This study identified 288 medium or high drought risk forest sites in eastern Scotland, 125 of which include Sitka spruce as a major component. Sitka spruce is intolerant of drought and is known to have previously experienced drought damage such as tree mortality and stem cracking in eastern Scotland. Cases of direct drought damage, together with infections by the root diseases, H. annosum and Armillaria spp., are likely to increase on Sitka spruce and other species in eastern Scotland as a result of climate change.
