Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.6
2.5
Journals
Forests
Special Issues
Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology
share announcement

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 2392

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2034 KB  
Article
Assessment of the Crown Condition of Oak (Quercus) in Poland—Analysis of Defoliation Trends and Regeneration in the Years 2015–2024
by Grzegorz Zajączkowski, Piotr Budniak, Piotr Mroczek, Wojciech Gil and Pawel Przybylski
Forests 2025, 16(12), 1807; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121807 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 196
Abstract
Long-term monitoring of tree crown condition is essential for assessing forest resilience under increasing climatic variability. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of oak (Quercus spp.) defoliation trends in Poland from 2015 to 2024, based on national forest health monitoring data. Mean [...] Read more.
Long-term monitoring of tree crown condition is essential for assessing forest resilience under increasing climatic variability. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of oak (Quercus spp.) defoliation trends in Poland from 2015 to 2024, based on national forest health monitoring data. Mean defoliation remained relatively stable until 2018, followed by a significant increase in 2019 (+5.1 percentage points; p < 0.001), coinciding with a major drought event across Central Europe. In subsequent years, defoliation gradually decreased and stabilised, indicating partial canopy recovery. Segmented regression and spline models revealed a consistent breakpoint in 2019 across all age classes, with the most severe crown damage recorded in stands older than 100 years. Younger stands showed lower defoliation levels and higher regenerative capacity. A nonlinear relationship between defoliation and growing-season precipitation was also identified, showing that when rainfall fell below 40 mm, canopy loss exceeded 30%. The results confirm that oak defoliation reflects both short-term climatic stress and long-term structural changes. Integrating monitoring data with climatic analyses and statistical modelling improves the detection of stress-related drivers and the assessment of recovery processes. The combined use of these approaches supports adaptive forest management strategies, including the promotion of mixed-species and multi-aged stands, improvement of soil nutrient conditions, and targeted monitoring of drought-sensitive age classes, thereby enhancing the resilience of oak ecosystems to climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 3545 KB  
Article
Altered Functional Traits in Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr Seedlings: Responses and Divergence Across Altitudes
by Jiayi Deng, Jiangkai Xie, Tairui Liu, Jinping Guo, Yunxiang Zhang and Meng Yang
Forests 2025, 16(11), 1665; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16111665 - 31 Oct 2025
Viewed by 314
Abstract
To elucidate the adaptive strategies of leaf functional traits of Larix principis-rupprechtii in the context of climate change, this study chose 2 and 3 year-old seedlings of Larix principis-rupprechtii as the focal research objects. The experiment entailed transplanting seedlings obtained from different sources [...] Read more.
To elucidate the adaptive strategies of leaf functional traits of Larix principis-rupprechtii in the context of climate change, this study chose 2 and 3 year-old seedlings of Larix principis-rupprechtii as the focal research objects. The experiment entailed transplanting seedlings obtained from different sources into high and low altitudes: 1600 m, 1900 m, 2100 m, and 2400 m, respectively. With changes in transplant elevation, seedlings showed variable responses in photosynthesis, water-use efficiency, and leaf morphology, depending on the altitude. High-altitude seedlings transplanted to low altitudes increased SLA and branch extension, enhancing photosynthesis and C-N metabolism. Conversely, low-altitude seedlings transplanted to high altitudes improved cold resistance primarily via leaf thickening, adjusting the chlorophyll a/b ratio, and enhancing the redistribution of soluble proteins. For high-altitude sources, water-use efficiency and transpiration rate were strongly linked to leaf nitrogen and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, respectively, indicating the optimisation of photosynthetic and water-use efficiency through modulation of chlorophyll-a content and branch extension. Low-altitude seedlings chiefly adjusted the chla/b ratio, leaf morphological traits, and soluble protein to cope with altitudinal change. In summary, variation in leaf functional traits among seedlings of Larix principis-rupprechtii across elevational gradients did not reflect isolated changes in individual traits but rather arose from integrated adjustments of photosynthetic capacity, resource allocation, and metabolic coupling, thereby optimising the balance between light capture, water usage, and stress tolerance. These results, therefore, offer insights into adaptive strategies under climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought Tolerance in ​Trees: Growth and Physiology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

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 630
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)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

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 654
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)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop