Exploring Functional Trait Dynamics and Responses in New Olive Crossbreeds: Implications for Climate Resilience Strategies

Climate change poses serious challenges to Mediterranean crops such as the olive tree (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea), underscoring the need for cultivars with improved drought tolerance and disease resistance. This study investigates variability in leaf and wood traits among Moroccan and introduced olive cultivars and their crossbreed genotypes grown under similar conditions. Specifically, we assessed (1) variation in key functional traits, (2) the effects of crossbreeding combinations, and (3) trait syndromes shaped by selection. Results showed substantial intraspecific variation in leaf traits, including specific leaf area (SLA), specific leaf water content (SLWC), stomatal size (SS), and density (SD), indicating diverse strategies for resource use and plasticity. Crossbreed genotypes generally displayed higher SLWC and lower SLA, reflecting adaptation to water stress. Wood traits, particularly vessel size (SVS) and number (NVS), also varied, revealing trade-offs between hydraulic efficiency and safety. Notably, an increase in vessel size and hydraulic conductivity was correlated with oil content (OC%), while OC% increased with higher vessel and stomatal densities. Larger stomata increased conductance and fruit growth, while lower SLA was linked to higher yield. Multivariate analysis distinguished two genotype groups, consistent with parental combinations. Overall, crossbreeding generated novel functional diversity that may enhance adaptive potential. These findings highlight the value of integrating functional and anatomical traits into olive breeding programs to improve resilience and productivity under climate change.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Ecologies

• Publication date

  2025-10-01

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/ecologies6040066
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The potential of sap conduction in the olive tree is linked to aridity conditions of the main cultivation area of varieties and allow to uncover their sensitivity to ongoing climate change.

  2025influential reference
• Plant functional traits and the entangled phenotype

  2025cited by this paper
• Trait integration varies with resource acquisition strategies in a common perennial crop

  2025cited by this paper
• Roots of domestication: unveiling the dynamics of domestication through trait-based analysis of olive trees in northern Morocco.

  2025influential reference
• Genetic markers of olive fruit weight selected to be used in breeding experiments

  2025cited by this paper
• Diverse leaf functional and phenotypic traits in hybrid oak individuals: Unveiling genetic variation, adaptation, and evolutionary potential within Quercus Species

  2024cited by this paper
• Parental Effect on Agronomic and Olive Oil Traits in Olive Progenies from Reciprocal Crosses

  2024cited by this paper
• Environment-dependent and intraspecific variations in leaf and size traits of a native wild olive (Olea europaea L.) along an aridity gradient in Morocco: a functional perspective

  2024influential reference
• Inter-provenance variability and phenotypic plasticity of wood and leaf traits related to hydraulic safety and efficiency in seven European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) provenances differing in yield

  2024cited by this paper
• Leaf phenotypic plasticity coupled with integration facilitates the adaptation of plants to enhanced N deposition.

  2023cited by this paper
• Phenotypic evolution of agricultural crops

  2023cited by this paper
• Leaf phenotypic plasticity and integration balance plant adaptation to water table decline: a mesocosm experiment

  2023cited by this paper
• Functional traits and drought strategy predict leaf thermal tolerance

  2023cited by this paper
• Relationships of stomatal morphology to the environment across plant communities

  2023cited by this paper
• Aridity Gradients Shape Intraspecific Variability of Morphological Traits in Native Ceratonia siliqua L. of Morocco

  2023cited by this paper
• Assessing the impact of deficit irrigation strategies on agronomic and productive parameters of Menara olive cultivar: implications for operational water management

  2023cited by this paper
• Effects of fruit load on growth, photosynthesis, biochemical characteristics, and fruit quality of Camellia oleifera

  2023cited by this paper
• Climate change threatens olive oil production in the Levant

  2023cited by this paper
• Leaf water content contributes to global leaf trait relationships

  2022cited by this paper
• The functional significance of the stomatal size to density relationship: Interaction with atmospheric [CO2] and role in plant physiological behaviour.

