Land-use legacies predispose the response of trees to drought in restored forests

Transformative change is required to achieve conservation of the globe's natural resources. Ambitious forest restoration can help achieve this change. Restoration success depends on trees persisting through multiple stressors, with drought standing out as one of utmost importance. However, research tends to focus on tree inciting factors of tree decline, like drought, whilst ignoring the fundamental importance of context, potentially leading to the wasted restoration effort. Indeed, the propensity of trees to succumb to, or resist, drought depends on whether they are predisposed to fail or succeed. Here, I argue that this predisposition crucially depends on the nature and characteristics of the former land use at the restoration site and propose a research agenda that will help enable the successful upscaling of forest restoration ambitions by revealing the land-use history-determined conditions under which tree species are likely to succeed in an era of environmental challenges.

Automated summary

Transformational change is needed to protect the world's natural resources. Ambitious forest restoration efforts are crucial in achieving this change, with the success of restoration depending on trees' ability to withstand various stressors, especially drought. Research often overlooks the significance of the former land use in determining the predisposition of trees to resist drought, potentially leading to wasted restoration efforts.