Abstract
Populus fremontii (Fremont cottonwood) is recognized as one of the most important foundation tree species in the southwestern USA and northern Mexico because of its ability to structure communities across multiple trophic levels, drive ecosystem processes and influence biodiversity via genetic-based functional trait variation. However, the areal extent of P. fremontii cover has declined dramatically over the last century due to the effects of surface water diversions, non-native species invasions and more recently climate change. Consequently, P. fremontii gallery forests are considered amongst the most threatened forest types in North America. In this paper, we unify four conceptual areas of genes to ecosystems research related to P. fremontii’s capacity to survive or even thrive under current and future environmental conditions: (i) hydraulic function related to canopy thermal regulation during heat waves; (ii) mycorrhizal mutualists in relation to resiliency to climate change and invasion by the non-native tree/shrub, Tamarix; (iii) phenotypic plasticity as a mechanism for coping with rapid changes in climate; and (iv) hybridization between P. fremontii and other closely related Populus species where enhanced vigour of hybrids may preserve the foundational capacity of Populus in the face of environmental change. We also discuss opportunities to scale these conceptual areas from genes to the ecosystem level via remote sensing. We anticipate that the exploration of these conceptual areas of research will facilitate solutions to climate change with a foundation species that is recognized as being critically important for biodiversity conservation and could serve as a model for adaptive management of arid regions in the southwestern USA and around the world.
Highlights
A foundation species is often defined as one that creates environmental conditions that are necessary for the survival of other species by stabilizing fundamental ecosystem processes (Ellison et al, 2005)
Decreases in plant available water coupled with increases in the duration and frequency of episodic heat waves have resulted in recent P. fremontii die-offs along many major river reaches throughout the Southwest (Gitlin et al, 2006)
We argue that traits that best optimize the balance between water loss and canopy thermal regulation during climate stress, and traits that maximize mycorrhizal associations in Tamarix soil legacies are likely to be under some of the most significant current and future selection pressures
Summary
Adaptive capacity in the foundation tree species Populus fremontii: implications for resilience to climate change and non-native species invasion in the American Southwest. We anticipate that the exploration of these conceptual areas of research will facilitate solutions to climate change with a foundation species that is recognized as being critically important for biodiversity conservation and could serve as a model for adaptive management of arid regions in the southwestern USA and around the world. Cite as: Hultine KR, Allan GJ, Blasini D, Bothwell HM, Cadmus A, Cooper HF, Doughty CE, Gehring CA, Gitlin AR, Grady KC, Keith AR, Koepke DF, Markovchick L, Corbin Parker JM, Sankey TT, Whitham TG (2020) Adaptive capacity in the foundation tree species Populus fremontii: implications for resilience to climate change and non-native species invasion in the American Southwest.
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