Globally, the changing and interacting effects of temperature and precipitation are anticipated to influence the fitness of specialty crops. Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) is an important crop in the Northeastern United States. Our team recently completed a study, wherein four plausible precipitation scenarios were developed to be representative of current and future growing season precipitation patterns. Using a small-scale precipitation simulator, we tested these scenarios on potted-day-neutral strawberries. This study generated four primary results.
(1) Though some treatments received different amounts of precipitation, little difference was observed in soil volumetric water content or temperature. Treatments designed to simulate future conditions were more likely to have higher nitrate-in-leachate (N-leachate) concentrations than those designed to simulate current conditions.
(2) Neither total precipitation nor seasonable distribution were associated with foliar or root disease pressure.
(3) While there was a slightly higher chance that photosynthesis would be higher in drier conditions, little difference was observed in the effects on chlorophyll concentration and no water stress was detected in any treatment.
(4) Leaf biomass was likely more affected by total rather than seasonal distribution of precipitation, but the interaction between changing rainfall distribution and seasonal totals is likely to be an important driver of root biomass development in the future.
In a manuscript recently published in a special issue of the journal Water, we argue that understanding crop responses to current and future precipitation scenarios requires an agroecological systems approach. The interactions between water availability, changing precipitation patterns and plant physiology has implications for strawberry production specifically, but also points towards the need to better understand how changing precipitation will alter agroecosystems in temperate climates. Climate adaptive management will likely require commercial producers to alter water, soil, crop health and fertility management if sustainable production is to be a priority in the future.