Linking physiological drought resistance traits to growth and mortality of three northeastern tree species

Climate change is raising concerns about how forests will respond to extreme droughts, heat waves, and their co-occurrence. In this greenhouse study, we tested how carbon and water relations relate to seedling growth and mortality of northeastern US trees during and after extreme drought, warming, and combined drought and warming. We compared the response of our focal species red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) to a common associate (paper birch, Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and a species expected to increase abundance in this region with climate change (northern red oak, Quercus rubra L.). We tracked growth and mortality, photosynthesis, and water use of 216 seedlings of these species through a treatment and a recovery year. Each red spruce seedling was planted in containers either alone or with another seedling to simulate potential competition and seedlings were exposed to combinations of drought (irrigated, 15-day ‘short’, or 30-day ‘long’) and temperature (ambient or 16 days at +3.5 ℃ dai..., , , # Data from: Linking physiological drought resistance traits to growth and mortality of three northeastern tree species

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.s4mw6m9fw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.s4mw6m9fw)

Produced by Alexandra Barry. 2024-07-25. a.m.barry15[at]gmail.com.

This research was supported by ME0-42121, USDA McIntire-Stennis Program, administered through the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station.

This research was also supported by the University of Maine School of Forest Resources (SFR).

This dataset contains data collected during a two-year greenhouse experiment using containerized seedlings of *Picea rubens* (Sarg.), *Quercus rubra* (L.), and *Betula papyrifera* (Marsh.). The goal of this study was to examine the photosynthesis and water use responses of seedlings growing as individuals and in competition with current and future associates, and how these responses affect mortality and growth among these species. The 'treatment year' (2022) included planting of ...