When trees get 'sunburn': Study shows how young trees can handle the heat

Can our forests adapt to a hotter and drier future climate? Temperatures are predicted to rise up to 5°C compared to pre-industrial times. Forest management needs to adapt to these conditions, which requires a better understanding of how heat and drought affect trees. A new study by a team of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and EPFL shows that warming itself is not the biggest issue for trees. The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.