Pinus halepensis is more drought tolerant and more resistant to extreme events than Pinus nigra at a sub-Mediterranean flysch site

Key messageCompared to Pinus nigra, Pinus halepensis exhibited higher growth rate and drought tolerance, as well as higher resilience and resistance, making it a potential species to promote in similar sites.Due to climate change, trees are exposed to more frequent and longer periods of drought, which will inevitably change the composition of tree species in the forests of the future. To better understand the effects of site characteristics on species performance under future climate, tree species need to be compared in terms of their climate sensitivity and resilience to extreme events, giving guidelines to forest management. We therefore compared the climate-growth relationships and resilience indices of black pine (Pinus nigra) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) growing at a flysch site in the northern Adriatic coast. Compared to P. nigra, P. halepensis showed higher growth rates, lower correlations with precipitation, and higher resilience and resistance, and thus should be preferred when both species are considered for planting under similar site conditions.