Among-individual asynchrony but not genetic diversity is associated with temporal stability of tree growth in natural Quercus robur oak stands.

Abstract

Theory, manipulation experiments and observational studies on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning largely concur that higher intraspecific diversity may increase the overall productivity of populations, buffer against environmental change and stabilize long-term productivity. However, evidence comes primarily from small and short-lived organisms. We tested for effects of genetic diversity on variation in forest growth by combining long-term data on annual individual growth rate (basal area increment (BAI)) with estimates of intrapopulation genetic variation (based on RAD-seq SNPs) for 18 natural Quercus robur pedunculate oak populations. Higher total or adaptive genetic variability of populations was neither associated with faster average growth nor with increased temporal or spatial stability of growth nor with among-individual asynchrony in growth. However, as expected, we found that greater asynchrony of growth responses within the populations increased their temporal stability. Together, these findings point towards a negligible role of genetic variation in structuring growth patterns in natural populations of tree species. Identifying which environmental factors and phenotypic traits (and its genetic basis) contribute to asynchronous growth responses is an important next step towards a better mechanistic understanding of the causes of temporal stability in tree growth and forest productivity.