Sex-specific responses of bud burst and early development to nongrowing season warming and drought in Populus cathayana

Abstract

Bud burst is one of the most observable phenological stages in tree species, and its responses to environmental factors are found to be species-specific. Nevertheless, for dioecious plants, whether the bud burst responses are sex specific remains an open question, as do the underlying physiological mechanisms. Here, we investigated the effect of elevated temperature (+2 °C) and drought (30% field capacity) during December–March on bud development, gas exchange, water and nitrogen status, and carbohydrate metabolism in female and male Populus cathayana to understand how nongrowing season warming and drought modifies physiological and phenological traits. Our results showed that at ambient temperature, males experienced earlier bud burst than females. Winter warming significantly delayed bud burst and even synchronized it for both sexes because of the greater responsiveness of males. Although drought exerted little effect on the timing of bud burst, it significantly reduced bud fresh mass and limited bud growth by decreasing gas exchange capacity and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) accumulation; moreover, females were more affected by drought stress. The significant sex × watering × temperature interactions for δ13C and NSC indicate that sexual dimorphism in these condition-specific traits would increase along the environmental gradients, implying contrasting life history strategies in different ecological scenarios. The convergence in the time for bud burst caused by elevated temperature might exaggerate the competition among males, thus influencing the sex ratio, structure, and functioning of P. cathayana populations.