  2022cited by this paper
• The global spectrum of plant form and function: enhanced species-level trait dataset

  2022cited by this paper
• Statistical Approach to Assess Chill and Heat Requirements of Olive Tree Based on Flowering Date and Temperatures Data: Towards Selection of Adapted Cultivars to Global Warming

  2022cited by this paper
• Divergent response and adaptation of specific leaf area to environmental change at different spatio‐temporal scales jointly improve plant survival

  2022cited by this paper
• Phenotyping Olive Cultivars for Drought Tolerance Using Leaf Macro-Characteristics

  2022cited by this paper
• Effects of fruit load on photosynthetic characteristics of peach leaves and fruit quality

  2022cited by this paper
• Species Distribution Based-Modelling Under Climate Change: The Case of Two Native Wild Olea europaea Subspecies in Morocco, O. e. subsp. europaea var. sylvestris and O. e. subsp. maroccana

  2022cited by this paper
• Understanding anatomical plasticity of Argan wood features at local geographical scale in ecological and archaeobotanical perspectives

  2021cited by this paper
• Climate impacts on global agriculture emerge earlier in new generation of climate and crop models

  2021cited by this paper
• Genetic Revelations of a New Paradigm of Plant Domestication as a Landscape Level Process

  2021cited by this paper
• Root functional traits explain root exudation rate and composition across a range of grassland species

  2021cited by this paper
• Crop Domestication, Root Trait Syndromes, and Soil Nutrient Acquisition in Organic Agroecosystems: A Systematic Review

  2021cited by this paper
• Ecological and evolutionary approaches to improving crop variety mixtures

  2021cited by this paper
• Resisting Aridification: Adaptation of Sap Conduction Performance in Moroccan Wild Olive Subspecies Distributed Over an Aridity Gradient

  2021influential reference
• Stomatal and Leaf Morphology Response of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) Provenances Transferred to Contrasting Climatic Conditions

  2020cited by this paper
• Projected increase in compound dry and hot events over global land areas

  2020cited by this paper
• Global gradients in intraspecific variation in vegetative and floral traits are partially associated with climate and species richness

  2020cited by this paper
• Plasticity of fruit and oil traits in olive among different environments

  2019cited by this paper
• Cultivated Olive Diversification at Local and Regional Scales: Evidence From the Genetic Characterization of French Genetic Resources

  2019cited by this paper
• Trait-based plant ecology a flawed tool in climate studies? The leaf traits of wild olive that pattern with climate are not those routinely measured

  2019influential reference
• Altered stomatal dynamics induced by changes in irradiance and vapour-pressure deficit under drought: impacts on the whole-plant transpiration efficiency of poplar genotypes.

  2019cited by this paper
• How the global threat of pests and diseases impacts plants, people, and the planet

  2019cited by this paper
• Similar geometric rules govern the distribution of veins and stomata in petals, sepals and leaves.

  2018cited by this paper
• Variation of stomatal traits from cold-temperate to tropical forests and association with water use efficiency

  2018cited by this paper
• Climate change accelerates local disease extinction rates in a long‐term wild host–pathogen association

  2018cited by this paper
• Stomatal behaviour and stem xylem traits are coordinated for woody plant species under exceptional drought conditions.

  2018cited by this paper
• Speedy stomata, photosynthesis and plant water use efficiency.

  2018cited by this paper
• Xylem and stomata, coordinated through time and space.

  2017cited by this paper
• Growing larger with domestication: a matter of physiology, morphology or allocation?

  2017cited by this paper
• Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes

  2017cited by this paper
• Specific leaf area variations drive acclimation of Cistus salvifolius in different light environments

  2017cited by this paper
• Reproductive Strategies in Mediterranean Legumes: Trade-Offs between Phenology, Seed Size and Vigor within and between Wild and Domesticated Lupinus Species Collected along Aridity Gradients

  2017cited by this paper
• Temperature increase reduces global yields of major crops in four independent estimates

  2017cited by this paper
• Designing mixtures of varieties for multifunctional agriculture with the help of ecology. A review

  2017cited by this paper
• Plant Biodiversity Change Across Scales During the Anthropocene.

  2017cited by this paper
• Plant hydraulics as a central hub integrating plant and ecosystem function: meeting report for 'Emerging Frontiers in Plant Hydraulics' (Washington, DC, May 2015).

  2016cited by this paper
• Climatic events inducing die-off in Mediterranean shrublands: are species’ responses related to their functional traits?

  2016cited by this paper
• Mesophyll conductance to CO2 and Rubisco as targets for improving intrinsic water use efficiency in C3 plants.

