GLOBAL DROUGHT-INDUCED FOREST MORTALITY RATES ARE INCREASING. CLIMATE PROJECTIONS PREDICT ADDED STRESS ON TREES IN THE FUTURE MAKING IT CRUCIAL TO MONITOR FORESTS ROUTINELY. EXISTING MODELS PREDICTING FOREST MORTALITY FOCUS ON USING EXTERNAL CLIMATIC FACTORS BUT FAIL TO CONSIDER THE INTERNAL STRESS EXPERIENCED BY VEGETATION. IF AN INTERNAL STRESS PARAMETER LIKE VEGETATION WATER CONTENT (VWC) CAN BE USED ALONG WITH CLIMATIC FACTORS MORTALITY MODELS CAN BE SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED.

The Leland Stanford Junior University

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