The way back: recovery of trees from drought and its implication for acclimation

Planted Forests in China Have Higher Drought Risk Than Natural Forests

To improve the environment and mitigate climate change, China has implemented ambitious projects for natural forest protection and expanded planted forests. However, increased climate variability has led to more frequent and severe droughts, exacerbating the decline of these forests. The drought risk of planted forests is rarely assessed by considering both resistance and resilience, and comparative analyses between natural and planted forests are lacking. Here, we compared drought resistance and resilience in natural and planted forests across China using satellite observations from 2001 to 2020 to understand which forests were at higher risk of drought. The results showed that planted forests exhibited lower drought resistance and resilience compared to natural forests, particularly in subtropical broad-leaved evergreen forests and warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests. Moreover, drought resistance in planted forests significantly increased, while resilience decreased during 2011-2020 compared to 2001-2010, suggesting a shift in the strategies of planted forests to cope with drought stress. The higher drought risk in planted forests compared to natural forests was mainly attributed to lower forest canopy height and poorer soil nutrients, which limited resistance, and lower canopy height and severe drought characteristics (severity, duration, and frequency), which reduced resilience. These results underscore the higher potential risk of drought exposure in planted forests. To mitigate future drought impacts on planted forests under climate change, enhanced management strategies, including the preservation of natural forests and augmentation of structural diversity in planted forests, are imperative.

Greening but enhanced vegetation water stress in the Yellow River Basin: A holistic perspective

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) has emerged as a focal point of global vegetation greening due to climate change and human activities. Given its ecological vulnerability and intense human activities, environmental sustainability has become an urgent concern for scholars. Current research on the hydrological effects of vegetation greening, from a reductionist perspective, still struggle to answer the crucial question that whether vegetation water stress is increasing or decreasing. Towards that, we adopt a holistic perspective to explore the relationships between monthly vegetation dynamics and multiple water stress indicators in the YRB from 1982 to 2018. Using statistical methods and the random forest model, we revealed that both gross primary productivity and water use efficiency showed an increasing trend, with rates of 5.83 g Cm-2 and 0.01 g Cmm-1m-2 per year, respectively. We identified that with increasing climatic aridity, the water stress factors for vegetation transition from monthly scale water conditions (vapor pressure deficit, VPD) to 1-2 months scale (soil water content, SWC) and seasonal scale (standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index-3, SPEI-3) water balance status. And with an aridity index of 0.35 as the threshold, the response of vegetation to water stress factors exhibits marked spatial differentiation. Furthermore, since 2000, despite a persistent greening trend in the YRB, there has been a noticeable expansion in the spatial range of intermediate and long-term water stress factors (SWC, SPEI-3), indicating an enhancing vegetation water stress. This suggests that a serious attention should be paid to the future ecological security of the YRB under the intensified climate change.

The memory of past water abundance shapes trees 7 years later

PREMISE

Tree structure and function are constrained by and acclimate to climatic conditions. Drought limits plant growth and carbon acquisition and can result in "legacy" effects that last beyond the period of water stress. Leaf and twig-level legacy effects of past water abundance, such as that experienced by trees that established under wetter conditions are unknown.

METHODS

In an 18-year forest irrigation experiment, we explored the lasting structural impact of past water richness on leaves and twigs of Pinus sylvestris using synchrotron-based X-ray microscopy. We compared 47 anatomical traits among never-irrigated control trees, trees irrigated for 18 years, and formerly irrigated trees, 7 years after their return to control-level water availability in this naturally dry forest.

RESULTS

We found that legacy effects induced by a period of experimental irrigation continue to shape the structure of new leaves and twigs long after a sharp decrease in water availability. Legacy effects shaping twigs were present but dissipating, while leaf traits displayed long-lasting effects on structural strategy, with extreme values for traits associated with high water stress and low productivity.

CONCLUSIONS

Mature trees acclimating to an increasingly dry world may be at a disadvantage compared to young trees that have known only chronic drought. However, these young trees may be capable of thriving in sites of drought-related forest decline especially if planted while larger individuals are still present to support tree establishment. Without a legacy of past water abundance, trees in future forests may be better equipped to cope with our rapidly changing climate.

Does optimality partitioning theory fail for belowground traits? Insights from geophysical imaging of a drought-release experiment in a Scots Pine forest

We investigate the impact of a 20-yr irrigation on root water uptake (RWU) and drought stress release in a naturally dry Scots pine forest. We use a combination of electrical resistivity tomography to image RWU, drone flights to image the crown stress and sensors to monitor soil water content. Our findings suggest that increased water availability enhances root growth and resource use efficiency, potentially increasing trees' resistance to future drought conditions by enabling water uptake from deeper soil layers. This research highlights the significant role of ecological memory and legacy effects in determining tree responses to environmental changes.

Intensive leaf cooling promotes tree survival during a record heatwave

Increasing heatwaves are threatening forest ecosystems globally. Leaf thermal regulation and tolerance are important for plant survival during heatwaves, though the interaction between these processes and water availability is unclear. Genotypes of the widely distributed foundation tree species Populus fremontii were studied in a controlled common garden during a record summer heatwave-where air temperature exceeded 48 °C. When water was not limiting, all genotypes cooled leaves 2 to 5 °C below air temperatures. Homeothermic cooling was disrupted for weeks following a 72-h reduction in soil water, resulting in leaf temperatures rising 3 °C above air temperature and 1.3 °C above leaf thresholds for physiological damage, despite the water stress having little effect on leaf water potentials. Tradeoffs between leaf thermal safety and hydraulic safety emerged but, regardless of water use strategy, all genotypes experienced significant leaf mortality following water stress. Genotypes from warmer climates showed greater leaf cooling and less leaf mortality after water stress in comparison with genotypes from cooler climates. These results illustrate how brief soil water limitation disrupts leaf thermal regulation and potentially compromises plant survival during extreme heatwaves, thus providing insight into future scenarios in which ecosystems will be challenged with extreme heat and unreliable soil water access.

Diverging growth trends and climate sensitivities of individual pine trees after the 1976 extreme drought

Summer droughts are affecting the productivity and functioning of central European forests, with potentially lasting consequences for species composition and carbon sequestration. Long-term recovery rates and individual growth responses that may diverge from species-specific and population-wide behaviour are, however, poorly understood. Here, we present 2052 pine (Pinus sylvestris) ring width series from 19 forest sites in south-west Germany to investigate growth responses of individual trees to the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 1976. This outstanding drought event presents a distinctive test case to examine long-term post-drought recovery dynamics. We have proposed a new classification approach to identify a distinct sub-population of trees, referred to as "temporarily affected trees", with a prevalence ranging from 9 to 33 % across the forest stands. These trees exhibited an exceptionally prolonged growth suppression, lasting over a decade, indicating significantly lower resilience to the 1976 drought and a 50 % reduced capacity to recover to pre-drought states. Furthermore, shifts in resilience and recovery dynamics are accompanied by changing climate sensitivities, notably an increased response to maximum temperatures and summer droughts in post-1976 affected pines. Our findings underscore the likely interplay between individual factors and micro-site conditions that contribute to divergent tree responses to droughts. Assessing these factors at the individual tree level is recommended to advancing our understanding of forest responses to extreme drought events. By analyzing sub-population growth patterns, our study provides valuable insights into the impacts of summer droughts on central European forests in context of increasing drought events.

Genotype by environment interaction across water regimes in relation to cropping season response of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)

Genotype × environment (GxE) interaction effects are one of the major challenges in identifying cultivars with stable performance across agri-environments. In this study we analysed GE interactions to identify quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) cultivars with high and stable yields under different soil moisture regimes, representing control conditions, waterlogging and drought. Waterlogging and drought treatments were artificially induced using normoxia, a combination of hypoxia-normoxia, and 10% PEG (Polyethylene glycol) under hydroponic growth conditions, respectively. Both waterlogging and drought conditions significantly reduced the plant height (PH), number of leaves (NoL) and number of branches (NoB), stem diameter (SD), leaf area (LA) and dry weight (DW) of quinoa genotypes. The genotype, water regime, and genotype by water regime effects all significantly affected the measured quinoa traits. Based on the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model for DW, the genotypes G18, Puno, Q4, 2-Want, Puno, Real1 x Ruy937 and Titicaca were found to exhibit tolerance and were stable across water regimes. A second-stage evaluation was conducted to test genotype × environment interaction effects in crop production field trials, selecting two contrasting seasons based on soil moisture conditions involving a diverse set of genotypes (58 varieties in total). Our results demonstrate significant variations in both growth and yield among the quinoa genotypes across the cropping seasons. The GGE analysis for grain yield indicate that field conditions matched to G × E under hydroponic experimental conditions and the cultivars G18, Q1, Q4, NL-3, G28, 42-Test, Atlas and 59-ALC were classified within a range of high productivity. Our findings provide a basis for understanding the mechanisms of wide adaptation, while identifying germplasm that enhances the water stress tolerance of quinoa cultivars at early growth stages.

