Conifer resilience to drought is primarily determined by pre-drought growth levels and post-drought wetness

Climate change is leading to an increase in the frequency and severity of drought events, which will have more negative impacts on forest ecosystems. Due to the complexity of drought event characteristics, tree growth levels, and habitats, it is challenging to clarify the adaptation patterns of trees to drought events. Therefore, we used tree-ring width data from several conifer species to quantify drought-induced growth loss and post-drought recovery, and evaluated the drivers of these processes using linear mixed-effects models. The results showed that wet conditions significantly enhanced radial growth, whereas drought events markedly suppressed it. Consecutive wet and dry events counteracted each other's effects. However, two consecutive years of drought did not inhibit radial growth more severely than a single drought event. Higher growth loss led to reduced growth recovery, while better post-drought wetness interrupted drought legacy effects and promoted rapid tree recovery. Pre-drought growth levels are key to adaptation, higher levels reduce losses and boost recovery. In addition, both tree growth loss and growth recovery were strongly related to elevation and drought sensitivity. In summary, we conclude that better pre-drought growth levels of trees enhance their growth adaptation to drought events, while better post- drought wetness promotes rapid recovery and compensates for drought-induced losses.