High plasticity in vessel traits of red oak

Although red oak was introduced in Europe over 300 years ago, the knowledge of how this species responds climate variability and extreme events at the wood anatomical level in its' introduced range is scarce. In a study led by Ph.D. student Jonathan Kormann, which was recently published in Trees, interannual variation in vessel traits of red oak provenances to climatic fluctuations and extremes was therefore studied at three sites with distinct environmental conditions in Germany. Overall, a high plasticity and intra-annual variability in vessel traits to climate was observed, indicating weak signals of local adaptation.