Endodormancyintensity-an unrecognised bud dormancy trait.
Zhang R, Kramer K, Charrier G, Hänninen H, Wu J
Phenology
Knowing how stubbornly your apple tree's or lilac's buds resist breaking in a warm February spell could soon help predict whether a late frost will wipe out the bloom — and eventually guide which cultivars hold up best as winters grow less predictable.
Trees in cold climates put their buds into a kind of deep sleep each winter so a single warm day doesn't trick them into opening too soon. Scientists have now created a way to measure exactly *how deep* that sleep is — not just whether it's happening, but how hard it is to wake the buds up. This new measurement, called endodormancy intensity, gives scientists a better tool to understand why some trees are more vulnerable to false springs than others.
Key Findings
Endodormancy intensity is a newly defined, experimentally derived trait that quantifies the degree to which dormancy suppresses bud burst.
The metric is applicable to both physiological (mechanistic) and ecological (field/population-level) research on tree dormancy.
The concept was not previously recognized as a distinct, measurable dormancy characteristic, representing a gap now filled in bud dormancy science.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists have identified a new measurable tree trait called 'endodormancy intensity' that captures how strongly a tree's buds resist opening in late winter. This gives researchers a clearer way to study and compare how different trees manage their dormancy cycle.
Abstract Preview
Bud dormancy is a key overwintering adaptation in extratropical trees. We introduce the concept of endodormancy intensity, a previously unrecognised experimentally derived trait that quantifies the...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Urban Tree Canopy Reduces Heat-Related Mortality by 39% in European Cities
Trees in your local park or street aren't just pretty — they are literally keeping people alive during heatwaves, and planting even a modest number of the ri...