Does climate change influences the vulnerability of aspen? A comprehensive approach for future reforestation in western North America
Genetic variation and climate factors both affect the plant composition and life cycle. There is little known about how these factors connect to regulate costs of resistance, communicate as negative relationship among growth and defense. To investigate the above question, an experiment was conducted in 1998 at Athabasca in Central Alberta, Canada. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the genetic differences among different aspen provenances planted under the same environment. Results from this experiment show that MN provenance has the best growth under hot and dry conditions followed by SK provenance as compared to other provenances. Further, due to wide climatic adaptability of MN provenance, it must be the first choice of origin for future planting in western North America.