Species-specific, size-dependent, and environmentally modulated growth resilience to drought in conifer forests on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau.

Global climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme droughts. Researching tree growth responses to drought helps assess the potential of forest adaptation and ecological stability under changing climate conditions. Here, we investigated tree growth resilience components (resistance, recovery, and resilience) to extreme drought events of two mainly distributed species, Pinus tabulaeformis and Picea wilsonii, on the Gannan Plateau, the Eastern Tibetan Plateau. Tree-ring width data from 510 trees at 20 plots along the elevation gradients were employed to analyze the tree resilience components at the individual tree level. The results showed that P. tabulaeformis had a lower growth resistance and a higher recovery capacity to drought than P. wilsonii, which might be related to the different strategies for combating drought of the two species. In addition, the tree growth response of P. tabulaeformis to drought changed significantly along the elevation gradient due to its higher drought sensitivity than that of P. wilsonii. Overall, the long-term correlation between tree growth and drought index, tree size, and soil water content had implications for tree growth resistance, recovery, and resilience. Given the observed differences in tree growth resistance to drought among different species and environmental conditions, a well-thought-out and tailored strategy would better support forest management on the Gannan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]