Growth performance and leaf ecophysiological traits in three Aquilaria species in Malaysia
The genus Aquilaria (Thymelaeaceae) is widely used for the production of agarwood, and includes several valuable plantation species in Southeast Asia. To understand appropriate planting conditions, it is necessary to characterize species-specific ecological traits such as photosynthesis and drought...
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Published in | New forests Vol. 50; no. 5; pp. 699 - 715 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Dordrecht
Springer Netherlands
01.09.2019
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The genus
Aquilaria
(Thymelaeaceae) is widely used for the production of agarwood, and includes several valuable plantation species in Southeast Asia. To understand appropriate planting conditions, it is necessary to characterize species-specific ecological traits such as photosynthesis and drought tolerance among
Aquilaria
species. To this end, we measured leaf morphological and photosynthetic traits among three
Aquilaria
seedlings (
A
.
hirta
,
A
.
malaccensis
,
A
.
subintegra
) in Malaysia. We also monitored changes in growth and survival in a shaded nursery and 7 and 18 months after transfer to open conditions. To avoid transplant stress, the seedlings were kept in polybags. The highest leaf cuticle and epidermis layer ratio, leaf mass per area, and long-term water use efficiency indicated by
δ
13
C were recorded in
A
.
hirta
, suggesting that this species had relatively high drought tolerance. By contrast, the high maximum photosynthetic rate and high stomatal conductance observed in
A
.
subintegra
explained their high growth rate, although their drought tolerance was the lowest among the studied species.
A. malaccensis
was considered an intermediate species in terms of photosynthesis and drought tolerance. Interspecific differences in growth and survival were present after transfer to open conditions.
A
.
hirta
had the lowest growth rate and highest survival rate (50% survival after 18 months), whereas
A
.
subintegra
had the highest growth rate and lowest survival rate (9% survival after 18 months).
A. malaccensis
was intermediate between the two. In summary, the studied
Aquilaria
species were susceptible to stress under the open and dry conditions of our study. This includes
Aquilaria hirta
, the most drought-tolerant species in this group, and
A
.
subintegra
, the most vulnerable species to drought, which may require careful management when planted in open conditions. |
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ISSN: | 0169-4286 1573-5095 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s11056-018-09693-7 |