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Severe droughts have caused widespread tree mortality across many forest biomes with profound effects on the function of ecosystems and carbon balance. Climate change is expected to intensify regional-scale droughts, focusing attention on the physiological basis of drought-induced tree mortality. Recent work has shown that catastrophic failure of the plant hydraulic system is a principal mechanism involved in extensive crown death and tree mortality during drought, but the multi-dimensional response of trees to desiccation is complex. Here we focus on the current understanding of tree hydraulic performance under drought, the identification of physiological thresholds that precipitate mortality and the mechanisms of recovery after drought. Building on this, we discuss the potential application of hydraulic thresholds to process-based models that predict mortality.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	tree mortality, drought
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Plant biology
Research Field:	Plant physiology
Objective Division:	Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards
Objective Group:	Adaptation to climate change
Objective Field:	Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem)
UTAS Author:	Brodribb, TJ (Professor Tim Brodribb)
ID Code:	128903
Year Published:	2018
Funding Support:	Australian Research Council (DP170100761)
Web of Science® Times Cited:	352
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2018-10-23
Last Modified:	2019-12-03
Downloads:	155 View Download Statistics