Radial growth resilience assessment and management implications for major planted forests in the west loess plateau...

Under the background of global climate change, frequent and severe drought have led to forest decline and tree mortality, ultimately threatening the structure, function, and stability of forest ecosystems. However, forest ecosystems and individual trees exhibit a certain degree of growth resilience to the impacts of drought. A profound understanding of the growth resilience of forest ecosystems and individual trees to drought is of great significance for maintaining the stability of forest ecosystems, particularly for plantation ecosystems. Based on an improved resilience assessment framework (maximum averaged growth reduction and recovery rate with the flexible time window), this study compared the radial growth resilience of major tree and shrub species between planted forests across different sub-climatic zones of the west Loess Plateau and corresponding natural forest species in adjacent area. The results indicate that: 1) Compared to plantations, natural forest tree species exhibit higher growth resilience. 2) Platycladus orientalis, Hippophae rhamnoides, and Caragana korshinskii possess high growth resilience, rendering them highly suitable for afforestation across the arid regions of the Loess Plateau. In contrast, Picea crassifolia and Pinus tabulaeformis showed lower resilience and should be confined to high altitude, semi-arid zones with higher precipitation. 3) In terms of plantation management in areas with insufficient precipitation, appropriate silvicultural interventions, such as rainwater harvesting, soil moisture conservation, and stand tending, must be supplemented to maintain the healthy and sustainable development of planted forests. These findings provide a scientific basis for species selection and adaptive plantation management on the Loess Plateau.