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Forests
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Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology
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Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecophysiology and Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 March 2026 | Viewed by 1279

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guangqi Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Forestry, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
Interests: forest ecology; plant functional traits; droughts; wood anatomy; non-structural carbohydrate
Dr. Yang Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
Interests: forest ecology; tree ring ecology; restoration ecology; ecosystem service functions
Dr. Peipei Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Ji’nan, China
Interests: plant water physiology; plant functional traits; carbon allocation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing frequency and intensity of drought events worldwide pose significant challenges to forest ecosystems, affecting tree growth, survival, and ecosystem functioning. As the backbone of many terrestrial ecosystems, trees play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity, carbon storage, and water cycles. Understanding the mechanisms that underpin tree responses to drought is, therefore, pivotal to predicting and mitigating the impacts of climate change on forests.

This Special Issue, "Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology", aims to bring together cutting-edge research and synthesis on how trees respond to drought at various scales, from molecular to ecosystem levels. By highlighting the latest advances in this field, we hope to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and inspire innovative strategies for forest management and conservation under changing environmental conditions.

The Special Issue welcomes contributions that explore the multifaceted responses of trees to drought. Key areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the following: studies on hydraulic architecture, stomatal regulation, osmotic adjustment, and carbon allocation in trees under drought stress; studies on how drought influences tree growth patterns, biomass distribution, and phenological adjustments; and studies on how tree responses to drought scale up to affect community structure, ecosystem function, and biogeochemical cycles.

We look forward to your contributions to this exciting collection.

Dr. Guangqi Zhang
Dr. Yang Cao
Dr. Peipei Jiang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drought tolerance
  • drought resistance
  • tree physiology
  • tree growth
  • water stress
  • hydraulic efficiency
  • stomatal regulation
  • xylem cavitation
  • climate resilience
  • forest adaptation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1517 KB  
Article
Drought Resistance and Its Relationship with Functional Traits of Tree Species in a Tropical Urban Environment
by María Isabel Vásquez, Flavio Moreno, Néstor Orozco Suárez, Krafft H. Saldarriaga and Lucas Cifuentes
Forests 2025, 16(9), 1493; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091493 - 20 Sep 2025
Viewed by 385
Abstract
Despite the progress to understand drought tolerance worldwide, the response of urban trees to the increased frequency and severity of droughts, particularly in tropical regions, remains unclear. Such an evaluation is essential for predicting future urban forest dynamics. The leaf turgor loss point [...] Read more.
Despite the progress to understand drought tolerance worldwide, the response of urban trees to the increased frequency and severity of droughts, particularly in tropical regions, remains unclear. Such an evaluation is essential for predicting future urban forest dynamics. The leaf turgor loss point (πTLP), leaf safety margins (SMs) and their relationship with functional traits were measured in ten native tree species during wet and dry seasons in a tropical urban environment. We detected interspecific variation in tree responses related to desiccation tolerance and desiccation avoidance as strategies to resist drought. Desiccation avoidance was linked to lower adjustment of midday water potentials and water-conservative traits such as high wood density, low specific leaf area (SLA), and high leaf dry matter content, while species with more negative πTLP maintained stomatal conductance and growth despite decreasing leaf water potentials. Although the differences between predawn and midday potentials during the dry season suggest that severe drought does not occur, some species showed negative safety margins. This indicates that while some urban trees can tolerate or avoid current dry periods, continued climate change may push certain species beyond their safe operating range, making species selection for urban planning increasingly critical. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology)
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23 pages, 3984 KB  
Article
Stem Heating Enhances Growth but Reduces Earlywood Lumen Size in Two Pine Species and a Ring-Porous Oak
by J. Julio Camarero, Filipe Campelo, Jesús Revilla de Lucas, Michele Colangelo and Álvaro Rubio-Cuadrado
Forests 2025, 16(7), 1080; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16071080 - 28 Jun 2025
Viewed by 460
Abstract
Climate models forecast warmer winter conditions, which could lead to an earlier spring xylem phenology in trees. Localized stem heat experiments mimic this situation and have shown that stem warming leads to an earlier cambial resumption in evergreen conifers. However, there are still [...] Read more.
Climate models forecast warmer winter conditions, which could lead to an earlier spring xylem phenology in trees. Localized stem heat experiments mimic this situation and have shown that stem warming leads to an earlier cambial resumption in evergreen conifers. However, there are still few comprehensive studies comparing the responses to stem heating in coexisting conifers and hardwoods, particularly in drought-prone regions where temperatures are rising. We addressed this issue by comparing the responses (xylem phenology, wood anatomy, growth, and sapwood concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates—NSCs) of two pines (the Eurosiberian Pinus sylvestris L., and the Mediterranean Pinus pinaster Ait.) and a ring-porous oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.) to stem heating. We used the Vaganov-Shashkin growth model (VS model) to simulate growth phenology considering several emission scenarios and warming rates. Stem heating in winter advanced cambial phenology in P. pinaster and Q. pyrenaica and enhanced radial growth of the three species 1–2 years after the treatment, but reduced the transversal lumen area of earlywood conduits. P. sylvestris showed a rapid and high growth enhancement, whereas the oak responded with a 1-year delay. Heated P. pinaster and Q. pyrenaica trees showed lower sapwood starch concentrations than non-heated trees. These results partially agree with projections of the VS model, which forecasts earlier growth onset, particularly in P. pinaster, as climate warms. Climate-growth correlations show that growth may be enhanced by warm conditions in late winter but also reduced if this is followed by dry-warm growing seasons. Therefore, forecasted advancements of xylem onset in spring in response to warmer winters may not necessarily translate into enhanced growth if warming reduces the hydraulic conductivity and growing seasons become drier. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology)
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