ArticleAnnals of botany2025
Lethal combination for seedlings: extreme heat drives mortality of drought-exposed high-elevation pine seedlings.
Article in Annals of botany, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- High temperature leads to a loss of isohydry in Pinus radiata.Journal of experimental botany · 2026Article
- Evaluating the vulnerability of critical early life stages in plants during heat extremes.Conservation physiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsHotter drought- and biotically driven tree mortality are expected to increase with climate change in much of the western USA, and species persistence will depend upon ongoing establishment in novel conditions or migration to track ecological niche requirements. High-elevation tree species might be particularly vulnerable to increasing water stress as snowpack declines, increasing the potential for adult mortality and simultaneous regeneration failures. Seedling survival will be determined by ecophysiological limitations in response to changing water availability and temperature.
methodsWe exposed seedlings from populations of Pinus longaeva, Pinus flexilis and Pinus albicaulis to severe drought and concurrent temperature stress in common gardens, testing the timing of drought onset under two different temperature regimes. We monitored seedling functional traits, physiological function and survival. KEY
resultsThe combined stressors of water limitation and extreme heat led to conservative water-use strategies and declines in physiological function, with these joint stressors ultimately exceeding species tolerances and leading to complete episodic mortality across all species. Growing conditions were the primary determinant of seedling trait expression, with seedlings exhibiting more drought-resistant traits, such as lower specific leaf area, in the hottest, driest treatment conditions. Water stress-induced stomatal closure was also widely apparent. In the presence of adequate soil moisture, seedlings endured prolonged exposure to high air and surface temperatures, suggesting broad margins for survival.
conclusionsThe critical interaction between soil moisture and temperature suggests that rising temperatures will exacerbate moisture stress during the growing season. Our results highlight the importance of local conditions over population- and species-level influences in shaping strategies for stress tolerance and resistance to desiccation at this early life stage. By quantifying some of the physiological consequences of drought and heat that lead to seedling mortality, we can gain a better understanding of the future effects of global change on the composition and distribution of high-elevation conifer forests.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.