During an unexpected drought and heat wave in the summer of 2022, China’s Yangtze River Basin, which is also one of the country’s most important ecological resources, faced an extraordinary stress test. Scientists believe that the testing times offered a rare opportunity to examine how different types of forests respond when severe heat and water shortages occur simultaneously, a combination that the ongoing climate change is expected to make increasingly common. Notably, research claims that while natural forests offered better resistance during China’s drought in 2022, planted forests staged a quicker recovery, thus highlighting two very different forms of climate resilience.
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