New research has found that the punishing summer temperatures and persistent drought conditions in much of Arizona and the Southwest are dealing a double whammy to trees attempting to regulate their own temperature, putting a critical part of the desert ecosystem at risk.
  • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    “Even when temperatures reached 118°F, which stressed both the trees and the research team, the trees were able to prevent overheating, especially the trees from the hottest locations from the lower Colorado River,” Schuessler said. “However, experimentally limiting water leveled the playing field, and trees from all four populations suffered from a combination of heat stress and drought.”

    🤔 I wonder what the water is used for.