Timing and Order of Extreme Drought and Wetness Determine Bioclimatic Sensitivity of Tree Growth

• Published in: Earth's future Vol. 10; no. 7
• Main Authors: Wu, Xiuchen, Liu, Hongyan, Hartmann, Henrik, Ciais, Philippe, Kimball, John S., Schwalm, Christopher R., Camarero, Jesús Julio, Chen, Anping, Gentine, Pierre, Yang, Yuting, Zhang, Shulei, Li, Xiaoyan, Xu, Chongyang, Zhang, Wen, Li, Zongshan, Chen, Deliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2022; American Geophysical Union; Wiley
• Subjects: Angiosperms; bioclimatic sensitivity; Bioclimatology; Biometeorology; climate-change; Climatic extremes; Continental interfaces, environment; decline; Divergence; Drought; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Extreme drought; Forests; Functional groups; Geologi; Geology; Growth conditions; Gymnosperms; Hemispheric laterality; Hydraulics; Hypotheses; impacts; legacy effects; Meteorology & Atmospheric; Moisture content; mortality; Northern Hemisphere; Ocean, Atmosphere; patterns; Physiology; plant; Precipitation; resilience; risks; Sciences; Sciences of the Universe; seasonal extreme climate regime; Seasons; Sensitivity; Tree growth; tree ring; Tree rings; Trees; vegetation growth; Water availability
• ISSN: 2328-4277; 2328-4277
• DOI: 10.1029/2021EF002530

Tree resistance to extreme droughts and post‐drought recovery are sensitive to the drought timing. However, how the bioclimatic sensitivity of tree growth may vary with the timing and order of extreme droughts and wetness is still poorly understood. Here, we quantified the bioclimatic sensitivity of tree growth in the period of 1951–2013 under different seasonal extreme drought/wetness regimes over the extra‐tropical Northern Hemisphere, using 1,032 tree ring chronologies from 121 gymnosperm and angiosperm species. We found a negative asymmetry in tree growth under regimes with seasonal extreme droughts. With extreme drought, tree growth in arid and temperate dry regions is more negatively impacted by pre‐growing‐season (PGS) extreme droughts. Clade‐wise, angiosperms are more sensitive to PGS water availability, and gymnosperms to legacy effects of the preceding tree growth conditions in temperate dry and humid regions. Our finding of divergent bioclimatic legacy effects underscores contrasting trends in forest responses to drought across different ecoregions and functional groups in a more extreme climate. Plain Language Summary The occurrence patterns of seasonal extreme drought and wetness events are dramatically shifting with climate warming. However, how will different seasonal extreme climate regimes affect the bioclimatic sensitivity of tree growth remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of tree growth to different seasonal climate factors and preceding tree growth conditions during 1951–2013 under different seasonal extreme drought/wetness regimes, using 1,032 tree ring chronologies covering 121 gymnosperm and angiosperm species. We found the magnitude in tree growth reduction caused by seasonal extreme drought events is much larger than that in tree growth stimulation by seasonal extreme wetness events in arid and temperate regions. Tree growth in arid and temperate dry regions is more negatively impacted by extreme drought events in pre‐growing‐seasons (PGSs) than in growing‐seasons. We further found that angiosperms are more sensitive to PGS water availability, while gymnosperms are more sensitive to legacy effects of the preceding tree growth conditions in temperate dry and humid regions. These findings highlight divergent bioclimatic legacy effects on tree growth under different seasonal extreme climate regimes, and provide valuable insights into the future trajectories of forest growth across diverse ecoregions and functional groups in a more extreme climate. Key Points Negative asymmetry in tree growth was observed under regimes with seasonal extreme droughts Tree growth in arid and temperate dry regions is more vulnerable to extreme droughts in pre‐growing‐seasons than in growing‐seasons Angiosperms are more sensitive to pre‐growing‐season water availability, and gymnosperms to legacy effects of the preceding tree growth