Tree Ecosystem Research Articles

Examining stakeholder attitudes towards tree ecosystem services and disservices in urban environments: insights from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak

ABSTRACT Urbanisation is a growing public health concern worldwide. Green spaces and trees provide critical ecosystem services in urban areas. The perceptions and attitudes of people regarding ecosystem services and disservices of trees were studied in one of the cleanest higher education institutions (HEIs) in India. Based on the Likert scale, this research focused on rating and preferences for ecosystem services and disservices from trees by different stakeholders. The study also aimed to understand the importance of socio-demographic variables on stakeholder’s perceptions towards ecosystem services and disservices. The study attempted to capture specific challenges and suggestions regarding tree management on campus. The survey included 367 people representing administrative staff, faculty members, residents and students from the Maharshi Dayanand University Campus (MDU), Rohtak (Haryana), India. Perceptions of different stakeholders were explored through a semi-structured questionnaire. Respondents rated oxygen (O2) production, medicinal potential and air pollution reduction services of trees as very important. They also highlighted some disservices of the trees on the university campus, such as problems with pollen allergy, litter, blocking of sunshine and monkey menace. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified eight significant varimax factors (VFs) for ecosystem services and disservices, explaining 59.59% of the variance in the data. Ordinal regression analysis indicated a strong correlation between residents on campus, educational background, marital status and ratings of ecosystem services and disservices. Respondents suggested organising more environmental sensitisation programmes, recruiting staff, ensuring strict compliance with rules and establishing tree clubs. The study concludes that people are highly dependent on campus trees, regard ecosystem services and are not significantly concerned about tree disservices. The findings of this study may motivate and guide universities and higher educational institutions across the globe to explore the perceptions of different stakeholders in understanding the ecological significance of trees for achieving their broad goals of campus sustainability.

Diversity index of argania spinosa l. Skeels plant formation in the algerian western sahara

The argan (Argania spinosa) is a xerothermophilous tree, endemic in North-West Africa. In Algeria, it is found as wild in the northwest of the Hamada du Drâa of Tindouf (Algerian Western Sahara), where it is characterized by a great floristic diversity. Several indices were calculated in this study to have a better knowledge on the state of biological diversity of the argan tree ecosystem. It is characterized by a floristic richness composed of 123 taxa belonging to 38 families including the dominance of three major floristic families: Asteraceae, Brassicaceae and Amaranthaceae. Biologically, the study area is dominated by therophytic species. This therophytization is marked by a general invasion of annual species. The diversity index of Shannon-Weaver (4.42) associated with that of Pilou's equitability (0.843) are relatively high, which showed that the flora of the argan forest of Tindouf is highly diverse. The disturbance index is high (76%) which reflects a significant degree of disturbance of the plant formation and also a strong anthropozoic influence. Bangladesh J. Bot. 53(3): 447-457, 2024 (September)

Media Sosial Sebagai Alat Pemasaran Mangrove Pandang Tak Jemu Di Kampung Tua Bakau Serip

Mangrove Pandang Tak Jemu in Kampung Tua Bakau Serip is a unique and interesting ecotourism destination. Considering the importance of the mangrove tree ecosystem and its potential as a tourist attraction, an effective marketing strategy is needed. One of the most effective and efficient ways to promote this destination is through social media. This article resulting from community service will explain how social media can be used as a very effective tool to market the Mangrove Pandang Tak Jemu in Kampung Tua Bakau Serip. Choosing the right media and the right marketing strategy, social media can increase visibility thereby attracting more visitors, and ultimately support the mangrove forest environment through sustainable tourism. Optimal use of social media can help Mangrove Pandang Tak Jemu in Kampung Tua Bakau Serip become a widely known tourist destination, as well as provide education and increase awareness of the importance of the mangrove ecosystem as a lungs of the world

Educational practice: Tree Ecosystem Services trail

Educational practice: Tree Ecosystem Services trail

The Role of Authentic Local Resources and Social Capital in the Development of Sustainable Village Tourism

