Tree species diversity protects forests from climate extremes, study finds

New research has found that tree species diversity can play a crucial role in protecting forests from the growing threat of extreme climate events. The study analyzed data from 88,116 separate forest plots across the United States to investigate the impact of “compound climate extremes,” when events such as drought and extreme heat occur at the same time.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, was led by Peking University in Beijing, China, and carried out by an international team of scientists, including Dr. Hannah White from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).

Using satellite observations alongside forest inventory data, the researchers examined forests’ resistance, or their ability to withstand climate extremes, as well as their resilience, measured by how effectively they recover afterward.

While previous studies have typically focused on the impacts of individual climate events, such as heat waves, climate extremes rarely occur in isolation. As a result, concentrating on single events may underestimate the risks posed by climate change.

When extremes collide

The new research found that when extreme heat and moisture-related events occur together, their effects tend to be amplified, resulting in greater negative impacts than the sum of the impacts of individual extremes.

For example, extreme heat can intensify extreme drought by increasing evapotranspiration and exacerbating water stress, while heat combined with excessive moisture, causing waterlogged soil, can exacerbate hypoxia and root damage.

Across all 88,116 forest plots analyzed, compound heat and moisture extremes occurred at least once between 2001 and 2020. When exposed to these combined events, forests generally showed lower resistance and poorer recovery than when subjected to individual climate extremes.

Diversity softens the blow

Crucially, however, the study found that forests with greater tree species diversity were better able to cope with these pressures. Forest plots containing a wider variety of tree species experienced smaller declines in productivity during compound climate extremes and recovered more effectively afterward.

The findings suggest that biodiversity can act as a form of “biological insurance,” helping forests maintain stability in an increasingly unpredictable climate.

“Forests are one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth and are vital to how our planet functions, but they are increasingly exposed to more frequent and intense extreme weather events as our climate changes.

“Much of the research to date has focused on the effects of individual extremes such as droughts or heat waves. Our study, which used extensive forest survey data and satellite-derived productivity measures, shows that when these extremes occur together, the consequences can be substantially more severe, reducing both the forest’s ability to withstand disturbance and its capacity to recover afterward.

“However, we also found that biodiversity can be crucial for governing forest stability, as those with a greater diversity of tree species consistently performed better under these challenging conditions. Our findings have implications for future carbon cycle projections and demonstrate the important role biodiversity can play in helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” said study co-author White, senior lecturer in ecology and conservation at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).

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