylvaticasaplings from the Iberian Peninsula showed signatures of greater drought resistance, i.e., the least droughtinduced change in spectrally derived traits related to leaf pigments and leaf water content. We demonstrate that high-resolution leaf spectroscopy is an effective and non-destructive tool to assess individual drought responses that can characterize functional intraspecific variation among young beech trees. Next, this approach should be scaled up to canopy-level or airborne spectroscopy to support drought response assessments of forests.

Plain language summary

The common European beech tree, which is sensitive to prolonged droughts, is expected to experience local population declines due to climate change. To survive in a drier and warmer climate, young beech trees must show a variety of adaptive responses. Assessing this variation within the species is challenging, and traditional methods often harm the trees, limiting large-scale studies of their variability. We conducted an outdoor experiment with 180 potted young beech saplings from various European regions, simulating a severe drought by halting irrigation. Using advanced leaf reflectance measurements, we tracked biochemical and structural changes in the leaves, such as pigmentation, water content, and other traits. Our results highlight that beech saplings from the Iberian Peninsula demonstrated greater drought resistance, showing fewer changes compared to saplings from other regions. This study underscores the effectiveness of non-destructive, high-resolution leaf spectroscopy in assessing individual drought responses, revealing important insights into the adaptive capacity of beech trees under changing climatic conditions.

Key Points

Leaf reflectance measurements effectively track drought-induced trait changes in beech saplings in a non-destructive way.

Beech saplings from the Iberian Peninsula show greater drought resistance with fewer biochemical and structural changes.

High-resolution leaf spectroscopy reveals adaptive capacity differences within European beech populations under simulated drought stress.