%0 Journal Article
%T Impact of Severe Drought during the Strong 2015/2016 El Nino on the Phenology and Survival of Secondary Dry Dipterocarp Species in Western Thailand
%J Forests | An Open Access Journal from MDPI
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/f10110967
%X Secondary forest areas are increasing worldwide and understanding how these forests interact with climate change including frequent and extreme events becomes increasingly important. This study aims to investigate the effects of the strong 2015/2016 El Ni£¿o-induced drought on species-specific leaf phenology, dieback and tree mortality in a secondary dry dipterocarp forest (DDF) in western Thailand. During the 2015/2016 El Ni£¿o event, rainfall and soil water content were lower than 25 mm and 5% during 5¨C6 consecutive months. The dry season was 3¨C4 months longer during the El Ni£¿o than during non-El Ni£¿o events. We found that this prolonged drought induced the earlier shedding and a delay in leaf emergence of the DDF. The deciduousness period was also longer during the El Ni£¿o event (5 months instead of 2¨C3 months during non-El Ni£¿o event). We found that the DDF species showed different phenological responses and sensitivities to the El Ni£¿o-induced drought. The leaf phenology of stem succulent species Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr. and a complete deciduous species with low wood density. Sindora siamensis Teijsm. ex Miq. was only slightly affected by the El Ni£¿o-induced drought. Conversely, a semi-deciduous species such as Dipterocarpus obtusifolius Teijsm. ex Miq. showed a higher degree of deciduousness during the El Ni£¿o compared to non-El Ni£¿o events. Our results also highlight that dieback and mortality during El Ni£¿o were increased by 45 and 50%, respectively, compared to non-El Ni£¿o events, pointing at the importance of such events to shape DDF ecosystems. View Full-Tex
%U https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/11/967