  2016cited by this paper
• Latitudinal variation of leaf stomatal traits from species to community level in forests: linkage with ecosystem productivity

  2015cited by this paper
• Plant Thermoregulation: Energetics, Trait-Environment Interactions, and Carbon Economics.

  2015cited by this paper
• REVIEW: Plant functional traits in agroecosystems: a blueprint for research

  2015cited by this paper
• The global spectrum of plant form and function

  2015cited by this paper
• Stomatal closure is induced by hydraulic signals and maintained by ABA in drought-stressed grapevine

  2015cited by this paper
• Increasing water-use efficiency directly through genetic manipulation of stomatal density.

  2015cited by this paper
• A Drier Future?

  2014cited by this paper
• Ecological and evolutionary responses of Mediterranean plants to global change.

  2014cited by this paper
• Infectivity and Transmission of Xylella fastidiosa by Philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) in Apulia, Italy

  2014cited by this paper
• Current status of conservation, evaluation and usefulness of wild olive germplasm

  2014cited by this paper
• Climate-smart agriculture for food security

  2014cited by this paper
• The key role of dry days in changing regional climate and precipitation regimes

  2014cited by this paper
• The world‐wide ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum: a traits manifesto

  2014cited by this paper
• Plant Phenotypic Plasticity in Response to Environmental Factors

  2014cited by this paper
• Allocating CSR plant functional types: the use of leaf economics and size traits to classify woody and herbaceous vascular plants

  2013cited by this paper
• The complex history of the olive tree: from Late Quaternary diversification of Mediterranean lineages to primary domestication in the northern Levant

  2013cited by this paper
• Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models

  2013cited by this paper
• Evaluation of the need and present potential of olive breeding indicating the nature of the available genetic resources involved

  2013cited by this paper
• Climate adaptation as mitigation: the case of agricultural investments

  2013cited by this paper
• New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

  2013cited by this paper
• Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought

  2012cited by this paper
• NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis

  2012cited by this paper
• On the Increased Frequency of Mediterranean Drought

  2012cited by this paper
• A trait-based approach to comparative functional plant ecology: concepts, methods and applications for agroecology. A review

  2012cited by this paper
• Genetic manipulation of stomatal density influences stomatal size, plant growth and tolerance to restricted water supply across a growth carbon dioxide gradient

  2012cited by this paper
• Stomatal control as a driver of plant evolution.

  2011cited by this paper
• A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests

  2010cited by this paper
• A multi‐trait approach reveals the structure and the relative importance of intra‐ vs. interspecific variability in plant traits

  2010cited by this paper
• Effects of water deficit on the vegetative response, yield and oil quality of olive trees (Olea europaea L., cv Coratina) grown under intensive cultivation.

  2010cited by this paper
• The effects of drought on the water use, fruit development and oil yield from young olive trees

  2009cited by this paper
• A global study of relationships between leaf traits, climate and soil measures of nutrient fertility

  2009cited by this paper
• Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum.

  2009cited by this paper
• Determination of leaf fresh mass after storage between moist paper towels: constraints and reliability of the method

  2008cited by this paper
• Increased aridity in the Mediterranean region under greenhouse gas forcing estimated from high resolution simulations with a regional climate model

  2008cited by this paper
• Let the concept of trait be functional

  2007cited by this paper
• Adapting agriculture to climate change

  2007cited by this paper
• The Mechanical Diversity of Stomata and Its Significance in Gas-Exchange Control[OA]

  2006cited by this paper
• Olive oil production as influenced by different quantities of applied water

  2006cited by this paper
• Interactive effects of shade and irrigation on the performance of seedlings of three Mediterranean Quercus species.

  2006cited by this paper
• The worldwide leaf economics spectrum

  2004cited by this paper
• Inhibitory effect of flowering and early fruit growth on leaf photosynthesis in mango.

  2004cited by this paper
• ADAPTIVE VARIATION IN THE VULNERABILITY OF WOODY PLANTS TO XYLEM CAVITATION

  2004cited by this paper
• A HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY MODEL POINTS TO POST‐NEOGENE SURVIVAL OF THE MEDITERRANEAN OLIVE

  2004influential reference

• Functional Trait-Based Responses of the Moroccan Menara Cultivar to Deficit Irrigation

  2025cites this paper