Assessment of Drought-Tolerant Provenances of Austria’s Indigenous Tree Species

Gerhard Karrer, Gabriele Bassler-Binder and Wolfgang Willner
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Gerhard Karrer: Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity, University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna, Gregor Mendel Street 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Gabriele Bassler-Binder: Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity, University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna, Gregor Mendel Street 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Wolfgang Willner: Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-30

Abstract: (1) Background: Forestry will have to react to climate change because many tree species suffer. Mitigation can be realized either by planting non-native trees from regions with high climatic stress or by utilizing native tree provenances already adapted to stressful environments. Non-native trees have often generated problems in the past due to uncontrolled invasiveness. The use of native trees pre-adapted to the prospective climatic conditions is far less risky for the respective ecosystems. We offer a tool for selecting ecotypes of native trees as provenances for future forestry. (2) Methods: We propose the selection of tree species native to Middle Europe from a database of vegetation relevés of ± natural forest stands. By calculating the mean ecological indicator values of stands from their vegetation, cover sites can be elected that can provide seeds of provenances well adapted to future climatic conditions. (3) Results: By selecting the 10% partition of the most extreme stands of European tree species, seeds can be sampled and propagated for re-cultivating forests fit for future climate. (4) Conclusions: One can expect ecotypes of tree species that grow well on dry sites, since generations have faced evolutionary selection, for survival under stressful environments. This approach helps to avoid ecological risks of non-native trees.

Keywords: ecological indicator values; drought resistance; native trees; Central Europe; tree breeding; forestry; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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