Dryland mechanisms could widely control ecosystem functioning in a drier and warmer world.

Daniel Gliksman, Dan Yakir, Omer Tzuk, Heather L Throop, Efrat Sheffer, Yaron Michael, Ehud Meron, Lingli Liu, Kevin R Hultine, David Helman, José M Grünzweig, Omar Flores, Stefan C Dekker, Gaby Deckmyn, Jayne Belnap, Michael Bahn, Ori Adam, Maria J Santos, Ana Rey, Hans J De Boeck

Journal: Nature ecology & evolution 2022;6(8):1064-1076

PMID: 35879539

Abstract

Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change have been explored in many regions worldwide. While continued drying and warming may alter process rates and deteriorate the state and performance of ecosystems, it could also lead to more fundamental changes in the mechanisms governing ecosystem functioning. Here we argue that climate change will induce unprecedented shifts in these mechanisms in historically wetter climatic zones, towards mechanisms currently prevalent in dry regions, which we refer to as 'dryland mechanisms'. We discuss 12 dryland mechanisms affecting multiple processes of ecosystem functioning, including vegetation development, water flow, energy budget, carbon and nutrient cycling, plant production and organic matter decomposition. We then examine mostly rare examples of the operation of these mechanisms in non-dryland regions where they have been considered irrelevant at present. Current and future climate trends could force microclimatic conditions across thresholds and lead to the emergence of dryland mechanisms and their increasing control over ecosystem functioning in many biomes on Earth.

© 2022. Springer Nature Limited.

Address: Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel. [email protected].; Plants and Ecosystems, Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Wilrijk, Belgium.; Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural History, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.; Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.; The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.; Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.; US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, USA.; Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.; Institute for Hydrology and Meteorology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Technische Universität Dresden, Tharandt, Germany.; Institute of Geography, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.; Institute of Environmental Sciences, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.; Advanced School for Environmental Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.; Department of Research, Conservation and Collections, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ, USA.; State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing, China.; Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.; Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Israel.; Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.; School of Earth and Space Exploration, and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.; Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

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