This study aims to determine the role of authentic local resources and social capital in influencing the development of sustainable village tourism. This research refers to the social exchange theory and the theory of resources base view, using 30 managers of the village tourism "Lontar Sewu" as respondents who then carried out a bootstrapping process of 300 data. WarpPLS processed the collected data. The results revealed that the data collected met the validity and reliability requirements and the fit of the model. Estimation of the model showed that the authenticity of local resources and the social capital of the community had a positive relationship with sustainable village tourism. Likewise, the verification showed that the authenticity of local resources affected sustainable village tourism, and social capital affected sustainable village tourism. The findings showed that the authenticity of local resources and social capital was proven to have an important role in sustainable village tourism, such as the sustainability of the Lontar tree ecosystem (authenticity), the uniqueness of village tourism that is maintained, and local wisdom that makes the community involved in developing village tourism. This research provides a significant theoretical contribution to the sustainable tourism literature. Furthermore, this research has a number of practical implications for village tourism managers in terms of sustainable village tourism management.

CO2 Emission Compensation by Tree Species in Some Urban Green Areas

Mitigating the negative impacts of climate change in urban areas has recently become essential to improving citizens’ living conditions. Trees are one of the most effective ways to attenuate the Heat Island phenomenon in cities, and numerous projects have been carried out to calculate tree ecosystem services (ES) provisioning. Among these, the Clivut European project (LIFE 18 GIC/IT/001217) developed a web app to allow citizens and the public administration to quantify the ES provided by the most common tree species. The present study aims to consider a new model to calculate the tree evapotranspiration cooling effect in the urban environment in terms of CO2-compensated emissions. The model directly converts the surface temperature change produced by tree evapotranspiration into the corresponding CO2 offset in four urban parks in two Italian cities (Bologna and Perugia). The considered parks stored 1100 t of CO2 at the time of the study, while the CO2 compensated is 860 t, showing the significance of this interpretation. As a result of the study, it can be concluded that the presented model will allow a better estimation of the potential trees’ climate change compensation and also add further functionality to the web app.

Exploring potential trade-offs in outdoor water use reductions and urban tree ecosystem services during an extreme drought in Southern California

In Southern California cities, urban trees play a vital role in alleviating heat waves through shade provision and evaporative cooling. Trees in arid to semi-arid regions may rely on irrigation, which is often the first municipal water use to be restricted during drought, causing further drought stress. Finding a balance between efficient water use and maintaining tree health will be crucial for long-term urban forestry and water resources management, as climate change will increase drought and extreme heat events. This study aimed to quantify how urban tree water and carbon fluxes are affected by irrigation reductions, and how that relationship changes with tree species and temperature. We used an ecohydrologic model that mechanistically simulates water, carbon, and energy cycling, parameterized for 5 common tree species in a semi-arid urban area. We simulated a range of irrigation reductions based on average outdoor water use data from the city for a recent extreme drought as well as with warmer temperatures. We then analyzed the response of model outcomes of plant carbon fluxes, leaf area index (LAI), and water use. Results show that reducing irrigation up to 25%, a comparable amount as the California state mandate in 2014, has minimal effects on tree primary productivity and water use efficiency. We found that transpiration was linearly related to irrigation input, which could lead to a short-term loss of evaporative cooling with irrigation reductions during drought. However, primary productivity and LAI had a nonlinear response to irrigation, indicating shade provision could be maintained throughout drought with partial irrigation reductions. Results varied across tree species, with some species showing greater sensitivity of productivity to both irrigation reductions and potentially warmer droughts. These results have implications for water resources management before and during drought, and for urban tree climate adaptation to future drought.

Diversity of bee tree (sambit) for Apis dorsata conservation in Membalong, Belitung Regency, Indonesia

The land transformation of forests to monoculture threatened the existence of biodiversity in Belitung, including the bee trees (local name: sambit) for Apis dorsata nesting. Bee farmers are having difficulty finding numerous kinds of bee trees. The objectives of this study were (1) to identify the species of bee trees, (2) to characterize the nesting branches of the bee tree, and (3) to identify the ecosystem of the bee trees in three villages in Membalong, Belitung Regency. Data were collected using: (1) interviewing bee farmers, (2) measurements of nesting branches, and (3) exploring the bee tree ecosystems. We discovered 22 species (13 families) of bee trees, with Myrtaceae was the most frequent. Syzygium cymosum (local name: mengkeling) was a common nesting tree of A. dorsata. The characteristics of bee trees were: height of the nesting branch: 7.85 ± 3.80 m above the ground, length of the branch: 2.74 ± 1.43 m, and the incline of the branch: 20.20° ± 2.57°. We found bee trees in terrestrial ecosystems (primary and secondary heath forests) and wetlands (swamps and mangroves). The last ecosystem was a new finding. We suggest local communities cultivate the native plants and reduce the area of forest land used.

Collection of environmental DNA from stemflow for monitoring arboreal biodiversity: Preliminary validation using lichens

The forest canopy harbors a diverse array of organisms. However, monitoring their biodiversity poses challenges due to limited accessibility and the vast taxonomic diversity. To address these challenges, we present a novel method for capturing arboreal biodiversity by harnessing stemflow as a source of DNA from organisms inhabiting trees. Our method involves encircling the tree trunk with gauze, directing the stemflow along the gauze into a funnel, and collecting it in a plastic bag. We employed dual collection systems to retrieve environmental DNA (eDNA) from the stemflow: the gauze trap, designed to capture macroscopic biological fragments, and the plastic bag trap, which collected the stemflow itself. The trapped fragments and stemflow were separately filtered, and eDNA was subsequently extracted from the filter membranes. To validate our method, we focused on foliose lichens, which are easily observable on tree surfaces. We performed eDNA metabarcoding and successfully detected a majority of the observed foliose lichen species, including those not identified through visual observation alone.•We have developed a non-invasive and straightforward method for monitoring arboreal biodiversity by collecting eDNA from stemflow, which has been validated using lichens for its efficacy.•This cost-effective approach minimizes disruptions to tree ecosystems and is expected to provide an efficient means of sampling and monitoring arboreal organisms.

Assisted migration and plant invasion: importance of belowground ecology in conifer forest tree ecosystems

This paper reviews and discusses the main features of biological invasion by plants and the assisted migration theory referencing a critical common factor—belowground ecology. The risk of a plant becoming invasive and the potential failure of assisted migration programs depend on the presence or absence of soil microorganisms that regulate key ecosystem processes and mitigate adverse environmental conditions. This biotic interaction should be considered in the selection of sites for afforestation programs since it is as important as temperature and precipitation regarding conservation decisions, and assisted migration practices in response to climate change. Fungal species should be determined and included in climate change mitigation programs to avoid disease outbreaks and ensure the presence of beneficial mutualistic species in sites selected for assisted migration. Plants considered for assisted migration should pose a low risk of becoming invasive for having establishment difficulties per se. However, the real threat is that they may displace other species, introduce pathogens, or trigger disease outbreaks in introduction sites that nullify assisted migration efforts.

A Comparison of Host Susceptibilities to Native and Exotic Pathogens in Forest Tree Ecosystems

Forest tree ecosystems are in danger of being disrupted by novel pathogens. It is important to examine factors that influence host susceptibility to these pathogens. There are three main components that contribute to host susceptibility: pathogen specific defense mechanisms, genetic bases, and pathogen generic defense mechanisms. Different susceptibilities can be found with varying tree and pathogen species and not every combination of host species and pathogen species will be influenced by the same factors. This review explores how different host tree species react to native and exotic diseases that affect their respective species. It has been determined that Eucalyptus globulus and Corymbia citriodora ssp. variegate show a form of pathogen-specific defense mechanisms to the native diseases Teratospheaeria sp. and Quambalaria pitereka respectively, with strong susceptibility to the exotic disease Austropuccinia psisii. Alnus glutinosa, however, shows that there is a genetic basis for pathogen resistance to Phytopthora uniformis and Phytopthora x alni. Lastly, Pinus radiata showed a generic form of pathogen defense towards Fusarium circinatum.

The influence of elevated CO2 and soil depth on rhizosphere activity and nutrient availability in a mature Eucalyptus woodland

