No carbon “bet hedging” in pine seedlings under prolonged summer drought and elevated CO₂

More frequent drought episodes are expected to cause higher mortality in isohydric tree species such as pines, because individuals close their stomata early during drought in order to maintain constant needle water potentials. It has been suggested that trees delay the ensuing carbon starvation by actively storing carbon at the expense of growth (“bet hedging”). Because such a strategy is only adaptive in drought‐prone regions, we hypothesise...