EurekAlert: New research suggests that multi-year droughts will significantly alter the structure, composition, and dynamics of second-growth tropical forests, which have re-grown after cessation of agricultural activity or a major disturbance such as fire. These second-growth forests represent the prevalent tropical forest cover today. Investigators combined 14 years of data on annual tree growth and survival with local climate records in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica to evaluate tree responses to inter-annual...