[MCN] Trees need water. Drought has consequences

[Lance Olsen]

"Droughts can negatively impact forest inventories by increasing 
mortality and reducing growth (Vose et al, 2016).

"Contrary to the expectation that surviving trees have weathered 
severe drought, the hydraulic deterioration demonstrated here reveals 
that surviving regions of these forests are actually more vulnerable 
to future droughts due to accumulated xylem damage."(ANDEREGG et al 
2013).

"We found that tree mortality rates increased by an overall average 
of 4.7%yr from 1963 to 2008, with higher mortality rate increases in 
western regions than in eastern regions (about 4.9 and 1.9% yr , 
respectively). The water stress created by regional drought may be 
the dominant contributor to these widespread increases in tree 
mortality rates across tree species, sizes, elevations, longitudes 
and latitudes. Western Canada seems to have been more sensitive to 
drought than eastern Canada" (Peng et al 2011).

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