What is it about?
Forest trees need to experience a specific period of cold weather, known as "chilling," to wake up from winter dormancy and start growing in spring. But does "cold" mean the same thing to a tree in a cold northern forest as it does to one in a milder southern region? Our research reveals that the answer is no. We found that the temperatures effective for satisfying this chilling requirement are not fixed. Trees growing in warmer regions can utilize a range of higher temperatures to meet their chilling needs, whereas trees in colder regions rely on strictly lower temperatures. This implies that trees have adapted their internal "thermometers" to their local environments.
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Photo by Lukasz Szmigiel on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Understanding this flexibility is crucial for predicting how forests will survive and function in the face of global warming and milder winters.
Perspectives
I personally feel that our result is a good example of this notion: in scientific research it is important always to question established views and theories. We should not accept the previous views as the final truth without testing them.
Heikki Hänninen
Zhejiang A&F University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effective chilling temperatures for dormancy release in extratropical forest trees increase from cold to warm regions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2531077123.
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