The growth of forest trees all over the world is becoming more water-limited as the climate warms, according to new research from an international team that includes University of Arizona scientists.
The growth of forest trees all over the world is becoming more water-limited as the climate warms, according to new research from an international team that includes University of Arizona scientists.
The effect is most evident in northern climates and at high altitudes where the primary limitation on tree growth had been cold temperatures, reports the team this week in the online journal Science Advances.
"Our study shows that across the vast majority of the land surface, trees are becoming more limited by water," said first author Flurin Babst, who conducted the research at the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Zurich.
"This is the first time that anybody has projected the tree growth responses to climate at a near-global scale," Babst said.
Continue reading at University of Arizona.
Image via Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL.
