Reduced tree growth in the semiarid United States due to asymmetric responses to intensifying precipitation extremes
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Sch Nat Resources & EnvironmIssue Date
2019-10-02
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AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCECitation
M. P. Dannenberg, E. K. Wise, W. K. Smith, Reduced tree growth in the semiarid United States due to asymmetric responses to intensifying precipitation extremes. Sci. Adv. 5, eaaw0667 (2019).Journal
SCIENCE ADVANCESRights
Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Earth’s hydroclimatic variability is increasing, with changes in the frequency of extreme events that may negatively affect forest ecosystems. We examined possible consequences of changing precipitation variability using tree rings in the conterminous United States. While many growth records showed either little evidence of precipitation limitation or linear relationships to precipitation, growth of some species (particularly those in semiarid regions) responded asymmetrically to precipitation such that tree growth reductions during dry years were greater than, and not compensated by, increases during wet years. The U.S. Southwest, in particular, showed a large increase in precipitation variability, coupled with asymmetric responses of growth to precipitation. Simulations suggested roughly a twofold increase in the probability of large negative growth anomalies across the Southwest resulting solely from 20th century increases in variability of cool-season precipitation. Models project continued increases in precipitation variability, portending future growth reductions across semiarid forests of the western United States.Note
Open access journalISSN
2375-2548PubMed ID
31616781Version
Final published versionSponsors
Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) [RC18-1322]ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1126/sciadv.aaw0667
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
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