Drought negatively impacts growth and productivity of plants, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Although drought events can take place in summer and winter, differences in the impact of drought on physiological processes between seasons are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to...

This review is focused on woody legumes from the southern continents. We highlight that the evolution of the Caesalpinioideae and Mimosoideae with old soils, with variable supplies of water and also with fire has produced a suite of advantageous physiological characteristics. These include good...

The present study explores the interaction of water supply and rhizobia inoculation on CO₂ and H₂O gas exchange characteristics, physiological and biochemical traits in seedlings of Robinia pseudoacacia L. originating from two provenances with contrasting climate and soil backgrounds: the Gansu...

Using a broad definition of trees, the evolutionary origins of trees in a nutritional context is considered using data from the fossil record and molecular phylogeny. Trees are first known from the Late Devonian about 380 million years ago, originated polyphyletically at the pteridophyte grade of...

The effects of global climate change will regionally be very different, mainly causing considerable changes in temperature and water availability. For Central Europe, for example, increased temperatures are predicted, which will cause increased frequencies and durations of summer drought events. On ...

Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a woody legume with a worldwide distribution. Its ecological and economical importance is largely due to fast growth and dinitrogen (N2)-fixation ability with rhizobia. These features make Black Locust suitable as a model species for other woody legumes as...

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of warming and drought periods around the globe, currently representing a threat to many plant species. Understanding the resistance and resilience of plants to climate change is, therefore, urgently needed. As date palm (Phoenixdactylifera)...

In the present study we investigated water use strategies of mature stands of Fagus sylvatica (European Beech) with and without co-cultivation of Abies alba (Silver fir) during a summer drought and subsequent rewetting through simulated heavy precipitation in a temperate forest in south-west...

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is a conifer species that stores large amounts of terpenoids, mainly monoterpenoids in resin ducts of various tissues. The effects of drought on stored leaf terpenoid concentrations in trees are scarcely studied and published data are partially controversial,...

This special issue contains 14 papers addressing a selection of tree-, plantation- and forest-based features of tree nutrition that span from the molecular to the ecosystem level. From these features, it is evident that sustainability and productivity of tree plantations and forests ultimately...