Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forest Ecology and Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco Plasticity and climatic sensitivity of wood anatomy contribute to performance of eastern Baltic provenances of Scots pine Roberts Matisons a, ⁎ , Oskars Krišāns a , Annija Kārkliņa a , Andis Adamovičs a , Āris Jansons a , Holger Gärtner b a Latvian State Forest Research Institute ‘Silava’, 111 Rigas str., Salaspils LV-2169, Latvia b Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, Birmensdorf CH-8903, Switzerland ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Common garden Pinus sylvestris Seed transfer Dendroclimatology Baltic Sea region Tracheid parameters Hemiboreal zone ABSTRACT The efficiency of water use and transport are among the main factors affecting competitiveness, growth, and distribution of trees under warming climate. The phenotypical and genetic plasticity of tree populations is considered as an indicator of their adaptive capacity under changing environment. Climatic changes are ex- pected to affect growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and selection of reproductive material among the populations suitable for future climates has been advised for sustaining productivity of stands. In this regard, provenance trials can serve as source of comprehensive information about growth plasticity and climate-growth interactions of diverse populations. Quantitative wood anatomy can provide detailed information about xylo- genesis and factors affecting it, which are crucial for long-term predictions. Wood anatomy of two top- (Gustrow and Rytel), two low-performing (Eibenstock and Dippoldiswalde), and one local (Kalsnava) provenances of Scots pine from the eastern Baltic region growing in three provenance trials in Latvia was studied using mixed models, accounting for the experimental design, as well as using the time-series approach. Provenance had a significant effect on the studied wood anatomical proxies, indicating genetic adaptation of xylogenesis. The top-performing provenances, which originated from warmer and drier conditions, had tracheids with larger lumens and thinner walls, thus indicating adaptation to water deficit. The top-performing Rytel provenance showed the highest phenotypical plasticity of lumen cross-section area and cell wall thickness of stemwood tracheids. The studied low-performing provenances, which originated from the Orr Mountains, had tracheids with thicker wall and smaller lumens, likely to ensure mechanical durability. The local provenance showed intermediate values of the studied wood anatomical proxies. The effect of provenance on wood anatomical proxies showed some variations among the trials, which differed by continentality, likely due to ecological transfer distance. The studied ana- tomical proxies were affected by weather conditions prior and during formation of a tree ring, yet these re- lationships differed by trial and provenance. In general, wood anatomy of earlywood was affected by tem- perature in the dormant period and beginning of summer, as well as precipitation in the end of the previous vegetation period. Proxies of latewood showed correlation with temperature (negative) and precipitation (po- sitive) in summer, suggesting response to the availability of water. Considering the observed relationships, the top-performing provenances, particularly Rytel, have a high potential to sustain productivity of stands within the region in the future. 1. Introduction Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is predicted to decrease growth and survival in a large part of its distribution range (Buras and Menzel, 2019) due to increasing heat stress and water deficit (Martinez-Vilalta et al., 2009; Martin et al., 2010; Allen et al., 2015), causing severe economic consequences (Hanewinkel et al., 2013; Nabuurs et al., 2018). Hence, the observed and predicted extension and intensification of periods of water deficit (IPCC, 2013) are raising new challenges in forest management across vast regions in Europe (Allen et al., 2015; Yousefpour et al., 2017; Nabuurs et al., 2018). Consequences of water shortage, such as increment reduction (Anderegg et al., 2015; Popkova et al., 2018; De Micco et al., 2019) and pest outbreaks (Martini et al., 2017), are considered as a major threat counteracting growth im- provements due to extended vegetation periods (Yousefpour et al., 2017; Nabuurs et al., 2018). Under a warming climate, the effect of https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117568 Received 5 May 2019; Received in revised form 20 August 2019; Accepted 21 August 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: robism@inbox.lv (R. Matisons). Forest Ecology and Management 452 (2019) 117568 0378-1127/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T