Plants influence the atmosphere through fluxes of carbon, water and energy1, and can intensify drought through land–atmosphere feedback effects2–4. The diversity of plant functional traits in forests, especially physiological traits related to water (hydraulic) transport, may have a critical role in land–atmosphere feedback, particularly during drought. Here we combine 352 site-years of eddy covariance measurements from 40 forest sites, remote-sensing observations of plant water content and plant functional-trait data to test whether the diversity in plant traits affects the response of the ecosystem to drought. We find evidence that higher hydraulic diversity buffers variation in ecosystem flux during dry periods across temperate and boreal forests. Hydraulic traits were the predominant significant predictors of cross-site patterns in drought response. By contrast, standard leaf and wood traits, such as specific leaf area and wood density, had little explanatory power. Our results demonstrate that diversity in the hydraulic traits of trees mediates ecosystem resilience to drought and is likely to have an important role in future ecosystem–atmosphere feedback effects in a changing climate.The diversity in the hydraulic traits of trees mediates ecosystem resilience to drought and will probably have an important role in future ecosystem–atmosphere feedback effects.

中文翻译：

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森林的水力多样性调节干旱期间的生态系统恢复力

植物通过碳、水和能量的通量影响大气1，并且可以通过陆地-大气反馈效应2-4加剧干旱。森林中植物功能性状的多样性，尤其是与水（水力）运输相关的生理性状，可能在陆地-大气反馈中发挥关键作用，尤其是在干旱期间。在这里，我们结合了来自 40 个森林站点的 352 个站点年的涡度协方差测量、植物含水量的遥感观测和植物功能性状数据，以测试植物性状的多样性是否影响生态系统对干旱的响应。我们发现证据表明，较高的水力多样性可以缓冲温带和北方森林干旱时期生态系统通量的变化。水力性状是干旱响应中跨站点模式的主要显着预测因子。相比之下，标准的叶子和木材特性，例如比叶面积和木材密度，几乎没有解释力。我们的研究结果表明，树木水力性状的多样性介导了生态系统对干旱的复原力，并且可能在未来气候变化中的生态系统-大气反馈效应中发挥重要作用。树木水力性状的多样性介导了生态系统对干旱和干旱的复原力。可能在未来的生态系统-大气反馈效应中发挥重要作用。