Study: Forests taking longer to recover from drought
By Emily Guerin, KPCC
Gov. Jerry Brown may have declared the drought emergency over in April, but don’t tell that to California’s plants and trees. According to a study, not only do the effects of drought on the environment linger after it starts raining, but this “drought recovery” period is lasting longer than ever before, likely because of climate change.
Scientists with Woods Hole Research Center, University of Utah and other institutions found that trees often don’t return to their pre-drought growth rates — even after rain and snow return.
“Just because the rains come back doesn’t mean the ecosystem is functioning,” said lead author Christopher Schwalm with the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts. His study was published in Nature on Aug. 10.
