Global Team of Scientists Determine 'Fingerprint' for How Much Heat, Drought Is Too Much for Forests
Published:11 Apr.2022 Source:University of Florida
How hot is too hot, and how dry is too dry, for the Earth's forests? A new study from an international team of researchers found the answers -- by looking at decades of dying trees.
Just published in the journal Nature Communications, the study compiles the first global database of precisely georeferenced forest die-off events, at 675 locations dating back to 1970. The study, which encompasses all forested continents, then compares that information to existing climate data to determine the heat and drought climatic conditions that caused these documented tree mortality episodes.