Climate sensitivity of Cryptomeria japonica in two contrasting environments: Perspectives from QTL mapping

On the other hand, the mapping populations at the Kumamoto site exhibited a significantly lower growth response than populations at the Chiba site although there was no significant dif- ference in dry period between the two sites. Furthermore, the mapping population at the Chiba site tended to show either positive or negative growth in response to climatic factors, whereas the growth response of the mapping population in Kumamoto site was both positive and negative depending on the genotype. The differences observed at the two sites may be due to their transfer from their original habitat to a different environment, which is known to neg- atively impact tree growth (e.g., Abies sachalinensis, [58]; Pinus contorta, [59]). As mentioned earlier, the tree populations in this study were derived from a local variety from the Kyushu region, where the Kumamoto site is located. Indeed, decreased tree growth at the Chiba site compared with that at the Kumamoto site was also previously reported [32]; the study found that the mean stem diameter of trees at the Kumamoto site was larger than at the Chiba site Fig 4. Difference in climate sensitivity between the marker genotype of the strongest QTL identified for drought sensitivity at the Chiba site. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228278.g004 Climate sensitivity of Cryptomeria japonica PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228278 January 28, 2020 8 / 14