Thinning followed by slash burning enhances growth and reduces vulnerability to drought for Pinus nigra

Increasingly frequent severe drought events are pushing Mediterranean forests to unprecedented responses. Lack of management leads to dense forests that are highly susceptible to drought stress, potentially resulting in extensive dieback and increased vulnerability to other disturbances. Forest treatments like thinning and slash burning reduce competition for resources and have the potential to enhance tree growth and vigor and minimize tree vulnerability to drought. Here, we used tree rings to study the growth and physiological response of black pine (Pinus nigra) to drought in northeastern Spain under different treatments, including two thinning intensities (light and heavy, with 10% and 40% basal area reduction, respectively) followed by two understory treatments (clearing alone and in combination with slash burning), resulting in a research design of four treatments plus an untreated control with three replicates. Specifically, we studied basal area increment (BAI), resilience indices, and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) using carbon and oxygen isotope composition (δ13C and δ18O in tree-ring cellulose) before and after treatments. Our results showed that BAI and resistance to drought increased in the heavy-thin (burned and unburned) and light-thin burned units. Resilience increased in the burned units regardless of the thinning intensity, while recovery was not affected by treatment. Slash burning additionally increased BAI in the light-thin and resistance and resilience in the heavy-thin units compared with clearing alone. The stable isotope analysis revealed a minor effect of treatments on δ13C and δ18O. No change in iWUE among treatments was presumably linked to a proportional increase in both net CO2 assimilation and stomatal conductance, which particularly increased in the heavy-thin (burned and unburned) and light-thin burned units, indicating that these trees were the least affected by drought. This study shows that management approaches aimed at reducing wildfire hazard can also increase the vigor of dominant trees under drought stress. By reducing competition both from the overstory and the understory, thinning followed by clearing alone or in combination with slash burning promotes tree growth and vigor and increases its resistance and resilience to drought.

Tree post-drought recovery: scenarios, regulatory mechanisms and ways to improve

Efficient post-drought recovery of growth and assimilation enables a plant to return to its undisturbed state and functioning. Unlike annual plants, trees suffer not only from the current drought, but also from cumulative impacts of consecutive water stresses which cause adverse legacy effects on survival and performance. This review provides an integrated assessment of ecological, physiological and molecular evidence on the recovery of growth and photosynthesis in trees, with a view to informing the breeding of trees with a better ability to recover from water stress. Suppression of recovery processes can result not only from stress damage but also from a controlled downshift of recovery as part of tree acclimation to water-limited conditions. In the latter case, recovery processes could potentially be activated by turning off the controlling mechanisms, but several obstacles make this unlikely. Tree phenology, and specifically photoperiodic constraints, can limit post-drought recovery of growth and photosynthesis, and targeting these constraints may represent a promising way to breed trees with an enhanced ability to recover post-drought. The mechanisms of photoperiod-dependent regulation of shoot, secondary and root growth and of assimilation processes are reviewed. Finally, the limitations and trade-offs of altering the photoperiodic regulation of growth and assimilation processes are discussed.

A warmer climate impairs the growth performance of Central Europe's major timber species in lowland regions

Recent hot droughts have caused tree vitality decline and increased mortality in many forest regions on earth. Most of Central Europe's important timber species have suffered from the extreme 2018/2019 hot drought, confronting foresters with difficult questions about the choice of more drought- and heat-resistant tree species. We compared the growth dynamics of European beech, sessile oak, Scots pine and Douglas fir in a warmer and a cooler lowland region of Germany to explore the adaptive potential of the four species to climate warming (24 forest stands). The basal area increment (BAI) of the two conifers has declined since about 1990-2010 in both regions, and that of beech in the warmer region, while oak showed positive BAI trends. A 2 °C difference in mean temperatures and a higher frequency of hot days (temperature maximum >30 °C) resulted in greater sensitivity to a negative climatic water balance in beech and oak, and elevated sensitivity to summer heat in Douglas fir and pine. This suggests to include hot days in climate-growth analyses. Negative pointer years were closely related to dry years. Nevertheless, all species showed growth recovery within one to three years. We conclude that all four species are sensitive to a deteriorating climatic water balance and hot temperatures, and have so far not been able to successfully acclimate to the warmer climate, with especially Douglas and beech, but also Scots pine, being vulnerable to a warming and drying climate.

Photosynthetic Response to Phosphorus Fertilization in Drought-Stressed Common Beech and Sessile Oak from Different Provenances

Increasingly frequent and severe droughts pose significant threats to forest ecosystems, particularly affecting photosynthesis, a crucial physiological process for plant growth and biomass production. This study investigates the impact of phosphorus fertilization on the photosynthesis of common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.). In a common garden experiment, saplings originating from two provenances (wetter KA and drier SB provenances) were exposed to regular watering and drought in interaction with moderate and high phosphorus concentrations in the growing substrate. Results indicated that drought significantly reduced pre-dawn leaf water potential (ΨPD), net photosynthesis (Anet), stomatal conductance (gs) and photosynthetic performance index (PIabs) in both species. Phosphorus fertilization had a negative impact on Anet and PIabs, thus exacerbating the negative impact of drought on photosynthetic efficiency, potentially due to excessive phosphorus absorption by saplings. Provenance differences were notable, with the KA provenance showing better drought resilience. This research highlights the complexity of nutrient-drought interactions and underscores the need for cautious application of fertilization strategies in reforestation efforts under changing climatic conditions.

Responses of stem growth and canopy greenness of temperate conifers to dry spells

Dry spells strongly influence biomass production in forest ecosystems. Their effects may last several years following a drought event, prolonging growth reduction and therefore restricting carbon sequestration. Yet, our understanding of the impact of dry spells on the vitality of trees' above-ground biomass components (e.g., stems and leaves) at a landscape level remains limited. We analyzed the responses of Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies to the four most severe drought years in topographically complex sites. To represent stem growth and canopy greenness, we used chronologies of tree-ring width and time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We analyzed the responses of radial tree growth and NDVI to dry spells using superposed epoch analysis and further explored this relationship using mixed-effect models. Our results show a stronger and more persistent response of radial growth to dry spells and faster recovery of canopy greenness. Canopy greenness started to recover the year after the dry spell, whereas radial tree growth remained reduced for the two subsequent years and did not recover the pre-drought level until the fourth year after the event. Stem growth and canopy greenness were influenced by climatic conditions during and after drought events, while the effect of topography was marginal. The opposite responses of stem growth and canopy greenness following drought events suggest a different impact of dry spells on trees´ sink and source compartments. These results underscore the crucial importance of understanding the complexities of tree growth as a major sink of atmospheric carbon.

Photosynthetic Performance, Carbohydrate Partitioning, Growth, and Yield among Cassava Genotypes under Full Irrigation and Early Drought Treatment in a Tropical Savanna Climate

In a tropical savanna climate like Thailand, cassava can be planted all year round and harvested at 8 to 12 months after planting (MAP). However, it is not clear how water limitation during the dry season without rain affects carbon assimilation, partitioning, and yield. In this field investigation, six cassava genotypes were planted in the rainy season (August 2021) under continuous irrigation (control) or subjected to drought for 60 days from 3MAP to 5MAP during the dry season (November 2021 to January 2022) with no irrigation and rainfall. After that, the plants were rewatered and continued growing until harvest at 12MAP. After 60 days of stress, there were significant reductions in the mean net photosynthesis rate (Pn), petiole, and root dry weight (DW), and slight reductions in leaf, stem, and tuber DW. The mean starch concentrations were reduced by 42% and 16% in leaves and tubers, respectively, but increased by 12% in stems. At 6MAP after 30 days of rewatering, Pn fully recovered, and stem starch was remobilized resulting in a dramatic increase in the DW of all the organs. Although the mean tuber DW of the drought plants at 6MAP was significantly lower than that of the control, it was significantly higher at 12MAP. Moreover, the mean tuber starch concentration at 12MAP of the drought plants (18.81%) was also significantly higher than that of the controls (16.46%). In the drought treatment, the high-yielding varieties, RY9, RY72, KU50, and CMR38-125-77 were similarly productive in terms of tuber DW and starch concentration while the breeding line CM523-7 produced the lowest tuber biomass and significantly lower starch content. Therefore, for cassava planted in the rainy season in the tropical savanna climate, the exposure to drought during the early growth stage was more beneficial than the continuous irrigation.

