Hanging by a thread? Forests and drought

Brodribb, Timothy J.; Powers, Jennifer S.; Cochard, Hervé; Choat, Brendan

doi:10.1126/science.aat7631

Cited by 532 publications

(501 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…This conclusion matches previous observations on the prevalence of extreme wildfires during heatwaves in the Mediterranean Basin 9 , 17 , 28 , 29 , 30 . The mechanisms underlying these wildfires remain unclear but different studies have proposed that high temperature and vapor-pressure deficit during heatwaves can accelerate plant desiccation and mortality over relatively short time spans 31 – 34 , a phenomenon that is expected to be amplified under climate change 34 , 35 due the increased frequency and persistence of compound dry-warm periods 36 . Likewise, our results show that future scenarios of fire danger consistently point to an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat-induced FWTs across the Mediterranean.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased likelihood of heat-induced large wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin

Ruffault

Curt

Moron

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

187

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Wildfire activity is expected to increase across the Mediterranean Basin because of climate change. However, the effects of future climate change on the combinations of atmospheric conditions that promote wildfire activity remain largely unknown. Using a fire-weather based classification of wildfires, we show that future climate scenarios point to an increase in the frequency of two heatinduced fire-weather types that have been related to the largest wildfires in recent years. Heatinduced fire-weather types are characterized by compound dry and warm conditions occurring during summer heatwaves, either under moderate (heatwave type) or intense (hot drought type) drought. The frequency of heat-induced fire-weather is projected to increase by 14% by the end of the century (2071-2100) under the RCP4.5 scenario, and by 30% under the RCP8.5, suggesting that the frequency and extent of large wildfires will increase throughout the Mediterranean Basin.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased likelihood of heat-induced large wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin

Ruffault

Curt

Moron

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

187

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“…Despite the recent dramatic biomass depletion and diversity loss of this important plant group, the Earth is still a woody planet. Trees and other woody species are the living foundation on which most terrestrial biodiversity is built [ 1 ]. To efficiently protect threatened trees, shrubs and lianas and to stop the degradation of their declining ecosystems, existing international conservation programs must be supported, and new global protection initiatives must be developed [ 5 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Woody plants, such as trees, shrubs and lianas, form the principal components of forests and many other ecosystems on our planet [ 1 ] ( Figure 1 ). Being among the largest and longest-living organisms, they support an immense share of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity, providing food and habitats for innumerable microorganisms, epiphytes and invertebrate and vertebrate species [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Section: The Importance Of Woody Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Woody Planet: From Past Triumph to Manmade Decline

Fazan

Kozlowski

2020

Plants

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Woodiness evolved in land plants approximately 400 Mya, and very soon after this evolutionary invention, enormous terrestrial surfaces on Earth were covered by dense and luxurious forests. Forests store close to 80% of the biosphere’s biomass, and more than 60% of the global biomass is made of wood (trunks, branches and roots). Among the total number of ca. 374,000 plant species worldwide, approximately 45% (138,500) are woody species—e.g., trees, shrubs or lianas. Furthermore, among all 453 described vascular plant families, 191 are entirely woody (42%). However, recent estimations demonstrate that the woody domination of our planet was even greater before the development of human civilization: 1.4 trillion trees, comprising more than 45% of forest biomass, and 35% of forest cover disappeared during the last few thousands of years of human dominance on our planet. The decline in the woody cover of Planet Earth did not decelerate during the last few centuries or decades. Ongoing overexploitation, land use and climate change have pushed ten thousand woody species to the brink of extinction. Our review highlights the importance, origin and past triumph of woody species and summarizes the unprecedented recent decline in woody species on our planet.

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“…From 2017 onwards, we developed a new dynamic version of this model in C language, based on a plant segmentation in different organs. This model has already been used in a number of recent publications (Martin-StPaul et al 2017 ;Duursma et al 2019, Scoffoni et al 2018, Cochard 2019, Brodribb et al 2019, Brodribb et al 2020, Dayet et al 2020, but never formally described as here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SurEau.c : a mechanistic model of plant water relations under extreme drought

Cochard

Pimont

Ruffault

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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We describe the operating principle of the detailed version of the soil-plant-atmosphere model SurEau that allows, among other things, to predict the risk of hydraulic failure under extreme drought. It is based on the formalization of key physiological processes of plant response to water stress. The hydraulic functioning of the plant is at the core of this model, which focuses on both water flows and water pools using variable hydraulic conductances. The model considers the elementary flow of water from the soil to the atmosphere through different plant organs (roots, trunk branches, leaves and buds) that are described by their symplasm and their apoplasm compartments. Within each organ the flow of water between the apoplasm and the symplasm is also represented; as well as the flow outside the system, from the symplasm of each organ to the atmosphere, through the cuticular conductance. For each organ, the symplasm is described by a pressure volume curves and the apoplasm by the vulnerability curve to cavitation of the xylem. The model can thus compute the loss of conductance caused by cavitation, a leading mechanisms of plant desiccation and drought-induced mortality. Some example simulations are shown to illustrate how the model works.

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Hanging by a thread? Forests and drought

Cited by 532 publications

References 108 publications

Increased likelihood of heat-induced large wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin

Increased likelihood of heat-induced large wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin

The Woody Planet: From Past Triumph to Manmade Decline

SurEau.c : a mechanistic model of plant water relations under extreme drought

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