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

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages 1064–1076 (2022)Cite this article

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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.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Feng and Q. Fu for sharing their P/PET data, T. Chapin and C. Körner for critically reviewing the paper, and L. Bigio and N. Kasher for assistance with and creation of the figures. This article profited greatly from discussions with I. Janssens, I. Nijs, S. Vicca, Y. Mau and R. Wallach. The basic idea for this Perspective was developed during a symposium at the 13th European Ecological Federation conference and was further developed as part of the ClimMani COST Action ES1308 activities. The support of the Israel Science Foundation is acknowledged by J.M.G. (grant number 1796/19), O.A. (1185/17) and E.M. (1053/17). M.B. acknowledges funding through the ÖAW-ESS project ClimGrassHydro (Austrian Academy of Sciences).

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Author notes

  1. Omer Tzuk

    Present address: Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 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

    José M. Grünzweig & Efrat Sheffer

  2. Plants and Ecosystems, Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Hans J. De Boeck, Gaby Deckmyn & Omar Flores

  3. Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural History, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

    Ana Rey & Omar Flores

  4. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Maria J. Santos

  5. The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Ori Adam

  6. Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Michael Bahn

  7. US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, USA

    Jayne Belnap

  8. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Stefan C. Dekker

  9. Institute for Hydrology and Meteorology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Technische Universität Dresden, Tharandt, Germany

    Daniel Gliksman

  10. Institute of Geography, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Daniel Gliksman

  11. Institute of Environmental Sciences, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    David Helman & Yaron Michael

  12. Advanced School for Environmental Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    David Helman

  13. Department of Research, Conservation and Collections, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Kevin R. Hultine

  14. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing, China

    Lingli Liu

  15. Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Ehud Meron & Omer Tzuk

  16. Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Israel

    Ehud Meron

  17. School of Earth and Space Exploration, and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Heather L. Throop

  18. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Dan Yakir

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Contributions

J.M.G. conceptualized this Perspective, informed by discussions with H.J.D.B., A.R., M.J.S., M.B. and H.L.T. M.J.S. produced the NDVI and soil moisture maps. O.A. downloaded and analysed the climate model data. D.H. and Y.M. produced and analysed the soil water potential data. O.A., D.H. and Y.M. generated the temperature and soil water potential panels. G.D. and O.F. (Box 1) and E.M. and O.T. (Box 2) performed model analyses of the dryland mechanisms and produced the Box figures. J.M.G. drafted the manuscript, and H.J.D.B., A.R., M.J.S., O.A., M.B., J.B., G.D., S.C.D., D.G., D.H., K.R.H., L.L., E.M., E.S., H.L.T. and D.Y. contributed discussions to different draft versions. All authors gave their final approval for submission.

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Correspondence to José M. Grünzweig.

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Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks Joshua Schimel, Susana Bautista and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Discussion, Methods, Tables 1–5, Figs. 1–5 and References.

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Grünzweig, J.M., De Boeck, H.J., Rey, A. et al. Dryland mechanisms could widely control ecosystem functioning in a drier and warmer world. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 1064–1076 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01779-y

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