Beyond climatic drought indices : an hydraulic approach to quantifying forest water stress
Hervé Cochard, Maxime Cailleret, Médéric Aubry, Phillipe Balandier, Arsène Druel, Marylou Mantova, Ludovic Martin, Thomas Opitz, Léo Place, Nicolas K Martin-StPaul
The paper introduces a new Forest Stress Index (ISF) based on hydraulic modeling to better link climatic anomalies to tree mortality risk, showing stronger emphasis on extreme drought years compared to existing indices.
bioRxiv · Jul 15, 2026 · PreprintPlant Biology