Multivariate investigation of Moringa oleifera morpho-physiological and biochemical traits under various water regimes

BACKGROUND

The climatic changes crossing the world menace the green life through limitation of water availability. The goal of this study was to determine whether Moringa oleifera Lam. trees cultivated under Tunisian arid climate, retain their tolerance ability to tolerate accentuated environmental stress factors such as drought and salinity. For this reason, the seeds of M. oleifera tree planted in Bouhedma Park (Tunisian arid area), were collected, germinated, and grown in the research area at the National Institute of Research in Rural Engineering, Waters and Forests (INRGREF) of Tunis (Tunisia). The three years aged trees were exposed to four water-holding capacities (25, 50, 75, and 100%) for 60 days to realise this work.

RESULTS

Growth change was traduced by the reduction of several biometric parameters and fluorescence (Fv/Fm) under severe water restriction (25 and 50%). Whereas roots presented miraculous development in length face to the decrease of water availability (25 and 50%) in their rhizospheres. The sensitivity to drought-induced membrane damage (Malondialdehyde (MDA) content) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) liberation (hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content) was highly correlated with ROS antiradical scavenging (ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and (2, 2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyle (DPPH)), phenolic components and osmolytes accumulation. The drought stress tolerance of M. oleifera trees was associated with a dramatic stimulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities.

CONCLUSION

Based on the several strategies adopted, integrated M. oleifera can grow under drought stress as accentuated adverse environmental condition imposed by climate change.

Drought legacies in mixed Mediterranean forests: Analysing the effects of structural overshoot, functional traits and site factors

Previous favorable climate conditions stimulate tree growth making some forests more vulnerable to hotter droughts. This so-called structural overshoot may contribute to forest dieback, but there is little evidence on its relative importance depending on site conditions and tree species because of limited field data. Here, we analyzed remote sensing (NDVI) and tree-ring width data to evaluate the impacts of the 2017 drought on canopy cover and growth in mixed Mediterranean forests (Fraxinus ornus, Quercus pubescens, Acer monspessulanum, Pinus pinaster) located in southern Italy. Legacy effects were assessed by calculating differences between observed and predicted basal area increment (BAI). Overall, the growth response of the study stands to the 2017 drought was contingent on site conditions and species characteristics. Most sites presented BAI and canopy cover reductions during the drought. Growth decline was followed by a quick recovery and positive legacy effects, particularly in the case of F. ornus. However, we found negative drought legacies in some species (e.g., Q. pubescens, A. monspessulanum) and sites. In those sites showing negative legacies, high growth rates prior to drought in response to previous wet winter-spring conditions may have predisposed trees to drought damage. Vice versa, the positive drought legacy found in some F. ornus site was linked to post-drought growth release due to Q. pubescens dieback and mortality. Therefore, we found evidences of structural drought overshoot, but it was restricted to specific sites and species. Our findings highlight the importance of considering site settings such as stand composition, pre-drought conditions and different tree species when studying structural overshoot. Droughts contribute to modify the composition and dynamics in mixed forests.

Legacy effects of premature defoliation in response to an extreme drought event modulate phytochemical profiles with subtle consequences for leaf herbivory in European beech

Extreme droughts can have long-lasting effects on forest community dynamics and species interactions. Yet, our understanding of how drought legacy modulates ecological relationships is just unfolding. We tested the hypothesis that leaf chemistry and herbivory show long-term responses to premature defoliation caused by an extreme drought event in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). For two consecutive years after the extreme European summer drought in 2018, we collected leaves from the upper and lower canopy of adjacently growing drought-stressed and unstressed trees. Leaf chemistry was analyzed and leaf damage by different herbivore-feeding guilds was quantified. We found that drought had lasting impacts on leaf nutrients and on specialized metabolomic profiles. However, drought did not affect the primary metabolome. Drought-related phytochemical changes affected damage of leaf-chewing herbivores whereas damage caused by other herbivore-feeding guilds was largely unaffected. Drought legacy effects on phytochemistry and herbivory were often weaker than between-year or between-canopy strata variability. Our findings suggest that a single extreme drought event bears the potential to long-lastingly affect tree-herbivore interactions. Drought legacy effects likely become more important in modulating tree-herbivore interactions since drought frequency and severity are projected to globally increase in the coming decades.

Revealing legacy effects of extreme droughts on tree growth of oaks across the Northern Hemisphere

Forests are undergoing increasing risks of drought-induced tree mortality. Species replacement patterns following mortality may have a significant impact on the global carbon cycle. Among major hardwoods, deciduous oaks (Quercus spp.) are increasingly reported as replacing dying conifers across the Northern Hemisphere. Yet, our knowledge on the growth responses of these oaks to drought is incomplete, especially regarding post-drought legacy effects. The objectives of this study were to determine the occurrence, duration, and magnitude of legacy effects of extreme droughts and how that vary across species, sites, and drought characteristics. The legacy effects were quantified by the deviation of observed from expected radial growth indices in the period 1940-2016. We used stand-level chronologies from 458 sites and 21 oak species primarily from Europe, north-eastern America, and eastern Asia. We found that legacy effects of droughts could last from 1 to 5 years after the drought and were more prolonged in dry sites. Negative legacy effects (i.e., lower growth than expected) were more prevalent after repetitive droughts in dry sites. The effect of repetitive drought was stronger in Mediterranean oaks especially in Quercus faginea. Species-specific analyses revealed that Q. petraea and Q. macrocarpa from dry sites were more negatively affected by the droughts while growth of several oak species from mesic sites increased during post-drought years. Sites showing positive correlations to winter temperature showed little to no growth depression after drought, whereas sites with a positive correlation to previous summer water balance showed decreased growth. This may indicate that although winter warming favors tree growth during droughts, previous-year summer precipitation may predispose oak trees to current-year extreme droughts. Our results revealed a massive role of repetitive droughts in determining legacy effects and highlighted how growth sensitivity to climate, drought seasonality and species-specific traits drive the legacy effects in deciduous oak species.

Wet events increase tree growth recovery after different drought intensities

Understanding the dynamics of tree recovery after drought is critical for predicting the state of tree growth in the context of future climate change. While there has been a great deal of researches showing that drought events can cause numerous significant negative effects on tree growth, the positive effects of post-drought wetting events on tree growth remain unclear. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of wet and dry events on the radial growth of trees in Central Asia using data on the width of tree rings. The results showed that 1) Drought is the main limiting factor for radial growth of trees in Central Asia, and that as the intensity and sensitivity of drought increases, tree resistance decreases and recovery rises, and more frequent droughts reduce tree resistance. 2) Tree radial growth varied significantly with wet and dry conditions, with wet events before and after drought events significantly enhancing tree radial growth. 3) When drought is followed by a wetting event, the relationship between tree resistance and recovery is closer to the "line of full resilience", with a significant increase in recovery, and compensatory growth is more likely to occur. Thus, wetting events have a significant positive effect on tree radial growth and are a key factor in rapid tree growth recovery after drought.

Contrasting physiological strategies explain heterogeneous responses to severe drought conditions within local populations of a widespread conifer

Understanding how trees prioritize carbon gain at the cost of drought vulnerability under severe drought conditions is crucial for predicting which genetic groups and individuals will be resilient to future climate conditions. In this study, we investigated variations in growth, tree-ring anatomy as well as carbon and oxygen isotope ratios to assess the sensitivity and the xylem formation process in response to an episode of severe drought in 29 mature white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) families grown in a common garden trial. During the drought episode, the majority of families displayed decreased growth and exhibited either sustained or increased intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE), which was largely influenced by reduced stomatal conductance as revealed by the dual carbon‑oxygen isotope approach. Different water-use strategies were detected within white spruce populations in response to drought conditions. Our results revealed intraspecific variation in the prevailing physiological mechanisms underlying drought response within and among populations of Picea glauca. The presence of different genetic groups reflecting diverse water-use strategies within this largely-distributed conifer is likely to lessen the negative effects of drought and decrease the overall forest ecosystems' sensitivity to it.

