Tree Growth, Contraction, and Recovery: Disentangling Soil and Atmospheric Drought Effects

We investigate how soil and atmospheric droughts jointly impact tree growth and recovery dynamics in a semi-arid pine forest, leveraging high-resolution stem diameter variation data and an irrigation experiment. The irrigated plot, where soil drought was mitigated, served as a benchmark to isolate the effects of atmospheric drought and distinguish them from the compound drought conditions experienced by control trees. Using a suite of tools based only on stem diameter variation, we identified growth modes that vary in accordance with soil water availability. Control trees showed negligible growth during the dry season but rapidly recovered with the onset of the wet season, matching the baseline growth rates of the irrigated trees, suggesting minimal compromise in hydraulic functioning. Our main finding is that heatwaves consistently depress stem-expansion rates, regardless of treatment. However, during the dry season, this negative impact diverges sharply between the treatments. Because irrigated trees benefit from a hydraulic buffer supplied by ample soil water and thus retain a positive growth baseline, the depression merely slows their expansion, whereas control trees already near zero are driven into net contraction. These findings offer new understanding of how trees balance growth, contraction, and recovery under varying drought conditions, revealing the pivotal role of soil water in shaping drought responses across seasons. As climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of drought events, this knowledge is critical for anticipating shifts in tree growth and resilience.