Dataset Information

Aridity and reduced soil micronutrient availability in global drylands.

ABSTRACT: Drylands cover more than 40% of terrestrial surface, and their global extent and socio-ecological importance will increase in the future due to the forecasted increases in aridity driven by climate change. Despite the essential role of metallic micronutrients in life chemistry and ecosystem functioning, it is virtually unknown how their bioavailability changes along aridity gradients at the global scale. Here we analysed soil total and available Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in 143 drylands from all continents, except Antarctica, covering a broad range of aridity and soil conditions. We found that total and available micronutrient concentrations in dryland soils were low compared to averages commonly found in soils of natural and agricultural ecosystems globally. Aridity negatively affected the availability of all micronutrients evaluated, mainly indirectly by increasing soil pH and decreasing soil organic matter. Remarkably, the available Fe:Zn ratio decreased exponentially as aridity increased, pointing to stoichiometric alterations. Our findings suggest that increased aridity conditions due to climate change will limit the availability of essential micronutrients for organisms, particularly that of Fe and Zn, which together with other adverse effects (e.g., reduced water availability) may pose serious threats to key ecological processes and services, such as food production, in drylands worldwide.

SUBMITTER: Moreno-Jimenez E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6522359 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Aridity and reduced soil micronutrient availability in global drylands.

Moreno-Jiménez Eduardo E Plaza César C Saiz Hugo H Manzano Rebeca R Flagmeier Maren M Maestre Fernando T FT

Nature sustainability 20190401 5

Drylands cover more than 40% of terrestrial surface, and their global extent and socio-ecological importance will increase in the future due to the forecasted increases in aridity driven by climate change. Despite the essential role of metallic micronutrients in life chemistry and ecosystem functioning, it is virtually unknown how their bioavailability changes along aridity gradients at the global scale. Here we analysed soil total and available Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in 143 drylands from all contin ...[more]

PMID: 31111102

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Project description:Previous studies found that plant communities on infertile soils are relatively resistant to climatic variation due to stress tolerance adaptations. However, the species assemblies in gypsum soil habitats require further investigation. Thus, we considered the following questions. (1) Do harsher arid conditions determine the characteristics of the species that form plant assemblages? (2) Is the selection of the species that assemble in arid conditions mediated by their ability to grow on gypsum soils? (3) Is the selection of species that assemble in harsher conditions related to phylogenetically conserved functional traits? Perennial plant communities were analysed in 89 gypsum-soil sites along a 400 km climate gradient from the central to southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Each local assemblage was analysed in 30 × 30 m plots and described based on taxonomic, functional (soil plant affinity) and phylogenetic parameters. The mean maximum temperatures in the hottest month, mean annual precipitation and their interaction terms were used as surrogates for the aridity conditions in generalized linear models. In the hottest locations, the gypsophily range narrowed and the mean gypsophily increased at the community level, thereby suggesting the filtering of species and the dominance of soil specialists in the actual plant assemblies. Drier sites had higher taxonomic diversity. The species that formed the perennial communities were close in evolutionary terms at the two ends of the aridity gradient. The mean maximum temperatures in the hottest month had the main abiotic filtering effect on perennial plant communities, which was mediated by the ability of species to grow on gypsum soils, and thus gypsum specialists dominated the species assemblies in the hottest locations. In contrast, the perennial communities on gypsum soils were relatively resistant to changes in precipitation. Our findings suggest that the warmer environmental conditions predicted by global change models will favour gypsum specialists over generalists.

Project description:AimGeographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition.Location224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents.MethodsBeta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake's beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites (β(R2)), and a multivariate abundance-based metric (β(MV)). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographic, climatic, and soil variables.ResultsSoil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity (percentage of singletons and β(W)) were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance ((β(R2)) and β(MV)) were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors, and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm).Main conclusionsSoil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving ~ 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These findings may help to define appropriate conservation strategies for mitigating effects of climate change on dryland vegetation.

Dataset Information

Aridity and reduced soil micronutrient availability in global drylands.

Publications

Aridity and reduced soil micronutrient availability in global drylands.

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