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Maestre FT, Escolar C, de Guevara ML, Quero JL, Lázaro R, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Ochoa V, Berdugo M, Gozalo B, Gallardo A. Changes in biocrust cover drive carbon cycle responses to climate change in drylands. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2013; 19:3835-47. [PMID: 23818331 PMCID: PMC3942145 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2012] [Accepted: 06/06/2013] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Dryland ecosystems account for ca. 27% of global soil organic carbon (C) reserves, yet it is largely unknown how climate change will impact C cycling and storage in these areas. In drylands, soil C concentrates at the surface, making it particularly sensitive to the activity of organisms inhabiting the soil uppermost levels, such as communities dominated by lichens, mosses, bacteria and fungi (biocrusts). We conducted a full factorial warming and rainfall exclusion experiment at two semiarid sites in Spain to show how an average increase of air temperature of 2-3 °C promoted a drastic reduction in biocrust cover (ca. 44% in 4 years). Warming significantly increased soil CO2 efflux, and reduced soil net CO2 uptake, in biocrust-dominated microsites. Losses of biocrust cover with warming through time were paralleled by increases in recalcitrant C sources, such as aromatic compounds, and in the abundance of fungi relative to bacteria. The dramatic reduction in biocrust cover with warming will lessen the capacity of drylands to sequester atmospheric CO2 . This decrease may act synergistically with other warming-induced effects, such as the increase in soil CO2 efflux and the changes in microbial communities to alter C cycling in drylands, and to reduce soil C stocks in the mid to long term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando T. Maestre
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Cristina Escolar
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Mónica Ladrón de Guevara
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento, s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano-Almería, Spain
| | - José L. Quero
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
- Departamento de Ingeniería Forestal, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, Crta. N-IV km. 396, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Roberto Lázaro
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento, s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano-Almería, Spain
| | - Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera de Utrera km. 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Victoria Ochoa
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Miguel Berdugo
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Beatriz Gozalo
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Antonio Gallardo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera de Utrera km. 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
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Tomimatsu H, Sasaki T, Kurokawa H, Bridle JR, Fontaine C, Kitano J, Stouffer DB, Vellend M, Bezemer TM, Fukami T, Hadly EA, Heijden MG, Kawata M, Kéfi S, Kraft NJ, McCann KS, Mumby PJ, Nakashizuka T, Petchey OL, Romanuk TN, Suding KN, Takimoto G, Urabe J, Yachi S. FORUM: Sustaining ecosystem functions in a changing world: a call for an integrated approach. J Appl Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Tomimatsu
- Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Sendai 980‐8578 Japan
| | - Takehiro Sasaki
- Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Sendai 980‐8578 Japan
| | - Hiroko Kurokawa
- Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Sendai 980‐8578 Japan
| | - Jon R. Bridle
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol BS8 1UD UK
| | - Colin Fontaine
- CERSP UMR 7204 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 75005 Paris France
| | - Jun Kitano
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory National Institute of Genetics Shizuoka 411‐8540 Japan
| | - Daniel B. Stouffer
- Integrative Ecology Group Estación Biológical de Doñana (EBD‐CSIC) c/Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Sevilla Spain
- School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140 New Zealand
| | - Mark Vellend
- Département de biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke Québec J1K 2R1 Canada
| | - T. Martijn Bezemer
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology PO BOX 50, 6700AB Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Tadashi Fukami
- Department of Biology Stanford University Stanford CA 94305 USA
| | | | - Marcel G.A. Heijden
- Ecological Farming Systems Research Station ART Agroscope Reckenholz Tänikon 8046 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Masakado Kawata
- Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Sendai 980‐8578 Japan
| | - Sonia Kéfi
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution CNRS UMR 5554 Université de Montpellier II Place Eugène Bataillon CC 065 34095 Montpellier France
| | - Nathan J.B. Kraft
- Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia 6270 University Blvd. Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Kevin S. McCann
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON N1G 2W1 Canada
| | - Peter J. Mumby
- School of Biological Sciences University of Queensland St Lucia Qld 4072 Australia
| | - Tohru Nakashizuka
- Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Sendai 980‐8578 Japan
| | - Owen L. Petchey
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Tamara N. Romanuk
- Department of Biology Dalhousie University Halifax NS B3H 4J1 Canada
| | - Katharine N. Suding
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Irvine Irvine CA 92697‐2525 USA
| | - Gaku Takimoto
- Department of Biology Faculty of Science Toho University Funabashi Chiba 274‐8510 Japan
| | - Jotaro Urabe
- Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Sendai 980‐8578 Japan
| | - Shigeo Yachi
- Center for Ecological Research Kyoto University Otsu 520‐2113 Japan
