Drought tolerance of tree seedlings and relationships of their functional traits and survival under a drought experiment

Abstract

Climate change crisis, especially droughts which have intensified; thus, the need for forest restoration projects to focus more on species selection. As insufficient water stresses seedlings; therefore, it impacts their growth and survival after planting. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the drought tolerance of nine native deciduous tree species under controlled conditions and to investigate relationships between 10 studied functional traits and the tolerance ability. Seedlings of nine studied species were tested under drought conditions for four months. After 113 days, only Afzelia xylocarpa and Bombax ceiba survived in a no water treatment. The studied species were classified into 4 groups using 10 functional traits. A. xylocarpa and B. ceiba were grouped with other species that expressed a high value of tissue density and roots respectively. No correlation between survival time and studied traits were found. Further investigation of functional traits at different stages of plant growth in both field and controlled conditions will enhance our understanding of selecting suitable species for forest restoration in the face of uncertain climate change conditions.

Keywords: forest restoration, functional traits, climate change, tropical forest, native seedlings