Drought- and heat-induced mortality of conifer trees is explained by leaf and growth legacies.

ABSTRACT: An increased frequency and severity of droughts and heat waves have resulted in increased tree mortality and forest dieback across the world, but underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We used a common garden experiment with 20 conifer tree species to quantify mortality after three consecutive hot, dry summers and tested whether mortality could be explained by putative underlying mechanisms, such as stem hydraulics and legacies affected by leaf life span and stem growth responses to previous droughts. Mortality varied from 0 to 79% across species and was not affected by hydraulic traits. Mortality increased with species' leaf life span probably because leaf damage caused crown dieback and contributed to carbon depletion and bark beetle damage. Mortality also increased with lower grow

SUBMITTER: Sterck FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11014445 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature