ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Seedling-stage drought responses of two endemic pear and oak species inform climate-adaptive management in Hyrcanian forests
Provisionally accepted
- 1Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
- 2Mazandaran Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (AREEO), Sari, Iran
- 3Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
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The diverse Hyrcanian relic forests in the Caspian region are increasingly threatened by more frequent and severe climate change-related droughts. This study investigated morpho-physiological and biochemical responses to drought in two endemic tree species of the Hyrcanian forests, Pyrus boisseriana Buhse and Quercus atropatena Schwarz. In a 120-day greenhouse experiment, seedlings of each species were exposed to two different irrigation treatments (FC100 and FC40, representing the percentage of field capacity). Under FC100 conditions, all morphological characteristics of Q. atropatena were significantly greater compared to those of P. boisseriana. FC40-exposed P. boisseriana and Q. atropatena seedlings exhibited statistically significant declines in photosynthesis (A) (-55, -49.6%), transpiration (E) (-11.8, -21.7%), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) (-54.8, -8.3%), relative mesophyll conductance (gm-rel) (-58.5, -49.5%) and relative leaf water content (RWC) (only Q. atropatena: -22%), respectively, and an increase in leaf temperature. Likewise, FC40-treated P. boisseriana and Q. atropatena seedlings displayed an increase in proline (+390.8, +46.5%), and a decline in carotenoids (-19.9, -14.5%), respectively. Drought stress had smaller impacts on radial and height growth, A, Ci, gm-rel, electrolyte leakage (EL) and malondialdehyde (MDA), in Q. atropatena compared to P. boisseriana, indicating greater drought tolerance in the former. These findings imply a prioritization of Q. atropatena in forest management and conservation planning in arid and semi-arid Hyrcanian forests, especially given future climate scenarios. Our results also offer valuable insights for nursery managers facing water scarcity and for stakeholders involved in afforestation and reforestation initiatives aimed at cultivating these two species. Since tree species selection is essential to maintaining forest sustainability, our research adds to the ongoing discussion about the drought tolerance of tree species against drought during the critical seedling stage, particularly in the context of climate change.
Keywords: Drought stress, Electrolyte leakage, Forest tree seedlings, Hyrcanian forests, Malondialdehyde, Proline
Received: 29 Sep 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Davoudi, Tabari, Sadati and Bader. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Masoud Tabari
Martin Karl-Friedrich Bader
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