Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration

Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Heritable leaf traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Neltuma alba for genetic improvement and ecological restoration Diego López-Lauenstein, Carmen Vega, Aníbal Verga, Hernán Ramiro Lascano, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7474162/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in New Forests → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Climate change-induced droughts are pressing threats to forest species, especially in semi-arid regions like the Chaco, in South America. Developing drought-adapted genetic material for Neltuma alba, a keystone species for timber and silvopastoral systems, is crucial for restoration and sustainability. Current breeding often overlooks drought adaptation, and evaluating complex physiological traits is impractical at scale. This study investigated simple, heritable leaf morphological traits as indirect selection criteria for drought tolerance in Neltuma alba. We assessed 90 individuals from three natural populations under controlled drought, monitoring senescence and survival. Eleven leaf morphological traits were measured, and their narrow-sense heritability (h²) was estimated. We then analyzed associations between these traits and drought response (BLUPs for senescence and survival). Results showed that leaf size traits (e.g., leaflet length, width, area) had moderate to high heritabilities (0.40–0.69) and were significantly associated with drought tolerance. Larger leaf sizes correlated with delayed senescence but potentially reduced long-term survival, indicating a functional trade-off between growth-oriented and survival-oriented strategies. These findings demonstrate that easily measurable, heritable leaf morphological traits can serve as reliable, low-cost indicators for drought tolerance in Neltuma alba. This provides a practical tool to accelerate early selection in breeding programs and optimize genetic resource management, even using herbarium material. Tailored selection schemes, accounting for the identified trade-offs, are essential for effective restoration and sustainable management of this vital species. Drought tolerance Tree breeding Leaf morphology Ecological restoration Neltuma alba Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in New Forests → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 10 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 29 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 29 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 27 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7474162","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":507395404,"identity":"4d7e8413-4385-43b0-a9c1-4ed6878541af","order_by":0,"name":"Diego López-Lauenstein","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgjFzAMkGB8kQHhseLWwIWlhNkhgMCBeC5gtwUCUFvbegw9/MFjL8PMvPlbxcMcfeQYg4wFDzT3cWnjOJRtIMKTzSM54lnYj8YyBYYPEs3QDhmPFuLVI5JhJGDAc5jG4ccbsRmKbAWODxBkzCQa2BHxazH8kALXYA7UUALXYQ7T8w6vFjOEAyBb+HjMGoJbEBiBDgrENjxagXyQbDNJ5JG6wJUskthknt0mwpRsk9uHWwg8MsY8/Kqzt+fsPH/z4s03Otp//8LEHH77h1sLAAIpEUGxIJMCcCmTg0wDRArbvADpjFIyCUTAKRgEEAACRgErDzx0QTgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Diego","middleName":"","lastName":"López-Lauenstein","suffix":""},{"id":507395405,"identity":"30a66106-bc35-4f4a-a825-b7415e2f9af4","order_by":1,"name":"Carmen Vega","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carmen","middleName":"","lastName":"Vega","suffix":""},{"id":507395406,"identity":"b0986f5a-270f-43ad-bd3e-af42ac908741","order_by":2,"name":"Aníbal Verga","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Agencia de Extensión Rural La Rioja","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aníbal","middleName":"","lastName":"Verga","suffix":""},{"id":507395407,"identity":"cd4a6915-c95b-4e73-b480-88f8fe9ca1ec","order_by":3,"name":"Hernán Ramiro Lascano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (INTA-CONICET)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hernán","middleName":"Ramiro","lastName":"Lascano","suffix":""},{"id":507395408,"identity":"a6f4757a-6309-417a-8c18-3098194d2d7e","order_by":4,"name":"Paula Marchelli","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"INTA Bariloche - 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