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Journal of Agricultural Science and Botany | Volume: 2
November 15-16, 2018 | Paris, France
Plant Science
Natural Products,Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicines
International Conference on
Joint Event
&
Strategies and Priorities in Trees’ Reproductive Allocation
Eliezer E Goldschmidt
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
The survival of an individual tree does not depend upon sexual
reproduction. Yet, the long term persistence of tree species
requires an effective, asexual or sexual, means of reproduction.
In the wild, most tree species reach reproductive maturity
after a several decades of juvenility and even then, sexual
reproduction appears sporadically, often in a mode of masting.
Estimates of the reproductive allocation (= the percentage of
annual photosynthate diverted towards sexual reproduction)
in forest trees indicates a slow, gradual increase which may
reach 50% in ‘mast’ years, but, on the average does not exceed
20%. The situation is different, however, in certain subtropical
and tropical fruit trees(Citrus, Olive, Mango, Avocado), which
invest a tremendous amount of resources in profuse flowering
and fruiting. The reproductive allocation of a grapefruit tree
has been evaluated as 79%. Some Citrus cultivars may collapse
as a result of fruit overload and exhaustion of carbohydrate
reserves. The rationale underlying this behavior might be that
in their natural, original habitats these trees are exposed to
environmental stresses, in particular drought, that threaten
their survival. Thus, theydivert all their resources towards sexual
reproduction which is their highest priority. On the other hand,
the survival of the aforementioned temperate and boreal forest
trees is not endangered by environmental stresses; vegetative
growth is their first priority and theymaintain, on the average, a
more moderate reproductive allocation.
Speaker Biography
Eliezer E Goldschmidt was born in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1938. He received a Ph.D. degree
in 1968 from the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem. Since 1983, he has been a Professor of Horticulture in the Institute
of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
His primary areas of research include growth regulators, tree productivity, alternate
bearing, carbohydrate management, fruit ripening and senescence in citrus, and citron
physiology. Over 200 publications in Scientific Journals. With Prof. Pinhas Spiegel-Roy,
he has co-authored ‘The Biology of Citrus’, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
e:
Eliezer E Goldschmidt, Plant science & Natural Medicine 2018, Volume 2
DOI: 10.4066/2591-7897-C1-002