Speaker
Description
Climate change forecasts predict an increasing frequency of consecutive drought years, likely negatively impacting tree growth in Central European forests. Although mixing tree species has been found to enhance the temporal stability of growth in tree communities, studies show inconsistent results regarding extreme drought events. Recent research indicates that, aside from climatic conditions, the biotic context, such as the traits of focal trees and their local neighbors, influences biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships. However, it remains unclear whether functional trait identity and/or diversity can mitigate the effects of extreme drought events. This study investigates how tree growth in experimental forest plantations is affected by tree diversity before, during, and after the Central European drought from 2018 to 2020. Additionally, we examined how these relationships are modulated by mycorrhizal association types and other functional traits. We utilized annual growth data (2015-2022) from 5,120 tree individuals in a young tree diversity experiment in Germany (MyDiv) and measured functional traits related to drought tolerance and resource use of 10 broad-leaved tree species to model BEF relationships under drought. Tree species’ drought-tolerance traits and traits related to resource use formed a joint trait syndrome. We found two axes of trait variation mainly driven by cavitation resistance and stomatal control, respectively. Initial results indicated that diversity–productivity relationships are strongly influenced by these trait syndromes, which shift between drought and non-drought years. Further analyses are ongoing, focusing on mycorrhizal association types and the functional diversity of the tree neighborhood. This study contributes toward understanding the biotic context dependency of BEF relationships under drought and provides a functional basis for designing tree species mixtures able to cope with climate change.
| Status Group | Doctoral Researcher |
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