Contrasting patterns of water use efficiency and annual radial growth among European beech forests along the Italian peninsula

Tree mortality and forest dieback episodes are increasing due to drought and heat stress. Nevertheless, a comprehensive understanding of mechanisms enabling trees to withstand and survive droughts remains lacking. Our study investigated basal area increment (BAI), and δ13C-derived intrinsic water-use-efficiency (iWUE), to elucidate beech resilience across four healthy stands in Italy with varying climates and soil water availability. Additionally, fist-order autocorrelation (AR1) analysis was performed to detect early warning signals for potential tree dieback risks during extreme drought events. Results reveal a negative link between BAI and vapour pressure deficit (VPD), especially in southern latitudes. After the 2003 drought, BAI decreased at the northern site, with an increase in δ13C and iWUE, indicating conservative water-use. Conversely, the southern sites showed increased BAI and iWUE, likely influenced by rising CO2 and improved water availability. In contrast, the central site sustained higher transpiration rates due to higher soil water holding capacity (SWHC). Despite varied responses, most sites exhibited reduced resilience to future extreme events, indicated by increased AR1. Temperature significantly affected beech iWUE and BAI in northern Italy, while VPD strongly influenced the southern latitudes. The observed increase in BAI and iWUE in southern regions might be attributed to an acclimation response.

Finding balance: Tree-ring isotopes differentiate between acclimation and stress-induced imbalance in a long-term irrigation experiment

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a common European tree species, and understanding its acclimation to the rapidly changing climate through physiological, biochemical or structural adjustments is vital for predicting future growth. We investigated a long-term irrigation experiment at a naturally dry forest in Switzerland, comparing Scots pine trees that have been continuously irrigated for 17 years (irrigated) with those for which irrigation was interrupted after 10 years (stop) and non-irrigated trees (control), using tree growth, xylogenesis, wood anatomy, and carbon, oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope measurements in the water, sugars and cellulose of plant tissues. The dendrochronological analyses highlighted three distinct acclimation phases to the treatments: irrigated trees experienced (i) a significant growth increase in the first 4 years of treatment, (ii) high growth rates but with a declining trend in the following 8 years and finally (iii) a regression to pre-irrigation growth rates, suggesting the development of a new growth limitation (i.e. acclimation). The introduction of the stop treatment resulted in further growth reductions to below-control levels during the third phase. Irrigated trees showed longer growth periods and lower tree-ring δ13 C values, reflecting lower stomatal restrictions than control trees. Their strong tree-ring δ18 O and δ2 H (O-H) relationship reflected the hydrological signature similarly to the control. On the contrary, the stop trees had lower growth rates, conservative wood anatomical traits, and a weak O-H relationship, indicating a physiological imbalance. Tree vitality (identified by crown transparency) significantly modulated growth, wood anatomical traits and tree-ring δ13 C, with low-vitality trees of all treatments performing similarly regardless of water availability. We thus provide quantitative indicators for assessing physiological imbalance and tree acclimation after environmental stresses. We also show that tree vitality is crucial in shaping such responses. These findings are fundamental for the early assessment of ecosystem imbalances and decline under climate change.

Quercus ilex L. dieback is genetically determined: Evidence provided by dendrochronology, δ13C and SSR genotyping

Quercus ilex L. dieback has been reported in several Mediterranean forests, revealing different degree of crown damages even in close sites, as observed in two Q. ilex forest stands in southern Tuscany (IT). In this work, we applied a novel approach combining dendrochronological, tree-ring δ13C and genetic analysis to test the hypothesis that different damage levels observed in a declining (D) and non-declining (ND) Q. ilex stands are connected to population features linked to distinct response to drought. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of two major drought events (2012 and 2017), that occurred in the last fifteen years in central Italy, on Q. ilex growth and intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi). Overall, Q. ilex showed slightly different ring-width patterns between the two stands, suggesting a lower responsiveness to seasonal climatic variations for trees at D stand, while Q. ilex at ND stand showed changes in the relationship between climatic parameters and growth across time. The strong divergence in δ13C signals between the two stands suggested a more conservative use of water for Q. ilex at ND compared to D stand that may be genetically driven. Q. ilex at ND resulted more resilient to drought compared to trees at D, probably thanks to its safer water strategy. Genotyping analysis based on simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers revealed the presence of different Q. ilex populations at D and ND stands. Our study shows intraspecific variations in drought response among trees grown in close. In addition, it highlights the potential of combining tree-ring δ13C data with SSR genotyping for the selection of seed-bearing genotypes aimed to preserve Mediterranean holm oak ecosystem and improve its forest management.

Post-drought compensatory growth in perennial grasslands is determined by legacy effects of the soil and not by plants

Grasslands recovering from drought have repeatedly been shown to outperform non-drought-stressed grasslands in biomass production. The mechanisms that lead to the unexpectedly high biomass production in grasslands recovering from drought are, however, not understood. To disentangle plant-intrinsic and plant-extrinsic (soil) drought legacy effects on grassland recovery from drought, we designed a factorial field experiment where Lolium perenne plants that were exposed to either a 2-month drought or to well-watered control conditions were transplanted into control and drought-stressed soil and rewetted thereafter. Drought and rewetting (DRW) resulted in negative drought legacy effects of formerly drought-stressed plants (DRWp ) compared with control plants (Ctrp ) when decoupled from soil-mediated DRW effects, with DRWp showing less aboveground productivity (-13%), restricted N nutrition, and higher δ13 C compared with Ctrp . However, plants grown on formerly drought-stressed soil (DRWs ) showed enhanced aboveground productivity (+82%), improved N nutrition, and higher δ13 C values relative to plants grown on control soil (Ctrs ), irrespective of the plants' pretreatment. Our study shows that the higher post-drought productivity of perennial grasslands recovering from drought relative to non-drought-stressed controls is induced by soil-mediated DRW legacy effects which improve plant N nutrition and photosynthetic capacity and that these effects countervail negative plant-intrinsic drought legacy effects.

God save the queen! How and why the dominant evergreen species of the Mediterranean Basin is declining?

Quercus ilex may be considered the queen tree of the Mediterranean Basin, dominating coastal forest areas up to 2000 m above sea level at some sites. However, an increase in holm oak decline has been observed in the last decade. In this review, we analysed the current literature to answer the following questions: what are the traits that allow holm oak to thrive in the Mediterranean environment, and what are the main factors that are currently weakening this species? In this framework, we attempt to answer these questions by proposing a triangle as a graphical summary. The first vertex focuses on the main morpho-anatomical, biochemical and physiological traits that allow holm oak to dominate Mediterranean forests. The other two vertices consider abiotic and biotic stressors that are closely related to holm oak decline. Here, we discuss the current evidence of holm oak responses to abiotic and biotic stresses and propose a possible solution to its decline through adequate forest management choices, thus allowing the species to maintain its ecological domain.

Long-term changes in forest response to extreme atmospheric dryness

Atmospheric dryness, as indicated by vapor pressure deficit (VPD), has a strong influence on forest greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere. In this study, we used long-term (10-30 years) net ecosystem productivity (NEP) measurements from 60 forest sites across the world (1003 site-years) to quantify long-term changes in forest NEP resistance and NEP recovery in response to extreme atmospheric dryness. We tested two hypotheses: first, across sites differences in NEP resistance and NEP recovery of forests will depend on both the biophysical characteristics (i.e., leaf area index [LAI] and forest type) of the forest as well as on the local meteorological conditions of the site (i.e., mean VPD of the site), and second, forests experiencing an increasing trend in frequency and intensity of extreme dryness will show an increasing trend in NEP resistance and NEP recovery over time due to emergence of long-term ecological stress memory. We used a data-driven statistical learning approach to quantify NEP resistance and NEP recovery over multiple years. Our results showed that forest types, LAI, and median local VPD conditions explained over 50% of variance in both NEP resistance and NEP recovery, with drier sites showing higher NEP resistance and NEP recovery compared to sites with less atmospheric dryness. The impact of extreme atmospheric dryness events on NEP lasted for up to 3 days following most severe extreme events in most forests, indicated by an NEP recovery of less than 100%. We rejected our second hypothesis as we found no consistent relationship between trends of extreme VPD with trends in NEP resistance and NEP recovery across different forest sites, thus an increase in atmospheric dryness as it is predicted might not increase the resistance or recovery of forests in terms of NEP.

