Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration
Climate change-induced droughts are pressing threats to forest species, especially in semi-arid regions like the Chaco, in South America. Developing drought-adapted genetic material for Neltuma alba, a keystone species for timber and silvopastoral systems, is crucial for restoration and sustainabili...
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| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Springer
2026
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/24953 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11056-025-10151-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-025-10151-4 |
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| author | Lopez Lauenstein, Diego Vega, Carmen Delcira Verga, Anibal Lascano, Hernan Ramiro Marchelli, Paula |
| author_browse | Lascano, Hernan Ramiro Lopez Lauenstein, Diego Marchelli, Paula Vega, Carmen Delcira Verga, Anibal |
| author_facet | Lopez Lauenstein, Diego Vega, Carmen Delcira Verga, Anibal Lascano, Hernan Ramiro Marchelli, Paula |
| author_sort | Lopez Lauenstein, Diego |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Climate change-induced droughts are pressing threats to forest species, especially in semi-arid regions like the Chaco, in South America. Developing drought-adapted genetic material for Neltuma alba, a keystone species for timber and silvopastoral systems, is crucial for restoration and sustainability. Current breeding often overlooks drought adaptation, and evaluating complex physiological traits is impractical at scale. This study investigated simple, heritable leaf morphological traits as indirect selection criteria for drought tolerance in Neltuma alba. We assessed 90 individuals from three natural populations under controlled drought, monitoring senescence and survival. Ten leaf morphological traits were measured, and their narrow-sense heritability (h²) was estimated. We then analyzed associations between these traits and drought response (BLUPs for senescence and survival). Results showed that leaf size traits (e.g., leaflet length, width, area) had moderate to high heritabilities (0.40–0.69) and were significantly associated with drought tolerance. Larger leaf sizes correlated with delayed senescence but potentially reduced long-term survival, indicating a functional trade-off between growth-oriented and survival-oriented strategies. These findings demonstrate that easily measurable, heritable leaf morphological traits can serve as reliable, low-cost indicators for drought tolerance in Neltuma alba. This provides a practical tool to accelerate early selection in breeding programs and optimize genetic resource management, even using herbarium material. Tailored selection schemes, accounting for the identified trade-offs, are essential for effective restoration and sustainable management of this vital species. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA24953 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Springer |
| publisherStr | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA249532026-01-09T10:11:19Z Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration Lopez Lauenstein, Diego Vega, Carmen Delcira Verga, Anibal Lascano, Hernan Ramiro Marchelli, Paula Drought Tolerance Environmental Restoration Tolerancia a la Sequia Restauración Medioambiental Tree Breeding Leaf Morphology Ecological Restoration Neltuma alba Climate change-induced droughts are pressing threats to forest species, especially in semi-arid regions like the Chaco, in South America. Developing drought-adapted genetic material for Neltuma alba, a keystone species for timber and silvopastoral systems, is crucial for restoration and sustainability. Current breeding often overlooks drought adaptation, and evaluating complex physiological traits is impractical at scale. This study investigated simple, heritable leaf morphological traits as indirect selection criteria for drought tolerance in Neltuma alba. We assessed 90 individuals from three natural populations under controlled drought, monitoring senescence and survival. Ten leaf morphological traits were measured, and their narrow-sense heritability (h²) was estimated. We then analyzed associations between these traits and drought response (BLUPs for senescence and survival). Results showed that leaf size traits (e.g., leaflet length, width, area) had moderate to high heritabilities (0.40–0.69) and were significantly associated with drought tolerance. Larger leaf sizes correlated with delayed senescence but potentially reduced long-term survival, indicating a functional trade-off between growth-oriented and survival-oriented strategies. These findings demonstrate that easily measurable, heritable leaf morphological traits can serve as reliable, low-cost indicators for drought tolerance in Neltuma alba. This provides a practical tool to accelerate early selection in breeding programs and optimize genetic resource management, even using herbarium material. Tailored selection schemes, accounting for the identified trade-offs, are essential for effective restoration and sustainable management of this vital species. Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales Fil: Lopez Lauenstein, Diego. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; Argentina Fil: Lopez Lauenstein, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (UDEA); Argentina Fil: Vega, Carmen Delcira. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; Argentina Fil: Vega, Carmen Delcira. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (UDEA); Argentina Fil: Verga, Anibal. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria La Rioja. Agencia de Extensión Rural La Rioja; Argentina Fil: Lascano, Hernan Ramiro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (UDEA); Argentina Fil: Lascano, Hernan Ramiro.Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; Argentina Fil: Marchelli, Paula. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: Marchelli, Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina 2026-01-09T09:59:26Z 2026-01-09T09:59:26Z 2026 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/24953 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11056-025-10151-4 0169-4286 1573-5095 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-025-10151-4 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Springer New Forests 57 : 6 (January 2026) |
| spellingShingle | Drought Tolerance Environmental Restoration Tolerancia a la Sequia Restauración Medioambiental Tree Breeding Leaf Morphology Ecological Restoration Neltuma alba Lopez Lauenstein, Diego Vega, Carmen Delcira Verga, Anibal Lascano, Hernan Ramiro Marchelli, Paula Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| title | Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| title_full | Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| title_fullStr | Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| title_short | Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma Alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| title_sort | heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in neltuma alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration |
| topic | Drought Tolerance Environmental Restoration Tolerancia a la Sequia Restauración Medioambiental Tree Breeding Leaf Morphology Ecological Restoration Neltuma alba |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/24953 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11056-025-10151-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-025-10151-4 |
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