Environmental Stresses and Reproductive Biology of Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) and Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida L.)
Authors: | Kristina F. Connor, Timothy C. Prewitt, Franklin T. Bonner, William W. Elam, Robert C. Parker |
Year: | 1998 |
Type: | Scientific Journal |
Station: | Southern Research Station |
Source: | The Productivity & Sustainability of Southern Forest Ecosystems in a Changing Environment Edited by Mickler and Fox |
Abstract
We have long recognized that natural climatic shifts have influenced the development of plant and animal life on earth. These slow temperature fluctuations have resulted in either the extinction or the evolution of various species. However, human activities in the last century have so altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere that it is hypothesized that the process of climatic change has become more rapid. The resultant phenomenon, global warming, could greatly alter the existing vegetation regions on the planet.The overall goal of most global change research with trees is to measure the impact of these environmental shifts and increased concentrations of the greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide and ozone-on individual species and ecosystems. Most of the research concerns the effects of pollutants and climatic change on seedlings and saplings. This study, however, examines changes occurring in young, yet reproductively active trees and focuses on one of the most sensitive phases of plant development, the reproductive cycle.