Using global databases to disentangle trait-specific and environmental influences on forest drought sensitivity.

Recent extreme climate events, such as droughts, have led to unprecedented forest dieback worldwide. Serra-Maluquer et al. (2022) used open access, global scale databases to link woody species' drought tolerance capabilities to their specific set of life-history traits. They found that species that produce denser woody tissues and can tolerate more negative leaf water potentials are more resilient to extreme drought events, regardless of local conditions. This is an invited commentary on Serra-Maluquer et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16123.