WP2 - Guillermina Dalla-Salda - INTA

Work Package Number 2

Work Package Title

Phenotyping tools for wood functional traits

Activity Type

(e.g. Research, Training, Management, Communication, Dissemination…)

Research and training

Participant Short Name

INRA

INTA

BOKU

Person-months per Participant:

22

11

1

Objectives

Improvement, development and testing tools and methods for accurate and rapid  phenotyping of wood hydraulic conductivity and vulnerability to cavitation, and for the measurement of the dynamics of wood formation

Description of Work (possibly broken down into tasks), lead participant and role of participants and seconded staff

Leader of the WP: G. Dalla Salda, INTA

2.1     Comparison of Cavitron and single-sample Embolitron with the non-automatized air-injection method (G. Dalla-Salda, INTA)

2.1.1  Single-sample Embolitron (G. Dalla-Salda, INTA). Seconded French staff will be trained to measure vulnerability to cavitation and others hydraulic traits in Bariloche, Argentina, using Argentinean plant material. After returning to France the seconded staff will use the Embolitron to measure cavitation on French plant material. Samples from the same trees will be also measured with the Cavitron and the results will be compared.

2.1.2  Air injection method (S. Rosner, BOKU). Seconded Argentinean staff will travel to Austria with the Embolitron and measure samples from the same Picea abies trees using both the Embolitron and the air injection method.

2.2     Definition and testing of an in-vivo Embolitron for cavitation inducement and ks recovery (M. E. Fernandez, INTA). Seconded French staff well experienced in the development of technical solutions for the measurement of hydraulic properties will join the Argentinean team to work on the specifications of a live Embolitron. 

2.3     Development and test of an affordable automatic dendrometer for the measurement of the dynamics of wood formation (L. Pâques, INRA). An affordable automatic dendrometer is being developed in France at the moment. Several copies will be built, transported to Argentina and installed and monitored by seconded French staff. Then seconded Argentinean staff will collect and bring to France microcores for the acquisition of the corresponding microdensity profiles, which will be converted into “dynamic microdensity profiles”.

Deliverables (brief description and month of delivery)

9. task 2.1.1 measurement of vulnerability to cavitation with the Embolitron in Argentina on Austrocedrus chilensis (G. Dalla-Salda, INTA)

10. task 2.1.1 measurement of vulnerability to cavitation with the Embolitron in France on Pseudotsuga menziesii, comparison with the Cavitron (P. Rozenberg, INRA)

11. task 2.1.2 measurement of vulnerability to cavitation with the air injection method on Picea abies in Vienna (S. Rosner, BOKU)

12. task 2.2 definition and written specification of a live Embolitron (M.E. Fernandez, INTA)

13. task 2.3 construction of a prototype of an affordable automatic dendrometer  (L. Pâques, INRA)

14. task 2.3 installation of 45 automatic dendrometers on hybrid Pinus in Argentina (M.E. Gauchat)

15. task 2.3 production of two growing seasons of radial growth curves on hybrid Pinus in Argentina and Larix sp. in France and the corresponding microdensity profiles (L. Pâques, INRA and M.E. Gauchat, INTA)

16. Training session “Biological and technical basis of measurement of vulnerability to cavitation” (S. Rosner, BOKU)

17. Training session “Use of automatic dendrometers to get dynamic wood density profiles”,  month 30 (L. Pâques, INRA)