Forest tree-pathogen interactions under climate change

Area of Science:

• Forestry
• Plant Pathology
• Climate Change Biology

Background:

• Forest ecosystems provide vital ecological and economic services.
• Global forests are increasingly threatened by interacting biotic (pathogens, pests) and abiotic (drought, heat) stressors.
• Climate change exacerbates these threats, impacting forest health and resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the complex physiological and metabolic responses of forest trees to combined environmental and pathogen pressures.
• To explore the role of epigenetic mechanisms and beneficial microbiomes in enhancing tree resilience.
• To identify knowledge gaps and propose multidisciplinary approaches for understanding forest responses to climate change and pathogens.

Main Methods:

• Review of current research on tree physiology, stress responses, and defense mechanisms.
• Integration of findings from molecular biology, multiomics, and genomics studies.
• Consideration of ecological field studies and climate modeling data.

Main Results:

• Drought and heat stress significantly alter tree resistance to pathogens, with moderate stress potentially activating defenses while severe stress weakens them.
• Epigenetic modifications and beneficial microbiomes play crucial roles in modulating tree resilience under combined stressors.
• Advances in forest genetics and genomics are improving predictive capabilities, but significant knowledge gaps persist.

Conclusions:

• Multidisciplinary approaches integrating molecular biology, ecology, and climate modeling are essential for understanding forest tree responses to climate change and pathogens.
• Breeding and genetic improvement are key strategies for enhancing forest adaptation and disease resistance.
• Further research is needed to address complex interactions between environmental stressors and pathogens in forest ecosystems.