Justin C. Luong Brooke E. Wainwright Jonathan Aguiñaga Harald Auge Anca C. Barcu Amgaa Batbaatar Karen H. Beard Edward W. Bork Katherine E. Brafford Kerry M. Byrne James F. Cahill Michele Carbognani Cameron N. Carlyle Karen Castillioni Manjunatha H. Chandregowda Scott X. Chang Jeff Chieppa Amber C. Churchill Jennifer E. Cribbs Thomas Deola Jeffrey S. Dukes Anne Ebeling Nico Eisenhauer Elise C. Elwood Regina A. Fairbanks T'ai G.W. Forte Flavia A. Funk Anjum K. Gujral Siri V. Haugum Yann Hautier Hugh A. L. Henry Forest Isbell Anke Jentsch Samuel E. Jordan Sally E. Koerner Juergen Kreyling György Kröel-Dulay Andrew Kulmatiski Eric G. Lamb Michael E. Loik María G. Longo Alejandro Loydi Dylan J. MacArthur-Waltz Clara Milano John W. Morgan Akira S. Mori Seth M. Munson Gregory S. Newman Uffe N. Nielsen Rory C. O'Connor Timothy J. Ohlert Brooke Bossert Osborne Rafael Otfinowski Meelis Pärtel Guadalupe Peter Pablo L. Peri Alessandro Petraglia Juan M. Piñeiro-Guerra Laura W. Ploughe Cristy Portales-Reyes Sally A. Power Suzanne M. Prober Yolanda Pueyo Christiane Roscher Bráulio A. Santos Melinda D. Smith Lara A. Souza Andreas Stampfli Rachel J. Standish Marie Sünnemann Michelle J. Tedder Pål Thorvaldsen Katja Tielbörger Alejandro Valdecantos Liesbeth van den Brink Vigdis Vandvik Liv G. Velle Jennifer L. Williams Amelia A. Wolf Laura Yahdjian Alyssa L. Young Juan M. Zeberio Michaela Zeiter Richard P. Phillips Jennifer L. Funk Samantha J. Worthy 2026 <p><span>Increased climate variability is expected to intensify short-term drought events. Plants have evolved stress tolerance strategies involving trade-offs in resource conservation, mycorrhizal collaboration and plant size, yet how these strategies promote drought resistance across different herbaceous plant groups remains unknown. Leveraging 63 globally distributed grassland and shrubland sites from the International Drought Experiment, we identified plant traits linked to drought resistance in 661 populations of 421 species after 1 year of extreme drought. We assessed how traits, site precipitation and drought severity affected cover change across growth forms and lifespans, and how trait–environment interactions influenced drought resistance. Across all species, leaf N (an acquisitive trait) was associated with drought resistance, whereas in forbs, drought resistance was also associated with a conservative root trait and plant size. In addition, interactions among traits mediated drought resistance; root traits predicted performance only in concert with other traits. Environmental variables influenced trait effects on drought resistance, notably for annuals in wetter sites, suggesting that drought-escape strategies in annuals may be advantageous only under mild stress. Our study highlights variability in traits that predict drought resistance across herbaceous plant groups, emphasizing the importance of species context, environmental stress and the selection of traits in research and management.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1038/s41559-026-02989-4 en Springer Nature Growth form and lifespan of herbaceous species mediate the role of traits in short-term drought response article