Interannual radial growth response of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to severe droughts: an analysis along a gradient of soil properties and rooting characteristics

Key message

We analyzed stem growth responses of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to severe drought in 2003/04 and 2018. The results showed high drought tolerance in sandy, loamy, and most silty soils, with limitations on clayey soils. This study indicates the susceptibility of Douglas-firs with shallow root systems to extreme drought and the importance of deep rooting for high drought resilience.

Keywords
Drought tolerance, Resilience, Extreme drought stress, Soil texture, Rooting depth, Comparison with Norway spruce

Publication
Spangenberg, G., Zimmermann, R., Küppers, M. et al. Interannual radial growth response of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to severe droughts: an analysis along a gradient of soil properties and rooting characteristics. Annals of Forest Science 81, 23 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-024-01240-z

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Data and/or Code availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11127374).

Handling Editor
Cyrille Rathgeber