Riparian forest response to extreme drought is influenced by climatic context and canopy structure

Droughts significantly impact forest ecosystems, reducing forest health and productivity, compromising ecosystem functioning, and nature-based solutions for climate change. The response and resilience of riparian forests to drought are poorly understood despite their key role in the functioning of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we investigate riparian forest drought responses and resilience to an extreme drought event at a regional scale. We also examine how drought event characteristics, average climate conditions, topography, soil, vegetation structure, and functional diversity shape the resilience of riparian forests to drought. We used a time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) to calculate the resistance to and recovery after an extreme drought (2017-2018) in 49 sites across an Atlantic-Mediterranean climate gradient in North Portugal. We used generalized additive models and multi-model inference to understand which factors best explained drought responses. We found a trade-off between drought resistance and recovery (maximum r = -0.5) and contrasting strategies across the climatic gradient of the study area. Riparian forests in the Atlantic regions showed comparatively higher resistance, while Mediterranean forests recovered more. Canopy structure and climate context were the most relevant predictors of resistance and recovery. However, median NDVI and NDWI had not returned to pre-drought levels (Rc_NDWI mean = 1.21, Rc_NDVI mean = 1.01) three years after the event. Our study shows that riparian forests have contrasting drought response strategies and may be susceptible to extended legacy effects associated with extreme and/or recurring droughts, similarly to upland forests. This work highlights the drought vulnerability of riparian ecosystems and emphasises the need for further studies on long-term resilience to droughts.

Transcriptional reprogramming during recovery from drought stress in Eucalyptus grandis

The importance of drought as a constraint to agriculture and forestry is increasing with climate change. Genetic improvement of plants' resilience is one of the mitigation strategies to curb this threat. Although recovery from drought stress is important to long-term drought adaptation and has been considered as an indicator of dehydration tolerance in annual crops, this has not been well explored in forest trees. Thus, we aimed to investigate the physiological and transcriptional changes during drought stress and rewatering in Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden. We set up a greenhouse experiment where we imposed drought stress on 2-year-old seedlings and rewatered the recovery group after 17 days of drought. Our measurement of leaf stomatal conductance (gs) showed that, while gs was reduced by drought stress, it fully recovered after 5 days of rewatering. The RNA-seq analysis from stem samples revealed that genes related to known stress responses such as phytohormone and reactive oxygen species signaling were upregulated, while genes involved in metabolism and growth were downregulated due to drought stress. We observed reprogramming of signal transduction pathways and metabolic processes at 1 day of rewatering, indicating a quick response to rewatering. Our results suggest that recovery from drought stress may entail alterations in the jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, ethylene and brassinosteroid signaling pathways. Using co-expression network analysis, we identified hub genes, including the putative orthologs of ABI1, ABF2, ABF3, HAI2, BAM1, GolS2 and SIP1 during drought and CAT2, G6PD1, ADG1 and FD-1 during recovery. Taken together, by highlighting the molecular processes and identifying key genes, this study gives an overview of the mechanisms underlying the response of E. grandis to drought stress and recovery that trees may face repeatedly throughout their long life cycle. This provides a useful reference to the identification and further investigation of signaling pathways and target genes for future tree improvement.

Plant Tolerance to Drought Stress with Emphasis on Wheat

Environmental stresses, such as drought, have negative effects on crop yield. Drought is a stress whose impact tends to increase in some critical regions. However, the worldwide population is continuously increasing and climate change may affect its food supply in the upcoming years. Therefore, there is an ongoing effort to understand the molecular processes that may contribute to improving drought tolerance of strategic crops. These investigations should contribute to delivering drought-tolerant cultivars by selective breeding. For this reason, it is worthwhile to review regularly the literature concerning the molecular mechanisms and technologies that could facilitate gene pyramiding for drought tolerance. This review summarizes achievements obtained using QTL mapping, genomics, synteny, epigenetics, and transgenics for the selective breeding of drought-tolerant wheat cultivars. Synthetic apomixis combined with the msh1 mutation opens the way to induce and stabilize epigenomes in crops, which offers the potential of accelerating selective breeding for drought tolerance in arid and semi-arid regions.

Heat-Priming during Somatic Embryogenesis Increased Resilience to Drought Stress in the Generated Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster) Plants

Drought stress is becoming the most important factor of global warming in forests, hampering the production of reproductive material with improved resilience. Previously, we reported that heat-priming maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) megagametophytes during SE produced epigenetic changes that generated plants better adapted to subsequent heat stress. In this work, we tested, in an experiment performed under greenhouse conditions, whether heat-priming will produce cross-tolerance to mild drought stress (30 days) in 3-year-old priming-derived plants. We found that they maintain constitutive physiological differences as compared to controls, such as higher proline, abscisic acid, starch, and reduced glutathione and total protein contents, as well as higher ΦPSII yield. Primed plants also displayed a constitutive upregulation of the WRKY transcription factor and the Responsive to Dehydration 22 (RD22) genes, as well as of those coding for antioxidant enzymes (APX, SOD, and GST) and for proteins that avoid cell damage (HSP70 and DHNs). Furthermore, osmoprotectants as total soluble sugars and proteins were early accumulated in primed plants during the stress. Prolongated water withdrawal increased ABA accumulation and negatively affected photosynthesis in all plants but primed-derived plants recovered faster than controls. We concluded that high temperature pulses during somatic embryogenesis resulted in transcriptomic and physiological changes in maritime pine plants that can increase their resilience to drought stress, since heat-primed plants exhibit permanent activation of mechanisms for cell protection and overexpression of stress pathways that pre-adapt them to respond more efficiently to soil water deficit.

Nutrient regime modulates drought response patterns of three temperate tree species

Against the backdrop of global change, the intensity, duration, and frequency of droughts are projected to increase and threaten forest ecosystems worldwide. Tree responses to drought are complex and likely to vary among species, drought characteristics, and site conditions. Here, we examined the drought response patterns of three major temperate tree species, s. fir (Abies alba), E. beech (Fagus sylvatica), and N. spruce (Picea abies), along an ecological gradient in the South - Central - East part of Germany that included a total of 37 sites with varying climatic and soil conditions. We relied on annual tree-ring data to assess the influence of different drought characteristics and (micro-) site conditions on components of tree resilience and to detect associated temporal changes. Our study revealed that nutrient regime, drought frequency, and hydraulic conditions in the previous and subsequent years were the main determinants of drought responses, with pronounced differences among species. Specifically, we found that (a) higher drought frequency was associated with higher resistance and resilience for N. spruce and E. beech; (b) more favorable climatic conditions in the two preceding and following years increased drought resilience and determined recovery potential of E. beech after extreme drought; (c) a site's nutrient regime, rather than micro-site differences in water availability, determined drought responses, with trees growing on sites with a balanced nutrient regime having a higher capacity to withstand extreme drought stress; (d) E. beech and N. spruce experienced a long-term decline in resilience. Our results indicate that trees under extreme drought stress benefit from a balanced nutrient supply and highlight the relevance of water availability immediately after droughts. Observed long-term trends confirm that N. spruce is suffering from persistent climatic changes, while s. fir is coping better. These findings might be especially relevant for monitoring, scenario analyses, and forest ecosystem management.

The role of species interactions for forest resilience to drought

Increasing durations and frequencies of droughts under climate change endanger the sustainable functioning of forests worldwide. The admixture of species with complementary resource use may increase the resilience of forests towards drought; however, little is known about modifications of species interactions (i.e. facilitation and competition) by increasing drought severity in mixed forests. In particular, knowledge on the regulation of central ecohydrological processes, such as tree water fluxes, is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a literature review to assess the impact of species interactions on tree resilience (resistance + recovery) under increasing drought severity. The classification of studies into three drought classes suggested that beneficial species interactions, i.e. through improved water relations, were prevalent under mild droughts. However, with increasing drought, negative effects, such as interspecific competition, occurred. These negative interactions were prominent under extreme droughts, where even trees with complementary resource-use strategies competed for water resources. Fewer data are available on recovery of water fluxes. The limited evidence supported the patterns observed for drought resistance, with facilitation and complementarity of species in mixtures enhancing tree recovery after moderate droughts. However, after extreme droughts, competition effects and reduced recovery for some species were observed, which can strongly compromise tree resilience. While we acknowledge the importance of mixed forests for biodiversity, ecosystem services or pest resistance, we caution that beneficial species interactions may shift under extreme droughts. Thus, there is an urgent need to investigate species interaction effects on resilience in more depth to adapt forest trees to increasing drought stress.

