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Hydraulic Strategies Modulate Forest Productivity Responses to Hotter Droughts

Tijerín-Triviño, Julián ; Serra-Maluquer, Xavier ; García-Valdés, Raúl ; Zavala, Miguel Ángel ; García, Mariano ; Astigarraga, Julen LU orcid ; Cruz-Alonso, Verónica ; Rebollo, Pedro ; Gazol, Antonio and Rodes-Blanco, Marina , et al. (2025) In Global Change Biology 31(7).
Abstract

Climate change, characterized by an increase in extreme climatic events, poses a significant threat to forest productivity worldwide, potentially compromising its critical role in regulating the global carbon cycle. The response of forest productivity to compound events, such as hotter droughts, can be strongly modulated by functional traits. Forests dominated by acquisitive tree species (prioritizing resource acquisition) may be more vulnerable than forests dominated by conservative species (prioritizing efficiency and stress tolerance). Meanwhile, functional diversity could enhance ecosystem resistance. Although projections indicate that hotter droughts will increasingly hamper forest productivity, most studies focus solely on drought... (More)

Climate change, characterized by an increase in extreme climatic events, poses a significant threat to forest productivity worldwide, potentially compromising its critical role in regulating the global carbon cycle. The response of forest productivity to compound events, such as hotter droughts, can be strongly modulated by functional traits. Forests dominated by acquisitive tree species (prioritizing resource acquisition) may be more vulnerable than forests dominated by conservative species (prioritizing efficiency and stress tolerance). Meanwhile, functional diversity could enhance ecosystem resistance. Although projections indicate that hotter droughts will increasingly hamper forest productivity, most studies focus solely on drought intensity, neglecting duration and frequency. To assess the effects of hotter droughts, we analyzed how their intensity, frequency, and duration influence forest productivity over time, and evaluated the role of functional identity and diversity in modulating forest responses. We analyzed forest productivity from 1985 to 2018 in a Mediterranean region of central Spain using generalized linear mixed models. Our estimates were based on biomass data resulting from integrating LiDAR, multispectral imagery, and forest inventory records from 748 plots. Our results indicated that the negative effects of the increased vapor pressure deficit and drought dimensions on forest productivity have intensified over time. Under extreme drought conditions, forests with higher functional diversity and dominated by moderately conservative species experienced smaller declines in productivity, whereas forests dominated by highly conservative species showed increasingly negative responses. This result may reflect repeated drought effects resulting in long stomatal closure periods and carbon starvation. Our findings highlight the increasing and negative impact of hotter droughts over time on Mediterranean forests. Altogether, the stabilizing role of functional diversity and identity in drought tolerance traits, such as cavitation resistance, should be considered in models addressing long-term climate change impacts on forest mitigation potential.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Global Change Biology
volume
31
issue
7
article number
e70369
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:40718991
ISSN
1354-1013
DOI
10.1111/gcb.70369
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2025 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
id
c9f11e04-efe6-4aed-8134-4ee8d3828408
date added to LUP
2025-07-29 16:24:53
date last changed
2025-08-12 16:48:04
@article{c9f11e04-efe6-4aed-8134-4ee8d3828408,
  abstract     = {{<p>Climate change, characterized by an increase in extreme climatic events, poses a significant threat to forest productivity worldwide, potentially compromising its critical role in regulating the global carbon cycle. The response of forest productivity to compound events, such as hotter droughts, can be strongly modulated by functional traits. Forests dominated by acquisitive tree species (prioritizing resource acquisition) may be more vulnerable than forests dominated by conservative species (prioritizing efficiency and stress tolerance). Meanwhile, functional diversity could enhance ecosystem resistance. Although projections indicate that hotter droughts will increasingly hamper forest productivity, most studies focus solely on drought intensity, neglecting duration and frequency. To assess the effects of hotter droughts, we analyzed how their intensity, frequency, and duration influence forest productivity over time, and evaluated the role of functional identity and diversity in modulating forest responses. We analyzed forest productivity from 1985 to 2018 in a Mediterranean region of central Spain using generalized linear mixed models. Our estimates were based on biomass data resulting from integrating LiDAR, multispectral imagery, and forest inventory records from 748 plots. Our results indicated that the negative effects of the increased vapor pressure deficit and drought dimensions on forest productivity have intensified over time. Under extreme drought conditions, forests with higher functional diversity and dominated by moderately conservative species experienced smaller declines in productivity, whereas forests dominated by highly conservative species showed increasingly negative responses. This result may reflect repeated drought effects resulting in long stomatal closure periods and carbon starvation. Our findings highlight the increasing and negative impact of hotter droughts over time on Mediterranean forests. Altogether, the stabilizing role of functional diversity and identity in drought tolerance traits, such as cavitation resistance, should be considered in models addressing long-term climate change impacts on forest mitigation potential.</p>}},
  author       = {{Tijerín-Triviño, Julián and Serra-Maluquer, Xavier and García-Valdés, Raúl and Zavala, Miguel Ángel and García, Mariano and Astigarraga, Julen and Cruz-Alonso, Verónica and Rebollo, Pedro and Gazol, Antonio and Rodes-Blanco, Marina and Tanase, Mihai Andrei and Ruiz-Benito, Paloma}},
  issn         = {{1354-1013}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Global Change Biology}},
  title        = {{Hydraulic Strategies Modulate Forest Productivity Responses to Hotter Droughts}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70369}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/gcb.70369}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}