Abstract
The expected and already observed increment in frequency of extreme climatic events may result in severe vegetation shifts. However, stabilizing mechanisms promoting community resilience can buffer the lasting impact of extreme events. The present work analyzes the resilience of a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem after an extreme drought in 2005, examining shoot-growth and needle-length resistance and resilience of dominant tree and shrub species (Pinus sylvestris vs Juniperus communis, and P. nigra vs J. oxycedrus) in two contrasting altitudinal ranges. Recorded high vegetative-resilience values indicate great tolerance to extreme droughts for the dominant species of pine-juniper woodlands. Observed tolerance could act as a stabilizing mechanism in rear range edges, such as the Mediterranean basin, where extreme events are predicted to be more detrimental and recurrent. However, resistance and resilience components vary across species, sites, and ontogenetic states: adult Pinus showed higher growth resistance than did adult Juniperus; saplings displayed higher recovery rates than did conspecific adults; and P. nigra saplings displayed higher resilience than did P. sylvestris saplings where the two species coexist. P. nigra and J. oxycedrus saplings at high and low elevations, respectively, were the most resilient at all the locations studied. Under recurrent extreme droughts, these species-specific differences in resistance and resilience could promote changes in vegetation structure and composition, even in areas with high tolerance to dry conditions.
Highlights
Extreme drought and warm events are closely related to growth reductions and mortality of woody species in forest ecosystems across the planet [1]
We empirically apply the concepts of resistance and resilience to patterns of tree and shrub growth, using shootlength and needle-length as indicators of plant responses to an extreme drought event
Our empirical results indicate that Pinus and Juniperus species at their southern distribution edge present great tolerance to an extreme drought event, as demonstrated by the high vegetative resilience values recorded across species, sites, and ontogenetic states
Summary
Extreme drought and warm events are closely related to growth reductions and mortality of woody species in forest ecosystems across the planet [1]. While resistance can be considered the force of an ecosystem, community or individual to oppose change exerted by an external disturbance [9], resilience is defined as the capacity to restore pre-disturbance structure and function (analogous to ‘engineering resilience’, see [10]). In this context, the analysis of woody species resistance and resilience is crucial under the rising frequency of extreme events [11,12,13]
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