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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Environmental Research Letters

Hot drought reshapes the relationship between tree species diversity and forest resilience

  • Zifan Zhang1
  • Pei Wang1
  • Xiuchen Wu2
  • Wen Zhang3
  • Yang Li4
  • Renjie Guo1
  • Xiaona Wang1
  • Zekai Meng5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Beijing Normal University
  2. 2School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
  3. 3University of Arizona
  4. 4University of Connecticut
  5. 5Tsinghua University
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Abstract

Climate warming is increasing the occurrence of hot droughts, in which water deficits coincide with anomalously high temperatures, posing growing risks to forest ecosystems and carbon sequestration. Yet whether tree species diversity (TSD) affects forest resilience differently under drought-only and hot drought remains unclear. Here, we conducted a global assessment of TSD effects on NDVI-based forest resilience following drought-only and hot drought events. By integrating satellite-based estimates of resilience with global tree species richness data and environmental factors across ten major forest biomes, we found that global forests exhibited reduced post-drought growth under both drought conditions, with more spatially extensive reductions under hot drought. Importantly, the TSD-resilience relationship differed markedly between the two drought types. TSD effects on forest resilience were widely negative under drought-only conditions but were predominantly positive under hot drought. Hot drought also amplified both positive and negative TSD effects relative to drought-only events. Interaction analyses further showed that, under drought-only conditions, TSD effects were broadly modulated by mean annual temperature and vapor pressure deficit, whereas under hot drought, mean annual temperature was the only environmental variable showing widespread modulation of TSD effects. In addition, resilience was more sensitive to the number of tree species under hot drought and in species-poor forests. Our findings highlight that anomalously high temperature accompanying drought reshapes both the direction and magnitude of TSD effects on forest resilience and identify low-richness regions as strategic targets where management interventions may deliver greater ecological benefits.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{zhang2026drought,
  title = {{Hot drought reshapes the relationship between tree species diversity and forest resilience}},
  author = {Zifan Zhang and Pei Wang and Xiuchen Wu and Wen Zhang and Yang Li and Renjie Guo and Xiaona Wang and Zekai Meng},
  journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1df},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1df},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Hot drought reshapes the relationship between tree species diversity and forest resilience
AU  - Zifan Zhang
AU  - Pei Wang
AU  - Xiuchen Wu
AU  - Wen Zhang
AU  - Yang Li
AU  - Renjie Guo
AU  - Xiaona Wang
AU  - Zekai Meng
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/20
JO  - Environmental Research Letters
DO  - 10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1df
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1df
AB  - Climate warming is increasing the occurrence of hot droughts, in which water deficits coincide with anomalously high temperatures, posing growing risks to forest ecosystems and carbon sequestration. Yet whether tree species diversity (TSD) affects forest resilience differently under drought-only and hot drought remains unclear. Here, we conducted a global assessment of TSD effects on NDVI-based forest resilience following drought-only and hot drought events. By integrating satellite-based estimates of resilience with global tree species richness data and environmental factors across ten major forest biomes, we found that global forests exhibited reduced post-drought growth under both drought conditions, with more spatially extensive reductions under hot drought. Importantly, the TSD-resilience relationship differed markedly between the two drought types. TSD effects on forest resilience were widely negative under drought-only conditions but were predominantly positive under hot drought. Hot drought also amplified both positive and negative TSD effects relative to drought-only events. Interaction analyses further showed that, under drought-only conditions, TSD effects were broadly modulated by mean annual temperature and vapor pressure deficit, whereas under hot drought, mean annual temperature was the only environmental variable showing widespread modulation of TSD effects. In addition, resilience was more sensitive to the number of tree species under hot drought and in species-poor forests. Our findings highlight that anomalously high temperature accompanying drought reshapes both the direction and magnitude of TSD effects on forest resilience and identify low-richness regions as strategic targets where management interventions may deliver greater ecological benefits.
SN  - 1748-9326
ER  -