Rethinking the relationship between desiccation-tolerant vascular plants and water deficit

Background Water deficit is one of the main drivers of plant mortality and is projected to be more critical owing to climate change. Because desiccation-tolerant vascular plants (DT plants) can cope with water deficit, the paradigm emerges of their strong association with and restricted occurrence to locations characterised by water deficit conditions. However, this paradigm is not supported by earlier studies, hampering our understanding of the species – environment relationships and the vulnerability of DT plants to climate change.