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--></style><title>In 40 periods of drought, big trees first to
die</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1" color="#000000">"Š the
serious meaning in a concept lies in the difference it will make to
someone if it is true."<br>
William James (1842 -1910)</font></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1"
color="#000000"><i>Pragmatism</i>. Meridian Books, 1955</font></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-1"
color="#000000">=========================</font></div>
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<div><font face="Arial"><i>Nature Plants</i> Published online:28
September 2015</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">doi:10.1038/nplants.2015.139</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande"><b>Larger trees suffer most during
drought in forests worldwide</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">Amy C. Bennett, Nathan G. McDowell, Craig D.
Allen & Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino">Abstract<b> (bold emphasis added for
readers' quick convenience)</b></font></div>
<div><font
face="Palatino">http://www.nature.com/articles/nplants2015139</font></div
>
<div><font face="Palatino"><br>
</font><font face="Arial">The frequency of severe droughts is
increasing in many regions around the world as a result of climate
change (1, 2, 3). Droughts alter the structure and function of forests
(4,5). Site- and region-specific studies suggest that large trees,
which play keystone roles in forests (6) and can be disproportionately
important to ecosystem carbon storage (7) and hydrology (8), exhibit
greater sensitivity to drought than small trees (4,5,9,10). Here, we
synthesize data on tree growth and mortality collected during 40
drought events in forests worldwide to see whether this size-dependent
sensitivity to drought holds more widely. We find that droughts
consistently had a more detrimental impact on the growth and mortality
rates of larger trees. Moreover, drought-related mortality increased
with tree size in 65% of the droughts examined, especially when
community-wide mortality was high or when bark beetles were
present.<b> The more pronounced drought sensitivity of larger trees
could be underpinned by greater inherent vulnerability to hydraulic
stress (11, 12, 13, 14), the higher radiation and evaporative demand
experienced by exposed crowns (4,15), and the tendency for bark
beetles to preferentially attack larger trees (16)</b>. We suggest
that future droughts will have a more detrimental impact on the growth
and mortality of larger trees, potentially exacerbating feedbacks to
climate change.</font></div>
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" Š the main dangers to the success of capitalism are the very
people who would consider themselves its most ardent advocates : the
bosses of companies, the owners of companies, and the politicians who
tirelessly insist that they are 'pro-business'."<br>
<br>
"Many of the corporate scandals that America, especially, has
endured in recent years reflect outright criminality. A lawful order
knows what to do with criminals, and pro-business politicians are in
truth militantly anti-capitalist if they flinch from cracking down on
bosses' crimes."<br>
<br>
"Š widespread and quite outrageous abuse, by capitalists, of
capitalism Š The danger exists everywhere in the world, but it
matters most in the United States."<br>
<br>
<i>The Economist</i>, Special 160th Anniversary Issue, A Survey of
Capitalism and Democracy, June 26-July 4, 2003</font></div>
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