Enhanced effects of species richness on resistance and resilience of global tree growth to prolonged drought.

ABSTRACT: The increasing duration of drought induced by global climate change has reduced forest productivity. Biodiversity is believed to mitigate the effects of drought, thereby enhancing the stability of tree growth. However, the effects of species richness on tree growth stability under droughts with different durations remain uncertain. Here, we used tree ring data from 4,072 sites globally, combined with climate and plant richness data, to evaluate the effects of species richness on the resistance and resilience of trees to short-term and prolonged droughts. We found that species richness enhanced resistance but weakened resilience of trees to drought globally. Compared to short-term drought, species richness further increased tree growth during prolonged drought but reduced the growth afterwa

SUBMITTER: Bai YH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11441485 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature