Wood type influences tree responses to recurring hot and dry summer tree water deficits across European forests
Abstract
Increasingly frequent summer droughts are intensifying stem dehydration across European forests, constraining tree growth and resilience. Even mild water-related stress can inhibit tree growth, although its impact is species-specific. Tree water deficit (TWD), a measure deduced from radial stem contraction during drought, reflects stem water status and can be used as a proxy for the physiological drought stress experienced by trees. Using high-resolution dendrometer measurements representing 29 tree species from 130 forest sites across Europe from 2003 to 2018, we examined how the length of TWD periods during summer is related to their recurrence within the same year, to TWD intensity, to climate factors, and to wood type (i.e., tracheid-based coniferous, ring-porous or diffuse-porous anatomy). A greater degree of incomplete rehydration, indicated by highest minimum TWD during TWD periods (70% increase of expected response for conifers and ring-porous species, 42% increase of expected response for diffuse-porous), together with warmer temperature (44% increase of expected response for all wood types) and stronger drought, prolonged the length of TWD periods. However, the recurrence of TWD periods only increased the length of the subsequent TWD period within the same year for diffuse-porous tree species (12% increase of expected response). Our results show that wood type and its associated functional traits influence tree responses to recurring stem dehydration periods. The greater sensitivity of diffuse-porous species to recurring TWD periods suggests that wood type anatomy may play an important role in determining how tree species cope with increasingly frequent summer droughts.
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BibTeX
@article{nikinmaa2026wood,
title = {{Wood type influences tree responses to recurring hot and dry summer tree water deficits across European forests}},
author = {Laura Nikinmaa and Annemiek I Stegehuis and Marcus Lindner and Roman Zweifel and Adriaan J Teuling and Georg von Arx and Koenraad van Meerbeek and Roberto L Salomón and Andreas Bär and Michal Bellan and Daniel Berveiller and Miroslav Blaženec and Vojtěch Čada and Vinicio Carraro and Sébastien Cecchini and Marco Conedera and Nicolas Delpierre and Sylvain Delzon and Ľubica Ditmarová and Johannes Edvardsson and Stefan Ehekircher and Patrick Fonti and Alicia Forner-Sales and Marta Galvagno and Andrea Ganthaler and Rainer Hentschel and Pavel Janda and Marek Ježík and Hans-Peter Kahle and Jean Kempf and Jan Krejza and Łukasz Kuberski and François Lebourgeois and Bas Lerink and Jean-Marc Limousin and Sophie Lorentz and Radim Matula and Stefan Mayr and Martin Mikoláš and Gert-Jan Nabuurs and Walter Oberhuber and Nikolaus Obojes and Bruce Osborne and Caroline Petitjean and Roman Plichta and Cyrille B K Rathgeber and Ute Sass-Klaassen and Matthew Saunders and Marko Smiljanic and Dominik F Stangler and Kathy Steppe and Krzysztof Stereńczak and Marko Stojanović and Katarína Střelcová and Jan Světlík and Miroslav Svoboda and Brian Tobin and Volodymyr Trotsiuk and Josef Urban and Fernando Valladares},
journal = {European Journal of Forest Research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s10342-026-01956-9},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05788718v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Wood type influences tree responses to recurring hot and dry summer tree water deficits across European forests
AU - Laura Nikinmaa
AU - Annemiek I Stegehuis
AU - Marcus Lindner
AU - Roman Zweifel
AU - Adriaan J Teuling
AU - Georg von Arx
AU - Koenraad van Meerbeek
AU - Roberto L Salomón
AU - Andreas Bär
AU - Michal Bellan
AU - Daniel Berveiller
AU - Miroslav Blaženec
AU - Vojtěch Čada
AU - Vinicio Carraro
AU - Sébastien Cecchini
AU - Marco Conedera
AU - Nicolas Delpierre
AU - Sylvain Delzon
AU - Ľubica Ditmarová
AU - Johannes Edvardsson
AU - Stefan Ehekircher
AU - Patrick Fonti
AU - Alicia Forner-Sales
AU - Marta Galvagno
AU - Andrea Ganthaler
AU - Rainer Hentschel
AU - Pavel Janda
AU - Marek Ježík
AU - Hans-Peter Kahle
AU - Jean Kempf
AU - Jan Krejza
AU - Łukasz Kuberski
AU - François Lebourgeois
AU - Bas Lerink
AU - Jean-Marc Limousin
AU - Sophie Lorentz
AU - Radim Matula
AU - Stefan Mayr
AU - Martin Mikoláš
AU - Gert-Jan Nabuurs
AU - Walter Oberhuber
AU - Nikolaus Obojes
AU - Bruce Osborne
AU - Caroline Petitjean
AU - Roman Plichta
AU - Cyrille B K Rathgeber
AU - Ute Sass-Klaassen
AU - Matthew Saunders
AU - Marko Smiljanic
AU - Dominik F Stangler
AU - Kathy Steppe
AU - Krzysztof Stereńczak
AU - Marko Stojanović
AU - Katarína Střelcová
AU - Jan Světlík
AU - Miroslav Svoboda
AU - Brian Tobin
AU - Volodymyr Trotsiuk
AU - Josef Urban
AU - Fernando Valladares
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - European Journal of Forest Research
DO - 10.1007/s10342-026-01956-9
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05788718v1
AB - Increasingly frequent summer droughts are intensifying stem dehydration across European forests, constraining tree growth and resilience. Even mild water-related stress can inhibit tree growth, although its impact is species-specific. Tree water deficit (TWD), a measure deduced from radial stem contraction during drought, reflects stem water status and can be used as a proxy for the physiological drought stress experienced by trees. Using high-resolution dendrometer measurements representing 29 tree species from 130 forest sites across Europe from 2003 to 2018, we examined how the length of TWD periods during summer is related to their recurrence within the same year, to TWD intensity, to climate factors, and to wood type (i.e., tracheid-based coniferous, ring-porous or diffuse-porous anatomy). A greater degree of incomplete rehydration, indicated by highest minimum TWD during TWD periods (70% increase of expected response for conifers and ring-porous species, 42% increase of expected response for diffuse-porous), together with warmer temperature (44% increase of expected response for all wood types) and stronger drought, prolonged the length of TWD periods. However, the recurrence of TWD periods only increased the length of the subsequent TWD period within the same year for diffuse-porous tree species (12% increase of expected response). Our results show that wood type and its associated functional traits influence tree responses to recurring stem dehydration periods. The greater sensitivity of diffuse-porous species to recurring TWD periods suggests that wood type anatomy may play an important role in determining how tree species cope with increasingly frequent summer droughts.
SN - 1612-4669
SN - 1612-4677
ER -