Response mechanisms to abiotic stress: towards a forest species perspective

Abstract

Abiotic stress is the leading threat to the productivity and survival of the most important crops and forest ecosystems worldwide, as current climate change patterns indicate likely increases in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events such as drought, water and soil salinity, and extreme temperatures. Through evolution, plants have developed diverse molecular, morphological and physiological mechanisms to respond to adverse environments. Understanding such mechanisms is essential to develop and apply conservation and breeding strategies for plant species, with the larger aim of protecting biodiversity and producing tolerant/resistant organisms capable of overcoming abiotic stress conditions. However, most of the available knowledge about stress recognition, signaling and response in plants come from the study of annual species. Even though there are some studies regarding forest taxa like Populus, Eucalyptus, Picea, or Pinus, Mexican species are absent from the literature. With its vast biological richness and diversity, Mexico is a privileged country; nevertheless, the lack of knowledge regarding the susceptibility of its forest resources is the main obstacle to enacting policies oriented towards mitigating the negative consequences of this type of stress.