European beech dieback after premature leaf senescence during the 2018 drought in northern Switzerland

During the particularly severe hot summer drought in 2018, widespread premature leaf senescence was observed in several broadleaved tree species in Central Europe, particularly in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). For beech, it is yet unknown whether the drought evoked a decline towards tree mortality or whether trees can recover in the longer term. In this study, we monitored crown dieback, tree mortality and secondary drought damage symptoms in 963 initially live beech trees that exhibited either premature or normal leaf senescence in 2018 in three regions in northern Switzerland from 2018 to 2021. We related the observed damage to multiple climate- and stand-related parameters. Cumulative tree mortality continuously increased up to 7.2% and 1.3% in 2021 for trees with premature and normal leaf senescence in 2018, respectively. Mean crown dieback in surviving trees peaked at 29.2% in 2020 and 8.1% in 2019 for trees with premature and normal leaf senescence, respectively. Thereafter, trees showed first signs of recovery. Crown damage was more pronounced and recovery was slower for trees that showed premature leaf senescence in 2018, for trees growing on drier sites, and for larger trees. The presence of bleeding cankers peaked at 24.6% in 2019 and 10.7% in 2020 for trees with premature and normal leaf senescence, respectively. The presence of bark beetle holes peaked at 22.8% and 14.8% in 2021 for trees with premature and normal leaf senescence, respectively. Both secondary damage symptoms occurred more frequently in trees that had higher proportions of crown dieback and/or showed premature senescence in 2018. Our findings demonstrate context-specific differences in beech mortality and recovery reflecting the importance of regional and local climate and soil conditions. Adapting management to increase forest resilience is gaining importance, given the expected further beech decline on dry sites in northern Switzerland.

Compensatory growth as a response to post-drought in grassland

Grasslands are structurally and functionally controlled by water availability. Ongoing global change is threatening the sustainability of grassland ecosystems through chronic alterations in climate patterns and resource availability, as well as by the increasing frequency and intensity of anthropogenic perturbations. Compared with many studies on how grassland ecosystems respond during drought, there are far fewer studies focused on grassland dynamics after drought. Compensatory growth, as the ability of plants to offset the adverse effects of environmental or anthropogenic perturbations, is a common phenomenon in grassland. However, compensatory growth induced by drought and its underlying mechanism across grasslands remains not clear. In this review, we provide examples of analogous compensatory growth from different grassland types across drought characteristics (intensity, timing, and duration) and explain the effect of resource availability on compensatory growth and their underlying mechanisms. Based on our review of the literature, a hypothetic framework for integrating plant, root, and microbial responses is also proposed to increase our understanding of compensatory growth after drought. This research will advance our understanding of the mechanisms of grassland ecosystem functioning in response to climate change.

Tree-ring evidence of ecological stress memory

Plants experiencing stress could develop the ability to reshape their response toward present stress based on past stress experience, called 'ecological stress memory' (ESM), which is important for plant acclimation to repeated stresses. Although ESM has been largely reported, it remains unclear whether ESM could improve tree resistance to recurrent stress in subsequent decades. Here, we explore it from a tree-ring network of 1491 trees from 50 long-living juniper forests on the Tibetan Plateau. Through comparing performances of tree radial growth in past sequential growth stresses, we found that trees could obtain ESM under antecedent stresses and elevate resistance to subsequent stress after several years or even decades. Such positive effects of ESM are associated with post-stress recovery. Trees with slow recovery trajectories after antecedent stress show significantly improved resistance to subsequent stress, while trees with extremely fast post-stress recovery showed decreased resistance to subsequent stress. These results imply that temporary depressive tree radial growth after antecedent stress might be a trigger of long storage of ESM. Incorporating positive effects of ESM and relationship between ESM activation and post-stress recovery into future Earth system models could advance our capacity to predict forest dynamics and forest ecosystem stabilization under future stress conditions.

Drought impacts on tree carbon sequestration and water use - evidence from intra-annual tree-ring characteristics

The impact of climate extremes on forest ecosystems is poorly understood but important for predicting carbon and water cycle feedbacks to climate. Some knowledge gaps still remain regarding how drought-related adjustments in intra-annual tree-ring characteristics directly impact tree carbon and water use. In this study we quantified the impact of an extreme summer drought on the water-use efficiency and carbon sequestration of four mature Norway spruce trees. We used detailed observations of wood formation (xylogenesis) and intra-annual tree-ring properties (quantitative wood anatomy and stable carbon isotopes) combined with physiological water-stress monitoring. During 41 d of tree water deficit, we observed an enrichment in ¹³ C but a reduction in cell enlargement and wall-thickening processes, which impacted the anatomical characteristics. These adjustments diminished carbon sequestration by 67% despite an 11% increase in water-use efficiency during drought. However, with the resumption of a positive hydric state in the stem, we observed a fast recovery of cell formation rates based on the accumulated assimilates produced during drought. Our findings enhance our understanding of carbon and water fluxes between the atmosphere and forest ecosystems, providing observational evidence on the tree intra-annual carbon sequestration and water-use efficiency dynamics to improve future generations of vegetation models.

Drought legacies and ecosystem responses to subsequent drought

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of droughts. These events, which can cause significant perturbations of terrestrial ecosystems and potentially long-term impacts on ecosystem structure and functioning after the drought has subsided are often called 'drought legacies'. While the immediate effects of drought on ecosystems have been comparatively well characterized, our broader understanding of drought legacies is just emerging. Drought legacies can relate to all aspects of ecosystem structure and functioning, involving changes at the species and the community scale as well as alterations of soil properties. This has consequences for ecosystem responses to subsequent drought. Here, we synthesize current knowledge on drought legacies and the underlying mechanisms. We highlight the relevance of legacy duration to different ecosystem processes using examples of carbon cycling and community composition. We present hypotheses characterizing how intrinsic (i.e. biotic and abiotic properties and processes) and extrinsic (i.e. drought timing, severity, and frequency) factors could alter resilience trajectories under scenarios of recurrent drought events. We propose ways for improving our understanding of drought legacies and their implications for subsequent drought events, needed to assess the longer-term consequences of droughts on ecosystem structure and functioning.

Linking the growth patterns of coniferous species with their performance under climate aridization

Tree growth is highly sensitive to water deficit. At the same time, growth processes substantially influence tree performance under water stress by changing the root-absorbing surface, leaf-transpiring surface, amount of conducting xylem, etc. Drought-induced growth suppression is often higher in conifers than in broadleaf species. This review is devoted to the relations between the growth of coniferous plants and their performance under increasing climate aridization in the temperate and boreal zones of the Northern Hemisphere. For adult trees, available evidence suggests that increasing the frequency and severity of water deficit would be more detrimental to those plants that have higher growth in favorable conditions but decrease growth more prominently under water shortage, compared to trees whose growth is less sensitive to moisture availability. Not only the overall sensitivity of growth processes to water supply but also the asymmetry in response to lower-than-average and higher-than-average moisture conditions can be important for the performance of coniferous trees under upcoming adverse climate change. To fully understand the tree response under future climate change, the responses to both drier and wetter years need to be analyzed separately. In coniferous seedlings, more active growth is usually linked with better drought survival, although physiological reasons for such a link can be different. Growth stability under exacerbating summer water deficit in coniferous plants can be maintained by more active spring growth and/or by a bimodal growth pattern; each strategy has specific advantages and drawbacks. The optimal choice of growth strategy would be critical for future reforestation programs.

A dynamic rhizosphere interplay between tree roots and soil bacteria under drought stress

Root exudates are thought to play an important role in plant-microbial interactions. In return for nutrition, soil bacteria can increase the bioavailability of soil nutrients. However, root exudates typically decrease in situations such as drought, calling into question the efficacy of solvation and bacteria-dependent mineral uptake in such stress. Here, we tested the hypothesis of exudate-driven microbial priming on Cupressus saplings grown in forest soil in custom-made rhizotron boxes. A 1-month imposed drought and concomitant inoculations with a mix of Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas stutzeri, bacteria species isolated from the forest soil, were applied using factorial design. Direct bacteria counts and visualization by confocal microscopy showed that both bacteria associated with Cupressus roots. Interestingly, root exudation rates increased 2.3-fold with bacteria under drought, as well as irrigation. Forty-four metabolites in exudates were significantly different in concentration between irrigated and drought trees, including phenolic acid compounds and quinate. When adding these metabolites as carbon and nitrogen sources to bacterial cultures of both bacterial species, eight of nine metabolites stimulated bacterial growth. Importantly, soil phosphorous bioavailability was maintained only in inoculated trees, mitigating drought-induced decrease in leaf phosphorus and iron. Our observations of increased root exudation rate when drought and inoculation regimes were combined support the idea of root recruitment of beneficial bacteria, especially under water stress.

