How Much Drought Can a Forest Take?

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/how-much-drought-can-forest-take

[font face=Serif][font size=5]How Much Drought Can a Forest Take?[/font]

[font size=4]Aerial Tree Mortality Surveys Show Patterns of Tree Death During Extreme Drought[/font]

By Kat Kerlin on January 19, 2017 in Environment

[font size=3]Why do some trees die in a drought and others don’t? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts?

Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues examined those questions in a study published in the journal Ecology Letters.

Using climate data and aerial tree mortality surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service during four years (2012-2015) of extreme drought in California, they found that when a drought hits the region, trees growing in areas that are already dry are most susceptible.

The research also showed that the effects of drought on forests can take years to surface, suggesting that such effects may linger even after the drought has ended.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.12711

[mackdaddy]

1. Some times it takes a few years for a drought struck tree to die.

That is what a certified arborists was saying on his Dayton OH radio show a couple of years ago.

Ohio had a pretty severe drought in much of 2012. Since then I have had half a dozen very large 100 to 200 year old Oaks die in my 20 acres of woods.

Between the drought and the new insect attacks like the emerald ash borrer, and the Black longhorn beetle, several species are under attack. I do not think I have any ash trees left, and many of the birch along the river are dying too.