Abstract. Elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) in the atmosphere increases forest biomass productivity but only where soil nutrients, particularly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), are not limiting growth. eCO2, in turn, can impact rhizosphere nutrient availability. Our current understanding of nutrient cycling under eCO2 is mainly derived from surface soil, leaving mechanisms of the impact of eCO2 on rhizosphere nutrient availability at deeper depths unexplored. To investigate the influence of eCO2 on nutrient availability in soil at depth, we studied various C, N, and P pools (extractable, microbial biomass, total soil C and N, and mineral-associated P) and nutrient cycling processes (enzyme activity and gross N mineralisation) associated with C, N, and P cycling in both bulk and rhizosphere soil at different depths at the Free Air CO2 enrichment facility in a native Australian mature Eucalyptus woodland (EucFACE) on a nutrient-poor soil. We found decreasing nutrient availability and gross N mineralisation with depth; however, this depth-associated decrease was reduced under eCO2, which we suggest is due to enhanced root influence. Increases in available PO43-, adsorbed P, and the C : N and C : P ratio of enzyme activity with depth were observed. We conclude that the influences of roots and of eCO2 can affect available nutrient pools and processes well beyond the surface soil of a mature forest ecosystem. Our findings indicate a faster recycling of nutrients in the rhizosphere, rather than additional nutrients becoming available through soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. If the plant growth response to eCO2 is reduced by the constraints of nutrient limitations, then the current results would call to question the potential for mature tree ecosystems to fix more C as biomass in response to eCO2. Future studies should address how accessible the available nutrients at depth are to deeply rooted plants and if fast recycling of nutrients is a meaningful contribution to biomass production and the accumulation of soil C in response to eCO2.

Impact of removal of rubber plantations for urbanization on CO2 mitigating capacity by the loss of carbon sink in Kerala state, India

Mitigating climate change and global warming through carbon sequestration by tree ecosystems is of prime importance since they are cost-effective, environmentally friendly and ecologically sustainable. Urbanization is a part of development, and rubber plantations are usually removed for this purpose, especially in Kerala, the southern state of India. Besides latex, the economic produce, and the associated income, the rubber tree is a fairly good sink for carbon in its biomass, with an average carbon content of 42 per cent and substantial carbon stock in the soil. In the present study, an account of total carbon loss by the removal of rubber plantation for urbanization and developmental activities are given. The present popular clone (RRII 105) existing in major share (85%) of the total rubber cultivation in India accounts for carbon sink loss 57 t ha-1, 57.5 t ha-1, 43.2 t ha-1 for 23 years and 148 t ha-1, 75 t ha-1 and 62.1 t ha-1 for 30 years from biomass, litterfall and sheet rubber respectively. The recent clones RRII 414, RRII 429 and RRII 417 have higher growth rates and higher biomass (44-50 per cent) carbon sink loss compared to the existing popular clone RRII 105. The carbon sink loss in the form of stored carbon in soil is 56.5, with a soil carbon content between 1.2 to 2 per cent. Due to the growth variation in diverse environments with extreme climatic conditions, the clones recorded differences in carbon stock and carbon sink loss. The central region of Kerala showed a higher loss, and a lower loss was in the drought-affected northern region than the southern region. The total carbon sink losses for 23 and 30 years were 214.2 and 341.5 t ha-1, respectively. This study points out that the serious carbon sink loss due to the removal of rubber plantations results in disturbing the self-sustained, carbon-friendly and economically sound perennial rubber ecosystem. Vegetation having higher C-sequestration potential and trees with higher lignin content is essential to increase carbon capture for mitigating the impact of the removal of plantations. From the present study, it is clear that the removal of rubber plantations is affecting the carbon sink loss, thereby the CO2 mitigating capacity, and is a serious matter of concern.

“Enlightenment Is a Shared Enterprise”: Tree Ecosystems and the Legacy of Modernity in Richard Powers’s The Overstory

In Richard Powers’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Overstory (2018) the theme of the novel is the forest ecosystem, with a special emphasis placed on trees, upon whose developmental model the processes of (organic and industrial) growth are scrutinized in this novel. This article examines tree-human assemblages in detail to see how they exchange their material agency and how they relate to the e/Enlightenment project. The essay also explores Powers’s novel to examine how Buddhist values of spiritual enlightenment are contextualized within European Enlightenment and how decentred humanity finds its place among other non-human beings. Apart from fictitious characters from The Overstory, the article draws upon the research of real-life scientists who inspired the creation of Powers’s protagonists: Prof. Simard and Dr. Beresford-Kroeger, along with the work of anthropologist Anna Tsing. In addition, eco-solutions concerning the tree ecosystem (i.e. bio-planning and the seed banks) coming from the scientific field and the field of literature (Powers) are examined to see if today’s progressive ideas can function in the world of the—still, to a large extent, “regressive”—structures of modernity’s legacy. I conclude by arguing that the novel shows that the Enlightenment project is not compatible with the well-being and long-term survival of both humans and non-human beings.

A comparison of microbial composition under three tree ecosystems using the stochastic process and network complexity approaches.