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Salguero-Gómez R, Siewert W, Casper BB, Tielbörger K. A demographic approach to study effects of climate change in desert plants. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 367:3100-14. [PMID: 23045708 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Desert species respond strongly to infrequent, intense pulses of precipitation. Consequently, indigenous flora has developed a rich repertoire of life-history strategies to deal with fluctuations in resource availability. Examinations of how future climate change will affect the biota often forecast negative impacts, but these-usually correlative-approaches overlook precipitation variation because they are based on averages. Here, we provide an overview of how variable precipitation affects perennial and annual desert plants, and then implement an innovative, mechanistic approach to examine the effects of precipitation on populations of two desert plant species. This approach couples robust climatic projections, including variable precipitation, with stochastic, stage-structured models constructed from long-term demographic datasets of the short-lived Cryptantha flava in the Colorado Plateau Desert (USA) and the annual Carrichtera annua in the Negev Desert (Israel). Our results highlight these populations' potential to buffer future stochastic precipitation. Population growth rates in both species increased under future conditions: wetter, longer growing seasons for Cryptantha and drier years for Carrichtera. We determined that such changes are primarily due to survival and size changes for Cryptantha and the role of seed bank for Carrichtera. Our work suggests that desert plants, and thus the resources they provide, might be more resilient to climate change than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Salguero-Gómez
- Evolutionary Biodemography Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
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Maestre FT, Salguero-Gómez R, Quero JL. It is getting hotter in here: determining and projecting the impacts of global environmental change on drylands. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 367:3062-75. [PMID: 23045705 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Drylands occupy large portions of the Earth, and are a key terrestrial biome from the socio-ecological point of view. In spite of their extent and importance, the impacts of global environmental change on them remain poorly understood. In this introduction, we review some of the main expected impacts of global change in drylands, quantify research efforts on the topic, and highlight how the articles included in this theme issue contribute to fill current gaps in our knowledge. Our literature analyses identify key under-studied areas that need more research (e.g. countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Somalia, and deserts such as the Thar, Kavir and Taklamakan), and indicate that most global change research carried out to date in drylands has been done on a unidisciplinary basis. The contributions included here use a wide array of organisms (from micro-organisms to humans), spatial scales (from local to global) and topics (from plant demography to poverty alleviation) to examine key issues to the socio-ecological impacts of global change in drylands. These papers highlight the complexities and difficulties associated with the prediction of such impacts. They also identify the increased use of long-term experiments and multidisciplinary approaches as priority areas for future dryland research. Major advances in our ability to predict and understand global change impacts on drylands can be achieved by explicitly considering how the responses of individuals, populations and communities will in turn affect ecosystem services. Future research should explore linkages between these responses and their effects on water and climate, as well as the provisioning of services for human development and well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando T Maestre
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain.
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Thomas AD. Impact of grazing intensity on seasonal variations in soil organic carbon and soil CO2 efflux in two semiarid grasslands in southern Botswana. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2012; 367:3076-86. [PMID: 23045706 PMCID: PMC3479694 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are an important source of organic carbon, and affect a range of ecosystem functions in arid and semiarid environments. Yet the impact of grazing disturbance on crust properties and soil CO(2) efflux remain poorly studied, particularly in African ecosystems. The effects of burial under wind-blown sand, disaggregation and removal of BSCs on seasonal variations in soil CO(2) efflux, soil organic carbon, chlorophyll a and scytonemin were investigated at two sites in the Kalahari of southern Botswana. Field experiments were employed to isolate CO(2) efflux originating from BSCs in order to estimate the C exchange within the crust. Organic carbon was not evenly distributed through the soil profile but concentrated in the BSC. Soil CO(2) efflux was higher in Kalahari Sand than in calcrete soils, but rates varied significantly with seasonal changes in moisture and temperature. BSCs at both sites were a small net sink of C to the soil. Soil CO(2) efflux was significantly higher in sand soils where the BSC was removed, and on calcrete where the BSC was buried under sand. The BSC removal and burial under sand also significantly reduced chlorophyll a, organic carbon and scytonemin. Disaggregation of the soil crust, however, led to increases in chlorophyll a and organic carbon. The data confirm the importance of BSCs for C cycling in drylands and indicate intensive grazing, which destroys BSCs through trampling and burial, will adversely affect C sequestration and storage. Managed grazing, where soil surfaces are only lightly disturbed, would help maintain a positive carbon balance in African drylands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew D Thomas
- Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK.
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56
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D'Odorico P, Bhattachan A. Hydrologic variability in dryland regions: impacts on ecosystem dynamics and food security. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2012; 367:3145-57. [PMID: 23045712 PMCID: PMC3479692 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on ecosystem and societal response to global environmental change typically considers the effects of shifts in mean climate conditions. There is, however, some evidence of ongoing changes also in the variance of hydrologic and climate fluctuations. A relatively high interannual variability is a distinctive feature of the hydrologic regime of dryland regions, particularly at the desert margins. Hydrologic variability has an important impact on ecosystem dynamics, food security and societal reliance on ecosystem services in water-limited environments. Here, we investigate some of the current patterns of hydrologic variability in drylands around the world and review the major effects of hydrologic fluctuations on ecosystem resilience, maintenance of biodiversity and food security. We show that random hydrologic fluctuations may enhance the resilience of dryland ecosystems by obliterating bistable deterministic behaviours and threshold-like responses to external drivers. Moreover, by increasing biodiversity and the associated ecosystem redundancy, hydrologic variability can indirectly enhance post-disturbance recovery, i.e. ecosystem resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo D'Odorico
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
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