Dataset from a drought treatment on Viburnum opulus in a common garden set-up

Abstract from the associated manuscript: "Climate change impacts the functioning of our biosphere. The effects of extreme weather events, such as drought periods, will likely aggravate. We studied the impact of a summer drought on the shrub species Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus L.). Groups of saplings of a Belgian and a Swedish provenance, in a common garden setting, were subjected to different durations of drought. Impacts on phenology, morphology, physiology and growth were monitored. In the year of the treatment, severe drought extended the lifespan of surviving leaves through a slower decrease of the chlorophyll content, allowing leaves to remain green for a longer time. In the following year a delayed bud burst in the severely affected plants was surprisingly counteracted by a quicker build-up of leaf chlorophyll content. Together with a subsequent slower autumnal decrease these plants remained again longer green. Their leaves were in this year after the drought characterised by a higher specific leaf area and a more intense margin serration. These traits pointed to a proper recovery of leaf physiology and photosynthesis in the year following the drought while, as expected, both radial and height growth were reduced. Visual drought symptoms developed less quickly in the Swedish plants, possibly indicating the correspondence between cold adaptation and drought tolerance. Our results give new insights in the responses of plants upon severe drought stress."