Response of Forest Plant Diversity to Drought: A Review

Abstract

Forests, being the primary repository of terrestrial biodiversity, possess a significant capacity to regulate the phenomenon of climate change. It is additionally crucial to consider how natural disasters affect the state and development of forest biodiversity. The alteration of climate patterns over recent decades has had a discernible impact on forest ecosystems, specifically the damage caused by drought to ecosystems, has become increasingly evident. Nevertheless, there is limited research to elucidate the relationship between forest biodiversity and drought, as well as to explore the mechanisms of biodiversity response to drought. This review synthesizes the existing literature on the effects of climate change on forests across various scales and examines the adaptive responses of forest communities to drought-induced stress. Forest biodiversity can be influenced by various factors, including the severity of drought, initial climatic conditions, and the composition of species in drylands. During periods of drought, the biodiversity of forests is influenced by a range of intricate physiological and ecological factors, encompassing the capacity of plants to withstand drought conditions and their subsequent ability to recuperate following such periods. Moreover, the choice of different drought indices and biodiversity estimation methods has implications for subsequent response studies.