What can we learn from the ecophysiology of plants inhabiting extreme environments? From 'sherplants' to 'shercrops'

18 págs.- 6 fig.- 174 referencias.- The following supplementary data are available at JXB online. Fig. S1. Aspect of Peganum harmala growing in the Manas steppe (Western China) and Strombocarpa tamarugo in the Atacama Desert (Chile).

In the 19th century it was proposed that ecophysiology was best studied in regions with extreme climatic conditions. In the present perspective, we argue that perhaps this is more timely than ever. The main reason is the need to improve crops to be simultaneously more productive-due to the increased population-and more stress tolerant-due to climate change. Climate change induces plants to face not just harsh but also 'unexpected' (unpredictable) climatic conditions. In this sense, we hypothesize that 'sherplants', namely plants living in the extremes of plant life (e.g. hot deserts, Arctic and Antarctica, or high elevations) can provide cues on how to break the trade-off between productivity and stress tolerance, as they need to be produced quickly due to the very short growing period while being stress tolerant due to the harsh and unpredictable climate endured during most of the year. We present glimpses of results from three consecutive projects developed over the last 10 years, in which hundreds of species from different regions of the world have been studied. In particular, we propose a pathway for developing 'shercrops' learning from 'sherplants', debate whether some of the already studied species may have really broken the aforementioned trade-off, and present a number of interesting unforeseen discoveries made when studying plants from extreme climates. We review the findings of recent ecophysiological campaigns at remote sites at the limits of plant life and discuss their interest in the context of climate change.

JF, JGu, JGa, JIG-P, BF-M JM-A, EN-O, HF, LGQ, and DB wish to acknowledge funding from the TOPSTEP (CTM2014-53902-C2-1-P and CTM2014-53902-C2-2-P), and successive EREMITA (PGC2018-093824-B-C41, PGC2018-093824-B-C44) and POPEYE (PID2022-139455NB-C31, PID2022-139455NB-C32 and PID2022-139455NB-C33) projects by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and the 'European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR'. The UPV group is additionally funded by IT1648-22 (Basque Government). BU acknowledges funding by TRR 341 Plant Ecological Genetics 456082119. MCB thanks the Australian Research Council for re-search support (DP180102969). LAC is grateful for funding from ANID ACT-210038 and FB-210006. MC was supported by a Vicenc Mut 2022 postdoctoral fellowship (PD-047-2022) funded by Conselleria de Fons Europeus, Universitat i Cultura from Govern de les Illes Balears. MJC-M acknowledges her postdoctoral contract RYC2020-029602-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. JD and TC wish to thank the Czech Science Foundation (project nos 21-26883S and 24-11954S) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic (MSMT) (#VES24, INTER-ACTION, LUAUS24258). JM-A and EN-O acknowledge additional funding by PGC2018-093824-B-C42 and PID2023-150695NB-I00, funded by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033/FEDER, UE. JGal acknowledges additional funding by PID2022-139455NB-C31 and PID2022-138424NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the 'European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR'

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