Summary
In 2013–2015, 20% of California’s forest cover was lost as a result of drought and wildfire. Because trees are ecologically crucial and economically valuable as timber for construction and furniture, forest management will benefit from knowledge of basic science about the epigenomic basis of tree response to drought. The overarching aims are to utilize natural populations of a widespread California oak, Quercus lobata (valley oak) to compare ecophysiological response to drought in trees adapted to wet, cool versus warm, dry environments to identify candidate genes underlying response to drough
