Beech trees can adjust leaf timing but not frost tolerance
Schmeddes J, Preuk N, Beil I, Dittmar EM, Malyshev A
Climate Adaptation
The beech trees shading your local forest trail are genetically flexible about when they leaf out each spring, but a late frost could still catch them off guard because that defense barely varies between trees.
Scientists grew nearly a thousand baby beech trees from parent trees that naturally leaf out early, on-time, or late, then measured how much of that timing difference gets passed down to offspring. It turns out spring and autumn timing is quite heritable, meaning beech populations could shift their schedules over generations as the climate warms. But how well their buds and leaves resist frost damage barely varies from parent to offspring, so that trait may not be able to evolve fast enough to keep pace.
Key Findings
Spring leaf-out timing showed medium-high heritability (h² = 0.48 and 0.57 across two years) based on 961 half-sib seedlings
Autumn leaf senescence timing had moderate heritability (h² = 0.35)
Frost tolerance of both leaves and buds showed low heritability (h² = 0.13 and 0.12), suggesting limited capacity for rapid adaptive evolution
chevron_right Technical Summary
European beech trees can adapt their leaf-out and leaf-drop timing fairly readily as the climate warms, but their ability to tolerate frost damage is much harder to breed for, which could leave forests vulnerable to sudden cold snaps even as spring arrives earlier.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Balancing the Risk: Heritability of Leaf Phenology and Frost Resistance in the Dominant Temperate Forest Tree European Beech.
Ongoing climate change is increasingly affecting forest ecosystems. European beech, the naturally dominant tree species of Central Europe, has suffered in recent dry years. Due to its frost sensiti...
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Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech, is a large deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-grey bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. It is native to much of Europe, growing in humid climates.