This review synthesizes current knowledge on the effects of major climate-related factors, including temperature, water availability, and elevated CO 2 , on the physiology, phenology, pollination, and productivity of fruit trees to provide a framework for enhancing the resilience and sustainability of fruit production under changing climatic conditions.
Abstract
Climate change is increasingly threatening the sustainability and productivity of fruit tree systems worldwide. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, more frequent extreme weather events, and elevated atmospheric CO
2
are affecting physiological and phenological processes that regulate tree growth, reproduction, and fruit quality. Key impacts include reduced winter chilling, disrupted dormancy release, irregular flowering, impaired pollination, and altered fruit development, leading to lower yield stability and quality. Due to their long life cycles, fruit trees are particularly vulnerable to cumulative environmental stresses such as heat, drought, salinity, and irregular rainfall, which can impair photosynthesis, growth, and reproductive performance while increasing susceptibility to pests and diseases. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the effects of major climate-related factors, including temperature, water availability, and elevated CO
2
, on the physiology, phenology, pollination, and productivity of fruit trees. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of genotype diversity and rootstock–scion interactions in improving climate resilience. The review also highlights key adaptation strategies, including the use of climate-resilient cultivars, optimized rootstock selection, efficient water and nutrient management, and climate-smart orchard practices. By integrating physiological, ecological, and production-level responses, this review provides a framework for enhancing the resilience and sustainability of fruit production under changing climatic conditions.
Climate change, particularly rising temperature, has emerged as a major constraint on fruit crop productivity worldwide. This review synthesises current knowledge on how elevated temperatures influence phenological development, reproductive processes, source–sink relationships and fruit quality in perennial horticultural systems. Fruit crops are highly sensitive to thermal variability because of their long life cycles and dependence on precise environmental synchronisation during flowering and fruit development. Heat stress disrupts pollen viability, pollen germination, pollen tube growth and ovule function, leading to reduced fertilisation success and fruit set. Elevated temperatures also accelerate phenological transitions, shorten flowering windows and increase the exposure of reproductive tissues to supra-optimal conditions. At the physiological level, heat stress reduces photosynthetic efficiency and alters carbohydrate metabolism, thereby limiting assimilate availability for developing fruits. This imbalance between source activity and sink demand contributes to fruit abortion, reduced yield and poor fruit development. Fruit quality is also affected through changes in sugar–acid balance, reduced phytochemical accumulation and decreased firmness and shelf life. The review further considers adaptation strategies, including breeding for heat-tolerant genotypes, orchard-level microclimate management and molecular tools such as genomics and gene editing. Although these approaches offer promising avenues for reducing climate-induced losses, their effectiveness remains constrained by genetic limitations and trade-offs between stress tolerance and fruit quality. Overall, the findings emphasise the need for integrated strategies combining physiological understanding, genetic improvement and agronomic management to sustain fruit productivity under warming climates.
P. C. Chaurasiya, Ashutosh Kumar, Rahul Kumar et al.· International Journal of Env...· 1 citation
Climate variability has become one of the most significant factors influencing the growth, flowering, fruiting, yield, and quality of horticultural crops worldwide. Rising temperatures, irregular rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, floods, heat waves, cold spells, and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have altered the physiological and reproductive processes of fruit, vegetable, flower, spice, and plantation crops. These climatic changes affect flowering induction, pollination, fruit set, fruit development, maturation, and yield stability, thereby threatening food security and the sustainability of horticultural production systems. Temperature and rainfall fluctuations also influence pest and disease dynamics, soil moisture availability, nutrient uptake, and crop water requirements, leading to significant economic losses. Climate variability has accelerated the need for climate-smart horticultural practices that improve resilience while maintaining productivity. Advanced technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), weather forecasting models, crop simulation models, and precision irrigation systems enable real-time monitoring of environmental conditions and support adaptive crop management. Climate-resilient crop varieties, protected cultivation, efficient irrigation, mulching, integrated nutrient management, and precision agriculture further enhance adaptation to changing climatic conditions. This paper examines the influence of climate variability on flowering, fruiting, and yield of horticultural crops, evaluates its impact on crop productivity and quality, discusses adaptation strategies for sustainable production, and explores emerging technologies and future prospects for climate-resilient horticulture.
