Meta-analysis reveals that hydraulic traits explain cross-species patterns of drought-induced tree mortality across the globe
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- 18 April 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 113 (18), 5024-5029
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1525678113
Abstract
Significance: Predicting the impacts of climate extremes on plant communities is a central challenge in ecology. Physiological traits may improve prediction of drought impacts on forests globally. We perform a meta-analysis across 33 studies that span all forested biomes and find that, among the examined traits, hydraulic traits explain cross-species patterns in mortality from drought. Gymnosperm and angiosperm mortality was associated with different hydraulic traits, giving insight into the relative weights of different traits and mechanisms in mortality prediction. Our results provide a foundation for more mechanistic predictions of drought-induced tree mortality across Earth’s diverse forests.Keywords
Funding Information
- NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB EF-1340270)
- NSF | BIO | Division of Environmental Biology (DEB-1249256)
- Swiss National Science Foundation (31003A_14753/1)
- Australian Research Council (FT130101115)
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