The soil surrounding the roots of trees, termed the rhizosphere, is full of bacteria and other communities of microorganisms. Trees secrete organic compounds in to the soil which are thought to influence the behavior of bacteria in the rhizosphere. Specifically, these root secretions, or ‘exudates’, attract and feed soil bacteria, which, in return, release nutrients that benefit the tree.

In 2020, a group of researchers found that some trees in the Mediterranean forest produce more exudates during the long dry season. This suggests that the compounds secreted by roots may help trees to tolerate stress conditions, such as drought. To test this hypothesis, Oppenheimer-Shaanan et al. – including some of the researchers involved in the 2020 study – grew young Cupressus sempervirens conifer trees in drought conditions that starved them of the nutrients phosphorous and iron.

Each tree was planted in a custom-built box which allowed easy access to roots growing in the soil. Two species of bacteria from the forest soil C. sempervirens trees naturally live in were then added to the soil in each box. Microscopy revealed that both species of bacteria, which had been tagged with fluorescent markers, were attracted to the roots of the trees, boosting the bacterial community in the rhizosphere.

Oppenheimer-Shaanan et al. found that the recruitment of the two bacterial species caused the rate at which exudates were secreted from the roots to increase. Compounds in the exudate stimulated the bacteria to grow. Ultimately, levels of phosphorous and iron in the leaves of the starved trees increased when in the presence of these soil bacteria. This suggests that bacteria in the rhizosphere helps trees to survive when they are under stress and have low levels of water.

These findings provide further evidence that plants and bacteria can live together in symbiosis and benefit one another. This could have important implications for forest ecology and potentially how trees are grown in orchards and gardens. For example, specific bacteria and organic compounds in the rhizosphere may be able to improve tree health. However, further work is needed to investigate whether the exudate compounds identified in this study are found more widely in nature.

Forest disturbances and climate constrain carbon allocation dynamics in trees

Forest disturbances such as drought, fire, and logging affect the forest carbon dynamics and the terrestrial carbon sink. Forest mortality after disturbances creates uncertainties that need to be accounted for to understand forest dynamics and their associated C-sink. We combined data from permanent resampling plots and biomass oriented dendroecological plots to estimate time series of annual woody biomass growth (ABI) in several forests. ABI time series were used to benchmark a vegetation model to analyze dynamics in forest productivity and carbon allocation forced by environmental variability. The model implements source and sink limitations explicitly by dynamically constraining carbon allocation of assimilated photosynthates as a function of temperature and moisture. Bias in tree-ring reconstructed ABI increased back in time from data collection and with increasing disturbance intensity. ABI bias ranged from zero, in open stands without recorded mortality, to over 100% in stands with major disturbances such as thinning or snowstorms. Stand leaf area was still lower than in control plots decades after heavy thinning. Disturbances, species life-history strategy and climatic variability affected carbon-partitioning patterns in trees. Resprouting broadleaves reached maximum biomass growth at earlier ages than nonresprouting conifers. Environmental variability and leaf area explained much variability in woody biomass allocation. Effects of stand competition on C-allocation were mediated by changes in stand leaf area except after major disturbances. Divergence between tree-ring estimated and simulated ABI were caused by unaccounted changes in allocation or misrepresentation of some functional process independently of the model calibration approach. Higher disturbance intensity produced greater modifications of the C-allocation pattern, increasing error in reconstructed biomass dynamics. Legacy effects from disturbances decreased model performance and reduce the potential use of ABI as a proxy to net primary productivity. Trait-based dynamics of C-allocation in response to environmental variability need to be refined in vegetation models.

Root Carbon Resources Determine Survival and Growth of Young Trees Under Long Drought in Combination With Fertilization

Current increases in not only the intensity and frequency but also the duration of drought events could affect the growth, physiology, and mortality of trees. We experimentally studied the effects of drought duration in combination with fertilization on leaf water potential, gas exchange, growth, tissue levels of non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs), tissue NSC consumption over-winter, and recovery after drought release in oak (Quercus petraea) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) saplings. Long drought duration (>1 month) decreased leaf water potential, photosynthesis, and NSC concentrations in both oak and beech saplings. Nitrogen fertilization did not mitigate the negative drought effects on both species. The photosynthesis and relative height increment recovered in the following rewetting year. Height growth in the rewetting year was significantly positively correlated with both pre- and post-winter root NSC levels. Root carbon reserve is critical for tree growth and survival under long-lasting drought. Our results indicate that beech is more sensitive to drought and fertilization than oak. The present study, in a physiological perspective, experimentally confirmed the view that the European beech, compared to oak, may be more strongly affected by future environmental changes.

Lack of hydraulic recovery as a cause of post-drought foliage reduction and canopy decline in European beech

European beech (Fagus sylvatica) was among the most affected tree species during the severe 2018 European drought. It not only suffered from instant physiological stress but also showed severe symptoms of defoliation and canopy decline in the following year. To explore the underlying mechanisms, we used the Swiss-Canopy-Crane II site and studied in branches of healthy and symptomatic trees the repair of hydraulic function and concentration of carbohydrates during the 2018 drought and in 2019. We found loss of hydraulic conductance in 2018, which did not recover in 2019 in trees that developed defoliation symptoms in the year after drought. Reduced branch foliation in symptomatic trees was associated with a gradual decline in wood starch concentration throughout summer 2019. Visualization of water transport in healthy and symptomatic branches in the year after the drought confirmed the close relationship between xylem functionality and supported branch leaf area. Our findings showed that embolized xylem does not regain function in the season following a drought and that sustained branch hydraulic dysfunction is counterbalanced by the reduction in supported leaf area. It suggests acclimation of leaf development after drought to mitigate disturbances in canopy hydraulic function.

Long-term effects of forest management on post-drought growth resilience: An analytical framework

There is great interest in determining the effects of forest thinning as a tool to improve growth recovery from drought in different tree species and climatic conditions. However, we lack a robust framework to determine how transient are post-drought growth resilience and enhancement, and if such growth improvement involves an uncoupling with climate conditions. We used regression analysis to determine differences in growth, sensitivity to drought and previous-year growth, and long-term growth in five plantations of three pine species (Pinus halepensis Mill., Pinus nigra Arn. and Pinus sylvestris L.) under different thinning intensities. Then, we simulated post-drought and post-thinning growth trajectories based on fitted models, and we computed drought resistance, resilience and recovery indices based on these trajectories. Moreover, the simulation allowed us to calculate the time to recovery after a drought. Using this analytical framework, we found that thinning enhanced radial growth (between 85 and 150%, significant in all sites with p < 0.05), and reduced previous-year growth dependence (between -13 and -26%, significant in two out of five sites) and climatic dependence of growth (-23 to -49%, significant in two sites). We interpret these effects as a result of competition reduction by thinning and a transitory alleviation of growth climatic constraints. Thinning consistently improved drought resistance (+4 to +20%) and resilience (+1 to +4%). Recovery, on the contrary, was reduced (-1 to -15%). Since the growth loss during the drought was reduced due to higher drought resistance, the recovery was proportionally lower. Thinning reduced the time to recovery by one to two years. The thinning legacy effect persisted up to 15 to 20 years after thinning. Taken together, these findings enhance the benefits of adaptive silviculture in making pine plantations less vulnerable to unfavourable extreme climate events such as droughts. We present a novel and robust analytical framework to assess drought-thinning interactive effects on tree growth.

Combined drought and bark beetle attacks deplete non-structural carbohydrates and promote death of mature pine trees

How carbohydrate reserves in conifers respond to drought and bark beetle attacks are poorly understood. We investigated changes in carbohydrate reserves and carbon-dependent diterpene defences in ponderosa pine trees that were experimentally subjected to two levels of drought stress (via root trenching) and two types of biotic challenge treatments (pheromone-induced bark beetle attacks or inoculations with crushed beetles that include beetle-associated fungi) for two consecutive years. Our results showed that trenching did not influence carbohydrates, whereas both biotic challenges reduced amounts of starch and sugars of trees. However, only the combined trenched-bark beetle attacked trees depleted carbohydrates and died during the first year of attacks. While live trees contained higher carbohydrates than dying trees, amounts of constitutive and induced diterpenes produced did not vary between live and beetle-attacked dying trees, respectively. Based on these results we propose that reallocation of carbohydrates to diterpenes during the early stages of beetle attacks is limited in drought-stricken trees, and that the combination of biotic and abiotic stress leads to tree death. The process of tree death is subsequently aggravated by beetle girdling of phloem, occlusion of vascular tissue by bark beetle-vectored fungi, and potential exploitation of host carbohydrates by bark beetle symbionts as nutrients.

