MEMBRA

What we discovered...

• Forests in Great Britain are failing to adapt to climate change. Over the past 40 years, UK forests have experienced a 30% decrease in small tree recruitment and a 90% increase in sapling mortality rates, leading to a sharp decline in treescapes’ regeneration. Diseases like ash die-back further impact those ecosystems and negatively affect carbon storage.
• All stressors trigger DNA methylation changes in trees. However, multiple factors alter the strength of these changes: stresses that occur early in a tree’s life, later in the growth season (spring), or that threaten a tree’s life (e.g., diseases) seem to lead to increased imprinting. However, small frequency of exposure to stress and stresses that do not threaten life, such as increased CO2, appear to be less significant.
• Different species adapt uniquely to the same stressors and pass on distinct memories to offspring. For example, descendants of drought-exposed oak are more resilient to future drought, while the progeny of hazel exposed to increased carbon dioxide have compromised germination.
• Treescapes’ responses to droughts vary widely, depending on existing climatic conditions, indicating a need for location-specific management practices.
• Disrupting cultural perspectives with new knowledge and language about trees’ memory can impact environmental ethics and challenge human-centric views. Using this language, policymakers and practitioners can communicate tree resilience more clearly, fostering policies and practices that reflect these ethical insights.