New publication in Nature Communications
/Forest trees suffered from heatwave even after 2018
How did the heatwave year 2018 affect stem growth and drought stress of forest trees? An international team of researchers with Swiss participation has now compiled such data from all over Europe for the first time. The results, now published in the journal Nature Communications, show that although the trees suffered record water deficits, they grew surprisingly well. The setback followed in the years that followed.
The 2018 European heatwave led to stem dehydration but not to consistent growth reductions in forests
Heatwaves exert disproportionately strong and sometimes irreversible impacts on forest ecosystems. These impacts remain poorly understood at the tree and species level and across large spatial scales. Here, we investigate the effects of the record-breaking 2018 European heatwave on tree growth and tree water status using a collection of high-temporal resolution dendrometer data from 21 species across 53 sites.
Salomón, R.L., Peters, R.L., Zweifel, R. et al. The 2018 European heatwave led to stem dehydration but not to consistent growth reductions in forests. Nat Commun 13, 28 (2022).
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