Tall Forests Exhibit Heightened Recovery Following Severe Drought: A Remote Sensing Perspective

Tall Forests Exhibit Heightened Recovery Following Severe Drought: A Remote Sensing Perspective | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Tall Forests Exhibit Heightened Recovery Following Severe Drought: A Remote Sensing Perspective Peipei Xu, Shuai Liu, Ying Yang, Hua Yang, Ting Dong, Yun Zhang, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7615823/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Landscape Ecology → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Context Globally, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts, significantly impacting forest ecosystems. While previous studies suggest taller forests are more vulnerable during drought, their capacity to recover following drought remains poorly understood, creating uncertainty for forest management. Objectives This study aimed to quantify the role of canopy height in post-drought forest recovery and determine how its importance changes with drought severity at a regional scale. Methods We focused on evergreen broad-leaved forests in southwest China following a severe drought in 2010. We used MODIS EVI to define a forest recovery index, SPEI to classify drought severity, and a LiDAR-derived canopy height map. We then used linear regression and Random Forest models to analyze the relationships and the relative importance of contributing factors. Results Forest recovery was positively correlated with the intensity of the preceding drought. Under severe and extreme drought conditions, forest recovery increased significantly with canopy height (p < 0.001). The relative importance of canopy height as a predictor of recovery also grew with drought intensity, increasing from 18.03% under normal conditions to 20.08% under extreme drought. Conclusions Our findings reveal that while tall forests may suffer more during severe droughts, they exhibit heightened recovery and resilience afterward. This size-dependent recovery dynamic is a critical and previously overlooked factor that should be incorporated into forest dynamic models and climate-adaptive resource management strategies. Forest recovery Drought Canopy height Vegetation index MODIS Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Landscape Ecology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 31 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 29 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 05 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 15 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 15 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 14 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7615823","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":525778220,"identity":"8e1e460a-95f3-40fd-928f-1dc3d7c501cb","order_by":0,"name":"Peipei Xu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anhui Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Peipei","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""},{"id":525778221,"identity":"81b1aac9-ef1a-4abb-8244-a69b3a9c1d94","order_by":1,"name":"Shuai Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anhui Normal 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Perspective","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"landscape-ecology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"land","sideBox":"Learn more about [Landscape Ecology](https://www.springer.com/journal/10980)","snPcode":"10980","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10980/3","title":"Landscape Ecology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer 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While previous studies suggest taller forests are more vulnerable during drought, their capacity to recover following drought remains poorly understood, creating uncertainty for forest management.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eObjectives\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study aimed to quantify the role of canopy height in post-drought forest recovery and determine how its importance changes with drought severity at a regional scale.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe focused on evergreen broad-leaved forests in southwest China following a severe drought in 2010. We used MODIS EVI to define a forest recovery index, SPEI to classify drought severity, and a LiDAR-derived canopy height map. We then used linear regression and Random Forest models to analyze the relationships and the relative importance of contributing factors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eForest recovery was positively correlated with the intensity of the preceding drought. Under severe and extreme drought conditions, forest recovery increased significantly with canopy height (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). The relative importance of canopy height as a predictor of recovery also grew with drought intensity, increasing from 18.03% under normal conditions to 20.08% under extreme drought.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur findings reveal that while tall forests may suffer more during severe droughts, they exhibit heightened recovery and resilience afterward. This size-dependent recovery dynamic is a critical and previously overlooked factor that should be incorporated into forest dynamic models and climate-adaptive resource management strategies.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Tall Forests Exhibit Heightened Recovery Following Severe Drought: A Remote Sensing Perspective","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-16 05:32:48","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7615823/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-31T19:59:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-29T15:48:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-18T16:07:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"201366870888157928558031828546319326257","date":"2025-10-07T06:50:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"219110557742296732397574667634155248780","date":"2025-10-06T13:02:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-05T22:51:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-15T09:09:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-15T09:09:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Landscape Ecology","date":"2025-09-15T03:22:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"landscape-ecology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"land","sideBox":"Learn more about [Landscape Ecology](https://www.springer.com/journal/10980)","snPcode":"10980","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10980/3","title":"Landscape Ecology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"35de5384-b7a5-4ead-8d2c-90892697ba98","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 16th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-23T16:09:58+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7615823","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-026-02313-2","journal":{"identity":"landscape-ecology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Landscape Ecology"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-21 15:58:30","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 21st, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-16 05:32:48","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10980-026-02313-2","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-026-02313-2","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7615823","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7615823","identity":"rs-7615823","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}