Comparison of Tree-Growth Drought Legacies of Three Shelterbelt Species in Thecanadian Prairies

Across western Canada, more frequent and severe droughts are expected to occur asa result of climate change. Forests are particularly vulnerable to drought as it oftenresults in mortality events even years following a moisture deficit. Similar events havebeen observed in Saskatchewan shelterbelts, where many species are planted faroutside their native range and are likely more vulnerable to environmental changes.Understanding how common shelterbelt species respond to drought will helplandowners make better management decisions under a changing climate. This studylooks at how three common shelterbelt species (Green ash, Scots pine and whitespruce) respond to different drought characteristics (severity, timing, and length) for upto five years following a moisture deficit using superposed epoch analysis. Weidentified that severe and extreme 3-month droughts greatly impact all three species.However, Scots pine and white spruce tend to recover more rapidly than green ash.Green ash is typically considered one of the most drought tolerant shelterbelt species,but its long recovery times suggest that this may be false. Scots pine was impacted bylate summer droughts and white spruce was impacted by June droughts. Both Scotspine and white spruce also saw compensatory growth after their recovery period. Thisresearch augments our understanding of how drought characteristics impact threecommon shelterbelt species in Saskatchewan and how they are likely to recover undermore frequent and severe drought events given projected climate change