Figure 2

Change of longest wet period, seedling density, and peak shoot mass with rain manipulations. Change of (A) longest wet period (LWP, maximum number of consecutive days with soil water potential Ψ > -3 MPa), (C) seedling density, and (E) peak shoot mass with mean annual precipitation (MAP, thin/black lines) and with daily mean rain (DMR, thick/coloured lines, 40% change of DMR scaled to 10 mm MAP). (B, D, F) Absolute changes of variables expressed with regard to absolute changes of MAP (range of black lines of Fig. 2A, C, E) [dots, ●] and, for comparison, absolute change of variables per relative change of DMR scaled with MAP [circles, ○]. In other words, the slope of each line in Fig. 2A, C, E was multiplied with the line's mean MAP value. Colours correspond to different climatic regions (red: arid, orange: semiarid, yellow: dry Mediterranean, green: typical Mediterranean, bluegreen: mesic Mediterranean).