Jun 30, 2014 01:11 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Carbohydrates may make trees more resistant to drought, according to a recent study.

An international team of researchers led by Michael O'Brien, an ecologist from the University of Zurich, found that how well tropical trees weather periods of drought depends on the carbohydrates stored.  The findings are extremely important for assessing the resistance of tropical forests to climate change and reforestation.

"Water is the limiting factor for many plants and trees. Consequently, there are grave concerns that the rainfall patterns altered by climate change could trigger a forest decline on a global scale," researchers said in the study.

For the study, the researchers planted 1,400 saplings of ten different tropical tree species in Malaysia and devised a novel experiment to manipulate the carbohydrates stored and observe their reaction.

During the study period, the research team increased and decreased the concentration of stored carbohydrates and exposed the seedlings to an artificial drought period.

Based on their findings, the researchers determined that young trees with more stored carbohydrates were able to maintain the vital water content in the stem for longer than those with fewer stored carbohydrates.

 "The better drought resistance and thus the greater chance of surviving a period of drought evidently depends on the quantity of carbohydrates stored," O'Brien concluded.

However, researchers found that the ability to store carbohydrates varies both within and between species.

"As different trees display a different mortality due to aridity, the impact of a forest decline triggered by climate change is cushioned," O'Brien said.

Researchers said the new insights are significant for reforestation. They believe the planting of species that store more carbohydrates can be favored to boost the forests' resistance to the drier climates predicted by the climate change models.

The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

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