Research Author· European Journal of Food, Fa...· 0 citations
Climate change is fundamentally altering the distribution, prevalence, and severity of plant pests and pathogens, posing an unprecedented challenge to global food security. Rising global temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and the increased frequency of extreme weather events are accelerating biological cycles, expanding the geographical range of thermophilic pests, and creating new ecological niches for emergent diseases. This paper analyzes the mechanisms by which climate-driven environmental stressors influence host-pathogen interactions, specifically focusing on the physiological susceptibility of crops and the adaptive capacity of agricultural pests. We explore how warmer winters facilitate the overwintering of populations, leading to earlier and more intense seasonal infestations. Furthermore, we examine how elevated atmospheric $CO_2$ levels alter plant nutritional quality and defensive pathways, potentially rendering crops more vulnerable to herbivory and infection. The analysis highlights the expansion of pest ranges into previously temperate zones and the disruption of biological control mechanisms as synchronized life cycles between pests and their natural enemies become decoupled. As climatic volatility increases, the management of crop health requires an urgent shift toward proactive, climate-smart surveillance systems and adaptive agricultural strategies. By synthesizing current epidemiological and ecological data, this paper provides a framework for understanding the cascading impacts of climate change on agro-ecosystems and emphasizes the necessity of integrated, landscape-level disease and pest management to sustain productivity in a rapidly warming world.
Research Author· European Journal of Food, Fa...· 0 citations
A better understanding factors regulating agricultural production is a research priority, given the pace of environmental change and global human population growth. Fruit orchards may be particularly vulnerable to climate change owing to the strong temperature-dependency of reproduction in temperate trees. In this study, we explored climate influences on the reproductive dynamics of apple (Malus domestica), one of the most widely-grown, economically-important fruit crops worldwide. Observations of individual-tree fruit-set, a key indicator of final yield, were acquired for three apple cultivars in an eight-year census of ∼44,900 trees in >5,500 orchards spanning wide climate gradients across the Republic of Korea. With maximum-likelihood models, we quantified temporal and climate-driven patterns in fruit-set, investigated evidence for spatially-synchronized production, and conducted simulations of orchard vulnerability to climate change. We found annual fruit-set oscillated around modal levels and was synchronized between orchards within 25 km. Higher temperatures had contrasting influences, reducing fruit-set during the cold-season (consistent with climate-induced phenological shifts), while increasing fruit-set during the season of bud initiation (prior spring). Simulations predict that higher future temperatures during bud initiation increase average fruit-set, despite the constraints of cold-season warming, but that such enhancements level-off by late-century and are accompanied by heightened volatility. Decelerating fruit-set and greater instability in production have implications for future societal needs, as robust supply systems depend as much on consistent production as on high average output. Our analyses also imply that future climate patterns promoting synchrony in fruit-set among orchards may accentuate the negative consequences of fluctuating production.
Arne Buechling, Gun-Cho Jung, J. Pavlin et al.· bioRxiv· 0 citations
Elevated soil temperatures, soil compaction and altered light conditions in connection with latitudinal changes are emerging environmental constraints in crop productivity. Because roots play a central role in water and nutrient acquisition, understanding the mechanisms underlying root developmental plasticity under these stresses is becoming essential for improving crop resilience.
This review summarizes recent advances in the genetic, molecular and physiological mechanisms regulating root responses to increasing soil temperature, compaction and light. Roots respond to increasing temperature through thermomorphogenesis, which promotes adaptive growth under moderate warming, and heat-stress responses, which prioritize cellular protection under supra-optimal temperatures. The effects of soil compaction on roots result in morphological, anatomical, and growth dynamics changes including circumnutation. Climate change is expected to shift the optimal cultivation latitude of many crops, exposing them to changes in light intensity, spectral quality, and photoperiod that may result in yield penalties. Accordingly, responses to light are reviewed, both through direct root photoperception and systemic shoot-to-root signaling. Root adaptive responses to heat stress, soil compaction and altered light environments converge on interconnected regulatory networks involving auxin, HY5, PIFs, ethylene,
YUCCA
genes and PIN/AUX1 transporters, which integrate environmental signals to coordinate root developmental plasticity.
Much of the current knowledge still derives from model species, while targeted studies in crops remain limited. Integrating high-throughput phenotyping, quantitative genetics, omics approaches, crop modelling and genome editing technologies will accelerate the identification and deployment of adaptive root traits to soil temperatures, soil compaction and altered light conditions for breeding climate-resilient crops.
F. Camerlengo, Giuseppe Sangiorgi, Ruggero Gualtieri et al.· Plant and Soil· 0 citations
Persistent global warming significantly impacts crop phenology and productivity, with perennial fruit trees facing heightened challenges due to their long life cycles and complex heat stress accumulation. Apple and pear, which hold substantial economic and nutritional value, are particularly vulnerable to high temperatures, manifesting as accelerated phenology, impaired floral organ development, disrupted pollination and fertilization, and insufficient fruit coloration—all of which severely compromise fruit quality and commercial value. Although recent advances have been made in elucidating heat stress signal transduction and regulatory networks in model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice, research on heat stress responses in apple and pear remains limited. This review systematically synthesizes the physiological responses, gene expression regulation, and protective cultivation strategies under high-temperature stress in apple and pear, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation for thermotolerance breeding and the establishment of heat stress regulatory networks, thereby supporting sustainable production in the context of global warming.
Gang-gang Niu, Yue Yao, Longfei Li et al.· Plants· 0 citations
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