New paper on post-drought tree damage in New Phytologist
In a study published with colleagues from the Universität Würzburg, PPE group members Matthias Arend, Cedric Zahnd, Guenter Hoch, and Ansgar Kahmen explored the physiological mechanisms behind the widespread occurrence of canopy decline in European beech trees in the years after the exceptional 2018 Central European drought. Using the instrumentation of the Swiss-Canopy-Crane II site, this study shows that the lack of hydraulic recovery in canopy branches of mature beech trees was the ultimate cause of post-drought canopy decline. The observations presented in this work provide not only a physiological explanation for post-drought tree damage, but also demonstrate a close coordination of impaired xylem hydraulic function with interannual leaf development.
Arend, M., Link, R.M., Zahnd, C., Hoch, G., Schuldt, B. and Kahmen, A. (2022), Lack of hydraulic recovery as cause of post-drought foliage reduction and canopy decline in European beech. New Phytologist https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18065