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No winter halt in below-ground wood growth of four angiosperm deciduous tree species

Lorene J. Marchand, Jozica Gricar, Paolo Zuccarini, Inge Dox, Bertold Marien, Melanie Verlinden, Thilo Heinecke, Peter Prislan, Guillaume Marie, Holger Lange, et al.
(2025) NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION. 9. p.386-394
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Abstract
In the temperate zone, deciduous trees exhibit clear above-ground seasonality, marked by a halt in wood growth that represents the completion of wood formation in autumn and reactivation in spring. However, the growth seasonality of below-ground woody organs, such as coarse roots, has been largely overlooked. Here we use tree monitoring data and pot experiments involving saplings to examine the late-season xylem development of stem and coarse roots with leaf phenology in four common deciduous tree species in Western Europe. Coarse-roots wood growth continued throughout the winter whereas stem wood growth halted in autumn, regardless of the tree species, experimental setting or location. Our results do not indicate a clear temperature constraint on below-ground wood growth, even during prolonged periods with soil temperatures lower than 3 degrees C. The continuous differentiation of xylem root cells in autumn and winter suggests that the non-growing season does not exist sensu stricto for all woody organs of angiosperm deciduous tree species of the temperate zone. Our findings hold implications for understanding tree functioning, in particular the seasonal wood formation, the environmental controls of tree growth and the carbon reserves dynamics.
Keywords
AUTUMN LEAF SENESCENCE, CLIMATE, PHENOLOGY, CLASSIFICATION, TEMPERATURE, ALLOCATION, DYNAMICS, ECOLOGY, BIOMASS, CARBON

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Citation

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MLA
Marchand, Lorene J., et al. “No Winter Halt in Below-Ground Wood Growth of Four Angiosperm Deciduous Tree Species.” NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, vol. 9, 2025, pp. 386–94, doi:10.1038/s41559-024-02602-6.
APA
Marchand, L. J., Gricar, J., Zuccarini, P., Dox, I., Marien, B., Verlinden, M., … Campioli, M. (2025). No winter halt in below-ground wood growth of four angiosperm deciduous tree species. NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, 9, 386–394. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02602-6
Chicago author-date
Marchand, Lorene J., Jozica Gricar, Paolo Zuccarini, Inge Dox, Bertold Marien, Melanie Verlinden, Thilo Heinecke, et al. 2025. “No Winter Halt in Below-Ground Wood Growth of Four Angiosperm Deciduous Tree Species.” NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 9: 386–94. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02602-6.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Marchand, Lorene J., Jozica Gricar, Paolo Zuccarini, Inge Dox, Bertold Marien, Melanie Verlinden, Thilo Heinecke, Peter Prislan, Guillaume Marie, Holger Lange, Jan Van den Bulcke, Josep Penuelas, Patrick Fonti, and Matteo Campioli. 2025. “No Winter Halt in Below-Ground Wood Growth of Four Angiosperm Deciduous Tree Species.” NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 9: 386–394. doi:10.1038/s41559-024-02602-6.
Vancouver
1.
Marchand LJ, Gricar J, Zuccarini P, Dox I, Marien B, Verlinden M, et al. No winter halt in below-ground wood growth of four angiosperm deciduous tree species. NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION. 2025;9:386–94.
IEEE
[1]
L. J. Marchand et al., “No winter halt in below-ground wood growth of four angiosperm deciduous tree species,” NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, vol. 9, pp. 386–394, 2025.
@article{01JNGZESGRM101QEBBHBJT96CQ,
  abstract     = {{In the temperate zone, deciduous trees exhibit clear above-ground seasonality, marked by a halt in wood growth that represents the completion of wood formation in autumn and reactivation in spring. However, the growth seasonality of below-ground woody organs, such as coarse roots, has been largely overlooked. Here we use tree monitoring data and pot experiments involving saplings to examine the late-season xylem development of stem and coarse roots with leaf phenology in four common deciduous tree species in Western Europe. Coarse-roots wood growth continued throughout the winter whereas stem wood growth halted in autumn, regardless of the tree species, experimental setting or location. Our results do not indicate a clear temperature constraint on below-ground wood growth, even during prolonged periods with soil temperatures lower than 3 degrees C. The continuous differentiation of xylem root cells in autumn and winter suggests that the non-growing season does not exist sensu stricto for all woody organs of angiosperm deciduous tree species of the temperate zone. Our findings hold implications for understanding tree functioning, in particular the seasonal wood formation, the environmental controls of tree growth and the carbon reserves dynamics.}},
  author       = {{Marchand, Lorene J. and Gricar, Jozica and Zuccarini, Paolo and Dox, Inge and Marien, Bertold and Verlinden, Melanie and Heinecke, Thilo and Prislan, Peter and Marie, Guillaume and Lange, Holger and Van den Bulcke, Jan and Penuelas, Josep and Fonti, Patrick and Campioli, Matteo}},
  issn         = {{2397-334X}},
  journal      = {{NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION}},
  keywords     = {{AUTUMN LEAF SENESCENCE,CLIMATE,PHENOLOGY,CLASSIFICATION,TEMPERATURE,ALLOCATION,DYNAMICS,ECOLOGY,BIOMASS,CARBON}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{386--394}},
  title        = {{No winter halt in below-ground wood growth of four angiosperm deciduous tree species}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02602-6}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}
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