Drought legacies are short, prevail in dry conifer forests and depend on growth variability

• Published in: The Journal of ecology Vol. 108; no. 6; pp. 2473 - 2484
• Main Authors: Gazol, Antonio, Camarero, Jesús Julio, Sánchez‐Salguero, Raul, Vicente‐Serrano, Sergio M., Serra‐Maluquer, Xavier, Gutiérrez, Emilia, Luis, Martín, Sangüesa‐Barreda, Gabriel, Novak, Klemen, Rozas, Vicente, Tíscar, Pedro A., Linares, Juan C., Martínez del Castillo, Edurne, Ribas, Montse, García‐González, Ignacio, Silla, Fernando, Camisón, Álvaro, Génova, Mar, Olano, José M., Hereş, Ana‐Maria, Curiel Yuste, Jorge, Longares, Luis A., Hevia, Andrea, Tomas‐Burguera, Miquel, Galván, Juan Diego, Battipaglia, Giovanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Angiosperms; canopy; Climate; Climatic conditions; Coniferous forests; Coniferous trees; conifers; data collection; dendroecology; Drought; drought intensity; Dry forests; Environmental impact; Forest growth; Forest productivity; Forests; global change ecology; growth rings; growth variability; Gymnosperms; Mathematical analysis; NDVI; normalized difference vegetation index; Normalized difference vegetative index; Plant cover; Plant species; Productivity; Spain; Species; SPEI; tree growth; Trees; tree‐rings; Variability; Water balance; Width; Spain

The negative impacts of drought on forest growth and productivity last for several years generating legacies, although the factors that determine why such legacies vary across sites and tree species remain unclear. We used an extensive network of tree‐ring width (RWI, ring‐width index) records of 16...