Heat and drought slow down tropical tree growth
Stem growth of tropical trees is reduced in years when the dry season is warmer and drier than normal. This is the main finding of a global tree-ring study published in Nature Portfolio led by Wageningen University & Research. The study is based on a new global network consisting of over 14,000 tree-ring data series from 350 locations across the tropics. The researchers found that the effect of drier and hotter years is larger in more arid or warm regions. This suggests that climate change may increase the sensitivity of tropical trees to climatic fluctuations.
IHE Delft Rector and member of the Water JPI Stakeholders Advisory Group, Eddy Moors, was one of the 100 contributing authors to this paper. "With the creation of this open data database, it will be possible to fill the 'no data' spots, in particular for the African continent. I hope this will make further research possible", he said.