Drone-based physiological index reveals long-term acclimation and drought stress responses in trees

Monitoring early tree physiological responses to drought is key to understanding progressive impacts of drought on forests and identifying resilient species. We combined drone-based multispectral remote sensing with measurements of tree physiology and environmental parameters over two growing seasons in a 100-y-old Pinus sylvestris forest subject to 17-y of precipitation manipulation. Our goal was to determine if drone-based photochemical reflectance index (PRI) captures tree drought stress responses and whether responses are affected by long-term acclimation. PRI detects changes in xanthophyll cycle pigment dynamics, which reflect increases in photoprotective non-photochemical quenching activity resulting from drought-induced photosynthesis downregulation. Here, PRI of never-irrigated trees was up to 10 times lower (higher stress) than PRI of irrigated trees. Long-term acclimation to experimental treatment, however, influenced the seasonal relationship between PRI and soil water availability. PRI also captured diurnal decreases in photochemical efficiency, driven by vapour pressure deficit. Interestingly, 5 years after irrigation was stopped for a subset of the irrigated trees, a positive legacy effect persisted, with lower stress responses (higher PRI) compared with never-irrigated trees. This study demonstrates the ability of remotely sensed PRI to scale tree physiological responses to an entire forest and the importance of long-term acclimation in determining current drought stress responses.

Analysis of Smallholders’ Livelihood Vulnerability to Drought across Agroecology and Farm Typology in the Upper Awash Sub-Basin, Ethiopia

Assessing the magnitude of smallholder farmers’ livelihood vulnerability to drought is an initial step in identifying the causal factors and proposing interventions that mitigate the impacts of drought. This study aimed to assess smallholders’ livelihood vulnerability to the drought in the upper Awash sub-basin, Ethiopia. Household (HH) and climate data were used for indicators related to sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity that define vulnerability to drought. The vulnerability of farmers’ livelihood to drought was compared among the studies agroecological zone (AEZ) and farm typologies. The result illustrated a diverse magnitude of vulnerability index (VI) ranging from −1.956 to −4.253 for AEZ. The highest magnitude of VI was estimated for livelihood in the lowland AEZ, while the lowest magnitude of VI was estimated in midland AEZ. This could be accounted for by the fact that lowland farmers shown the highest exposure (0.432) and sensitivity (0.420) and the lowest adaptive capacity (0.288). A closer look at farmers’ livelihood typology, in each of the AEZ, showed substantial diversity of farmers’ livelihood vulnerability to drought, implying potential aggregations at AEZ. Accordingly, the vulnerability index for livestock and on-farm-income-based livelihood and marginal and off-farm-income-based livelihood typologies were higher than the intensive-irrigation-farming-based smallholders’ livelihood typology. Based on the result, we concluded that procedures for smallholders’ livelihood resilience-building efforts should better target AEZ to prioritize the focus region and farmers’ livelihood typology to tailor technologies to farms. Although the result emphasizes the importance of irrigation-based livelihood strategy, the overall enhancement of farmers adaptive capacity needs to focus on action areas such as reducing the sensitivity and exposure of the households, improving farmers usage of technologies, diversify farmers’ livelihood options, and, hence, long-term wealth accumulation to strengthen farmers’ adaptive capacity toward drought impacts.

Climate sensitivity and drought seasonality determine post-drought growth recovery of Quercus petraea and Quercus robur in Europe

Recent studies have identified strong relationships between delayed recovery of tree growth after drought and tree mortality caused by subsequent droughts. These observations raise concerns about forest ecosystem services and post-drought growth recovery given the projected increase in drought frequency and extremes. For quantifying the impact of extreme droughts on tree radial growth, we used a network of tree-ring width data of 1689 trees from 100 sites representing most of the distribution of two drought tolerant, deciduous oak species (Quercus petraea and Quercus robur). We first examined which climatic factors and seasons control growth of the two species and if there is any latitudinal, longitudinal or elevational trend. We then quantified the relative departure from pre-drought growth during droughts, and how fast trees were able to recover the pre-drought growth level. Our results showed that growth was more related to precipitation and climatic water balance (precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration) than to temperature. However, we did not detect any clear latitudinal, longitudinal or elevational trends except a decreasing influence of summer water balance on growth of Q. petraea with latitude. Neither species was able to maintain the pre-drought growth level during droughts. However, both species showed rapid recovery or even growth compensation after summer droughts but displayed slow recovery in response to spring droughts where none of the two species was able to fully recover the pre-drought growth-level over the three post-drought years. Collectively, our results indicate that oaks which are considered resilient to extreme droughts have also shown vulnerability when droughts occurred in spring especially at sites where long-term growth is not significantly correlated with climatic factors. This improved understanding of the role of drought seasonality and climate sensitivity of sites is key to better predict trajectories of post-drought growth recovery in response to the drier climate projected for Europe.

Nighttime warming alleviates the incidence of juniper forest growth decline on the Tibetan Plateau

Recent warming over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is approximately twice the global-mean surface temperature increase and poses a threat to the healthy growth of forests. Although many studies have focused on whether recent climate warming has caused forest growth decline on the TP, it remains unclear how asymmetric warming, that is faster increasing nighttime temperature than daytime, impacts forest growth decline. We explored this question by using a ring-width index series from 1489 juniper trees (Juniperus prezwalskii and J. tibetica) at 50 sites on the TP. We calculated the percentage of trees with growth decline (PTD) to reconstruct historical forest growth decline and employed a piecewise structural equation meta-model (pSEM) and linear mixed model (LMM) to explore influencing factors. We found that the PTD has decreased since the late 19th century, with an abrupt decreasing trend since the 1980s. Results of the pSEM show that winter minimum temperature has a stronger indirect negative effect on the variation in PTD (β = -0.24, p < 0.05) compared to that of the weak indirect positive effect of summer maximum temperature (β = 0.16, p < 0.05). The results of LMM show that the variation in PTD is directly negatively (p < 0.001) affected by both winter minimum temperature and summer total precipitation, but the former has a greater independent contribution than the latter (with 17.7% vs 2.5% of variances independently explained, respectively). These results suggest that increased winter minimum temperature substantially mitigates the growth decline in juniper forests on the TP. As the minimum temperature generally occurs at night, we conclude that the asymmetric increase in nighttime temperature has decreased the incidence of juniper forest growth decline on the TP under climate warming. This alleviating effect of nighttime warming is likely due to reduced low-temperature constraints and reduced damage to tree growth.

Root carbon and nutrient homeostasis determines downy oak sapling survival and recovery from drought

The role of carbon (C) and nutrient uptake, allocation, storage and especially their interactions in survival and recovery of trees under increased frequencies and intensities of drought events is not well understood. A full factorial experiment with four soil water content regimes ranging from extreme drought to well-watered conditions and two fertilization levels was carried out. We aimed to investigate whether nutrient addition mitigates drought effects on downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.) and whether storage pools of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) are modified to enhance survival after 2.5 years of drought and recovery after drought relief. Physiological traits, such as photosynthesis, predawn leaf water potential as well as tissue biomass together with pools and dynamics of NSC and nutrients at the whole-tree level were investigated. Our results showed that fertilization played a minor role in saplings' physiological processes to cope with drought and drought relief, but reduced sapling mortality during extreme drought. Irrespective of nutrient supply, Q. pubescens showed increased soluble sugar concentration in all tissues with increasing drought intensity, mostly because of starch degradation. After 28 days of drought relief, tissue sugar concentrations decreased, reaching comparable values to those of well-watered plants. Only during the recovery process from extreme drought, root NSC concentration strongly declined, leading to an almost complete NSC depletion after 28 days of rewetting, simultaneously with new leaves flushing. These findings suggest that extreme drought can lead to root C exhaustion. After drought relief, the repair and regrowth of organs can even exacerbate the root C depletion. We concluded that under future climate conditions with repeated drought events, the insufficient and lagged C replenishment in roots might eventually lead to C starvation and further mortality.