Drought and dieback of rural eucalypts

The possibility that drought causes dieback of eucalypts in rural Australia was investigated. Water potential and canopy condition in dieback and healthy rural Eucalyptus blakelyi and E. melliodora trees were compared during and after an extreme drought in the ACT. All the trees were drought affected, but the extent was independent of the condition of their canopies at the beginning of the study.