Soil microbes act as “players” in regulating biogeochemical cycles, whereas environmental heterogeneity drives microbial community assembly patterns and is influenced by stochastic and deterministic ecological processes. Currently, the limited understanding of soil microbial community assembly patterns and interactions under temperate forest stand differences pose a challenge in studying the soil microbial involvement during the succession from coniferous to broad-leaved forests. This study investigated the changes in soil bacterial and fungal community diversity and community structure at the regional scale and identified the pathways influencing soil microbial assembly patterns and their interactions. The results showed that broad-leaved forest cover in temperate forests significantly increased soil pH, and effectively increased soil water content, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents. Both soil bacterial and fungal alpha diversity indices were correlated with soil physicochemical properties, especially in broad-leaved forest. The bacterial and fungal community composition of coniferous forest was dominated by deterministic process (bacteria: 69.4%; fungi: 88.9%), while the bacterial community composition of broad-leaved forest was dominated by stochastic process (77.8%) and the fungal community composition was dominated by deterministic process (52.8%). Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Verrucomicrobiota were the dominant phyla of soil bacterial communities in temperate forests. Whereas Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, and Rozellomycota were the dominant phyla of soil fungal communities in temperate forests. Most members of dominant phylum were regulated by soil physical and chemical properties. In addition, the succession from temperate coniferous forest to broad-leaved forest was conducive to maintaining the complex network of soil bacteria and fungi, and the top 20 degree of the major taxa in the network reflected the positive response of microbial interactions to the changes of soil nutrients during forest succession. This study not only shows the mechanism by which species differences in temperate forests of northern China affect soil microbial community assembly processes, but also further emphasizes the importance of the soil microbiome as a key ecosystem factor through co-occurrence network analysis.

Assessing environmental services and disservices of urban street trees. an application of the emergy accounting

The urban green infrastructure (UGI), with special focus on street trees, is a very complex engineered ecosystem which plays an important role in generating ecosystem services and, if improperly managed, a number of dis-services to be prevented. This study applies the Emergy Accounting method to the cost and benefit evaluation, in order to establish a non-monetary “supply-side” assessment framework capable to assign an environmental value to each kind of services provided by urban forests and other green infrastructures. Further, the study classifies urban street tree integrated valuation framework into ecosystem services, avoided cost for human health and biodiversity damage, growing/maintenance cost and ecosystem dis-services. In a like manner, the interaction among the three different component flows in street tree ecosystems (costs, benefits and associated dis-services) are compared by means of a ternary diagram. Taking the case of the street ecosystem in Beijing, China, eleven typical urban tree species, including oak, maple, Chinese ash and linden, are selected for services and dis-services evaluation. Results show that, in general, UGI provides a large number of services to urban population, but it may also generate dis-services affecting human health, well-being and biodiversity when tree selection, location and management is not accurate. Results may help improve management practices which enhance the overall ecosystem service provision by urban forests not only in Beijing as case study but also in other cities by means of appropriate management.

PHÁT TRIỂN DU LỊCH NÔNG NGHIỆP DỰA TRÊN HỆ SINH THÁI TẠI HUYỆN NGHĨA ĐÀN, TỈNH NGHỆ AN

Nghia Dan is a mountainous district in the northwest of Nghe An province, with potential for agricultural development, especially high-tech agriculture. The survey results in Nghia Dan district show that agro-tourism has initially developed based on the diversity of agroecosystems, including planted forest ecosystem, perennial tree ecosystem, field ecology, and water surface ecosystems. The values of the agro-ecosystem have been exploited and created tourism products such as resorts, and experiences. However, this economic activity still has no specific planning and orientation; agricultural products of high quality but have not yet confirmed the brand; Tourism products are attractive but have not yet made a difference and diversity. On the basis of analyzing the current situation, this study has proposed 5 groups of solutions to develop agricultural tourism in Nghia Dan district, Nghe An province.

