Earthquakes not only affect tree growth directly by causing physical injury to individual trees but also indirectly by inducing changes in forest habitats. We established linkage between tree-ring series and seismic disturbances and found that prominent and lasting seismic legacies in drier areas may be due to an increased infiltration of precipitation through earthquake-induced soil cracks.
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References
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This is a summary of: Gao, S. et al. Shifts of forest resilience after seismic disturbances in tectonically active regions. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01380-x (2024).
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Linking biosphere with lithosphere by assessing how earthquakes affect forest growth. Nat. Geosci. 17, 179–180 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01381-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01381-w