The effect of extreme drought on Scots pine trees has been examined as part of a University of Stirling study, which could have implications for climate change efforts across the world.
The research – led by Tom Ovenden of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Ecology – considered how resilient Scots pine trees are to extreme drought events.
Scots pine is the cornerstone of Scotland’s Caledonian pinewoods and is a critically important species, both ecologically and economically, in the UK and across Europe. The new research provides a significant understanding of its vulnerability to, and recovery from, drought – a particularly important topic as drought events are expected to increase in intensity, duration, and frequency due to climate change.