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Plants in most biomes are thought to be living at their hydraulic limits, and alterations to precipitation patterns consistent with climate change trends are causing die-back in forests

across the globe1,2,3,4. However, within- and among-species variation in plant traits that promote persistence and adaptation under these new rainfall regimes may reduce mortality in these

changing climates5,6. Storage of non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) is posited as an important trait for resistance and resilience of forests to climate-change-induced drought, but the

underlying mechanisms remain unclear7,8,9,10. Here we demonstrate a positive relationship between NSCs and drought survival by manipulating NSC concentrations within seedlings of ten

tropical tree species. Seedlings experimentally enriched in NSCs showed higher stem water potentials and sustained NSCs during drought. NSC use for maintenance of osmoregulation and

hydraulic function therefore seems to underlie improved drought resistance. That drought mortality is delayed by higher NSC concentrations has implications for predicting the impacts of

climate change on forest die-back2,4 and may help focus restoration efforts on species that increase the resistance and resilience of forests to climate change.

This work was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 31003A_125461 to A.H.). We thank G. Reynolds for field support. Great appreciation goes to our

hard-working staff at the Sabah Biodiversity Experiment, especially P. Ulok, F. Osman and Achung. The Sabah Biodiversity Experiment is part of the Royal Society South East Asia Rainforest

Research Programme (Project No. RS243), and this research is manuscript number 10 of the SBE. This manuscript contributes to the UZH University Research Priority Program on Global Change and

Biodiversity.

Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland

Institute for Applied Ecology New Zealand, School of Applied Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Mountain Ecosystems WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, SLF, Flüelastrasse 11, CH-7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland

School of International Tropical Forestry, University Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, Kota Kinabalu, 88400 Sabah, Malaysia

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK

M.J.O’B. conceived, designed and carried out the experiment, extracted NSC, analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. S.L. contributed in designing the physiological method, analysis and

writing. C.D.P. contributed to the study design, analysis and writing. J.T. was the local collaborator helping with the logistics of research in Sabah. A.H. contributed to the study

conception, analysis and writing. Revisions were led by M.J.O’B. with input from all authors.

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