Structure and Functioning of Dryland Ecosystems in a Changing World

25 páginas.- 4 figuras.- 1 tabla.- 148 referencias.- Supp. Mate. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/suppl/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-121415-032311/suppl_file/es47_maestre_supmat.pdf .- el texto completo lo pueden conseguir en https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC5321561&blobtype=pdf

Understanding how drylands respond to ongoing environmental change is extremely important for global sustainability. In this review, we discuss how biotic attributes, climate, grazing pressure, land cover change, and nitrogen deposition affect the functioning of drylands at multiple spatial scales. Our synthesis highlights the importance of biotic attributes (e.g., species richness) in maintaining fundamental ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, illustrates how nitrogen deposition and grazing pressure are impacting ecosystem functioning in drylands worldwide, and highlights the importance of the traits of woody species as drivers of their expansion in former grasslands. We also emphasize the role of attributes such as species richness and abundance in controlling the responses of ecosystem functioning to climate change. This knowledge is essential to guide conservation and restoration efforts in drylands, as biotic attributes can be actively managed at the local scale to increase ecosystem resilience to global change.

This work was supported by the European Research Council [ERC Grant Agreements 242658 (BIOCOM) and 647038 (BIODESERT) awarded to F.T.M.]. The research of S.K. has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 283068 (CASCADE).

Peer reviewed