Scholarlink

Context <p>Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts worldwide, with profound consequences for forest ecosystems. Although previous studies suggest that taller forests are more vulnerable during drought, their capacity to recover following drought remains poorly understood, creating substantial uncertainty for forest management.</p> Objectives <p>This study aimed to quantify how canopy height influences post-drought forest recovery at a regional scale.</p> Methods <p>We investigated evergreen broad-leaved forests in southwest China following a severe drought in 2010. We used the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) to derive forest recovery metrics, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) to classify drought severity, and a LiDAR-derived canopy height map. We then used linear regression and ANOVA to evaluate relationships between forest recovery and canopy height.</p> Results <p>Short-term (1&#xa0;year) recovery increased with the intensity of the preceding drought. Under severe and extreme drought conditions, recovery increased significantly with canopy height (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). In contrast, long-term (3&#xa0;years) recovery did not differ significantly among canopy height classes.</p> Conclusions <p>Our results indicated that although tall forests may experience greater drought impacts, they exhibit stronger short-term recovery, resulting in comparable long-term resilience across canopy-height classes. This size-dependent recovery dynamic is a previously underappreciated mechanism that should be incorporated into forest dynamics models and climate-adaptive management strategies.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Tall forests exhibit heightened recovery following severe drought: a remote sensing perspective

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月21日

查看全文
  • Peipei Xu,
  • Shuai Liu,
  • Ying Yang,
  • Hua Yang,
  • Ting Dong,
  • Yun Zhang,
  • Yuan Zhang,
  • Mark Shelan,
  • Wei Fang

摘要

Context

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts worldwide, with profound consequences for forest ecosystems. Although previous studies suggest that taller forests are more vulnerable during drought, their capacity to recover following drought remains poorly understood, creating substantial uncertainty for forest management.

Objectives

This study aimed to quantify how canopy height influences post-drought forest recovery at a regional scale.

Methods

We investigated evergreen broad-leaved forests in southwest China following a severe drought in 2010. We used the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) to derive forest recovery metrics, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) to classify drought severity, and a LiDAR-derived canopy height map. We then used linear regression and ANOVA to evaluate relationships between forest recovery and canopy height.

Results

Short-term (1 year) recovery increased with the intensity of the preceding drought. Under severe and extreme drought conditions, recovery increased significantly with canopy height (p < 0.001). In contrast, long-term (3 years) recovery did not differ significantly among canopy height classes.

Conclusions

Our results indicated that although tall forests may experience greater drought impacts, they exhibit stronger short-term recovery, resulting in comparable long-term resilience across canopy-height classes. This size-dependent recovery dynamic is a previously underappreciated mechanism that should be incorporated into forest dynamics models and climate-adaptive management strategies.