Neighbours consistently influence tree growth and survival in a frequently burned open oak landscape

Abstract Successful management of fire‐prone woody ecosystems is challenging and requires knowledge of the spatial arrangement of the trees and how the tree distribution patterns influence the nature and consequences of subsequent fires. In open tree landscapes, trees are often aggregated, and the ability of trees within the clumps to survive fires plays a significant role in determining subsequent landscape dynamics. If positive interactions exist among neighbouring trees, this will help maintain the patterns of clumped trees. However, the tree‐aggregated landscape will continue to exist only if the positive neighbour interactions persist consistently over time. In cases where disturbances are episodic, detecting these interactions is only possible through long‐term studies. Data reported here are from a 25‐year study involving the annual tree censusing of a large grid‐plot in a frequently burned open oak landscape dominated by Quercus macrocarpa and Quercus ellipsoidallis. The results showed that while having neighbours reduced tree growth, neighbours consistently facilitated survival, irrespective as to whether the neighbours were conspecifics or heterospecifics. Trees of all sizes in close proximity to neighbours were considerably more likely to survive fire throughout the study. This neighbour facilitation is likely the result of a reduction of both herbaceous and woody fuel within clumps. Synthesis. This is the first study to document consistent neighbour facilitation among trees experiencing repeated stressors over an extended time period. Our findings support the literature documenting positive neighbour effects among plants in stressful and highly disturbed environments, in accordance with the stress‐gradient hypothesis. While aggregated tree regeneration is typically viewed as the primary cause for the development of tree clumps in fire‐prone ecosystems, our study showed that aggregated tree survival, by itself, can also be an important driver of post‐fire tree clumping. Our results support the growing literature emphasizing the importance of landscape heterogeneity as a driver of resilience in fire‐prone tree ecosystems, and the value of maintaining or creating this heterogeneity during forest management.

Inference for epidemic models with time-varying infection rates: Tracking the dynamics of oak processionary moth in the UK.

Invasive pests pose a great threat to forest, woodland, and urban tree ecosystems. The oak processionary moth (OPM) is a destructive pest of oak trees, first reported in the UK in 2006. Despite great efforts to contain the outbreak within the original infested area of South‐East England, OPM continues to spread.Here, we analyze data consisting of the numbers of OPM nests removed each year from two parks in London between 2013 and 2020. Using a state‐of‐the‐art Bayesian inference scheme, we estimate the parameters for a stochastic compartmental SIR (susceptible, infested, and removed) model with a time‐varying infestation rate to describe the spread of OPM.We find that the infestation rate and subsequent basic reproduction number have remained constant since 2013 (with R0 between one and two). This shows further controls must be taken to reduce R0 below one and stop the advance of OPM into other areas of England. Synthesis. Our findings demonstrate the applicability of the SIR model to describing OPM spread and show that further controls are needed to reduce the infestation rate. The proposed statistical methodology is a powerful tool to explore the nature of a time‐varying infestation rate, applicable to other partially observed time series epidemic data.

The effects of varying drought-heat signatures on terrestrial carbon dynamics and vegetation composition

Abstract. The frequency and severity of droughts and heatwaves are projected to increase under global warming. However, the differential impacts of climate extremes on the terrestrial biosphere and anthropogenic CO2 sink remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyse the effects of six hypothetical climate scenarios with differing drought-heat signatures, sampled from a long stationary climate model simulation, on vegetation distribution and land carbon dynamics, as modelled by a dynamic global vegetation model (LPX-Bern v1.4). The six forcing scenarios consist of a Control scenario representing a natural climate, a Noextremes scenario featuring few droughts and heatwaves, a Nocompound scenario which allows univariate hot or dry extremes but no co-occurring extremes, a Hot scenario with frequent heatwaves, a Dry scenario with frequent droughts, and a Hotdry scenario featuring frequent concurrent hot and dry extremes. We find that a climate with no extreme events increases tree coverage by up to 10 % compared to the Control scenario and also increases ecosystem productivity as well as the terrestrial carbon pools. A climate with many heatwaves leads to an overall increase in tree coverage primarily in higher latitudes, while the ecosystem productivity remains similar to the Control scenario. In the Dry and even more so in the Hotdry scenario, tree cover and ecosystem productivity are reduced by up to −4 % compared to the Control scenario. Regionally, this value can be much larger, for example up to −80 % in mid-western USA or up to −50 % in mid-Eurasia for Hotdry tree ecosystem productivity. Depending on the vegetation type, the effects of the Hotdry scenario are stronger than the effects of the Hot and Dry scenarios combined, illustrating the importance of correctly simulating compound extremes for future impact assessment. Overall, our study illustrates how factorial model experiments can be employed to disentangle the effects of single and compound extremes.