samedi 16 mai 2026

Interplay of biotic and abiotic factors shapes tree seedling growth and root-associated microbial communities

Joey Chamard, Maria Faticov, F. Guillaume Blanchet, Pierre-Luc Chagnon & Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe - Nature: Communications Biology volume 7, Article number: 360 -  22 March 2024
... we use root microscopy, coupled with amplicon sequencing, to study bacterial, fungal, and mycorrhizal root-associated microbial communities from sugar maple seedlings distributed across two temperate-to-boreal elevational gradients in southern Québec, Canada. Our findings demonstrate that soil pH, soil Ca, and distance to sugar maple trees are key drivers of root-associated microbial communities, overshadowing the influence of elevation. Interestingly, changes in root fungal community composition mediate an indirect effect of soil pH on seedling growth, a pattern consistent at both sites. Overall, our findings highlight a complex role of biotic and abiotic factors in shaping tree-microbe interactions, which are in turn correlated with seedling growth. These findings have important ramifications for tree range expansion in response to shifting climatic niches.


Joey Chamard - Le Climatoscope - 25 octobre 2021
... les changements climatiques constituent un des principaux phénomènes pouvant menacer la productivité de nos érablières. Ces changements impliquent notamment une augmentation de la température moyenne annuelle ainsi qu’une intensification des phénomènes climatiques extrêmes, qui se traduisent par une plus grande fréquence de sécheresses et d’inondations. Les érables à sucre sont des organidsmes particulièrement vulnérables à ces changements climatiques puisqu’ils ont une longue espérance de vie, atteignent tardivement leur maturité sexuelle et migrent lentement ... La perspective de cette migration entraîne une nouvelle question fondamentale : les sols en régions boréales et leurs communautés microbiennes permettront-ils à l’érable à sucre de s’y établir et compétitionner avec d’autres essences forestières?  Cet article constitue une présentation sommaire de l’importance des interactions plantes-microorganismes dans un contexte de changements climatiques. Il traite plus particulièrement de la situation de l’érable à sucre au Québec, de l’écologie de ses symbiotes fongiques ainsi que des perspectives innovantes que représentent les communautés synthétiques.

Lien: pdf 

vendredi 15 mai 2026

Variation in the leaf and root microbiome of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) at an elevational range limit

Variation in the leaf and root microbiome of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) at an elevational range limit
Jessica Wallace​, Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe​, Steven W. Kembel -  PeerJ - August 14, 2018
In this study, we quantified the microbial communities of the leaves and roots of seedlings of the deciduous tree species sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) within its natural range and at the species’ elevational range limit at Mont-Mégantic, Quebec ... The bacterial and fungal communities of A. saccharum seedlings differ across elevational range limits for all four plant compartments. Distinct microbial communities colonize each compartment, although the microbial communities inside a plant’s structure (endophytes) were found to be a subset of the communities found outside the plant’s structure (epiphytes) ... These findings provide a greater understanding of the ecological processes driving the structure and diversity of plant-associated microbial communities within and at the edge of a plant species range, and suggest the potential for biotic interactions between plants and their associated microbiota to influence the dynamics of plant range edge boundaries and responses to global change.

jeudi 14 mai 2026

Vermont launches new weather network to improve flood prediction

Beth McDermott - Burlington Free Press - May 13, 2026
The University of Vermont has opened the first station in the Vermont Mesonet, a planned statewide system of automated weather stations that will provide local data for flood preparedness, farm planning and research, according to a community announcement ... While other automated weather stations exist in Vermont for aviation and fire safety, the Vermont Mesonet is expected to be the first system focused on observing localized, rapidly changing weather events such as thunderstorms and flooding.


Sasha Goldstein - May 6, 2026
The 30-foot-high tower in Lyndonville is one of 21 planned for Vermont. It can measure meteorological conditions and help Vermonters prepare for dangerous weather.
Abagael Giles - Vermont Public - May 5, 2026
UVM unveiled the first station in the Vermont Mesonet network Tuesday at the Caledonia County Fairgrounds in Lyndonville. At 30 feet tall, the new tower is outfitted with sensors to detect wind speed and direction, multiple thermometers, a snow depth sensor and a rain gauge, among other instruments. Together, they’ll take measurements every five minutes of things like wind speed, soil saturation and relative humidity.
Vermont Business Magazine - 05/07/2026

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