1. Vegetation productivity in natural vs.cultivated systems along water availability gradients in the dry subtropics
- Author
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Esteban G. Jobbágy, Francisco Murray, Germán Baldi, and Marcos Texeira
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Atmospheric Science ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,DATA BASE DEFORESTATION ,CLIMATE CHANGE ,lcsh:Medicine ,Plant Science ,01 natural sciences ,Biochemistry ,Geographical Locations ,purl.org/becyt/ford/1 [https] ,Disponibilidad del Agua ,remote sensing ,primary productivity ,Dry Farming ,SUMMER VEGETATION ,Tropical climate ,HUMAN CELL ,WATER ,Photosynthesis ,lcsh:Science ,2. Zero hunger ,Climatology ,Multidisciplinary ,Ecology ,Plant Biochemistry ,Physics ,Electromagnetic Radiation ,PLANT DEVELOPMENT ,WATER AVAILABILITY ,HUMAN ,Vegetación ,Agriculture ,Productivity (ecology) ,ecosystem functioning ,Physical Sciences ,Solar Radiation ,Seasons ,CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS ,Research Article ,Crops, Agricultural ,Climate Change ,Summer ,Oceania ,Climate change ,Growing season ,Plant Development ,Subtropics ,Horticulture ,METABOLISM ,010603 evolutionary biology ,Ecosystems ,Ciencias Biológicas ,TROPIC CLIMATE ,COMPARATIVE STUDY CROP ,deforestation ,Ecosystem ,MODEL PRODUCTIVITY ,purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 [https] ,Ciencias de las Plantas, Botánica ,Plant Physiological Phenomena ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Tropical Climate ,Ecology and Environmental Sciences ,GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND AGING ,lcsh:R ,Australia ,SAMPLING ,Water ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Enhanced vegetation index ,Cultivo en Tierras Aridas ,15. Life on land ,Arid ,Agronomy ,CLIMATE ,PLANT PHYSIOLOGY ,People and Places ,GROWING SEASON ,Earth Sciences ,Environmental science ,ECOSYSTEM ,lcsh:Q ,VEGETATION ,CROPS AGRICULTURAL - Abstract
The dry subtropics are subject to a rapid expansion of crops and pastures over vast areas of natural woodlands and savannas. In this paper, we explored the effect of this transformation on vegetation productivity (magnitude, and seasonal and long-term variability) along aridity gradients which span from semiarid to subhumid conditions, considering exclusively those areas with summer rains (>66%). Vegetation productivity was characterized with the proxy metric "Enhanced Vegetation Index" (EVI) (2000 to 2012 period), on 6186 natural and cultivated sampling points on five continents, and combined with a global climatology database by means of additive models for quantile regressions. Globally and regionally, cultivation amplified the seasonal and inter-annual variability of EVI without affecting its magnitude. Natural and cultivated systems maintained a similar and continuous increase of EVI with increasing water availability, yet achieved through contrasting ways. In natural systems, the productivity peak and the growing season length displayed concurrent steady increases with water availability, while in cultivated systems the productivity peak increased from semiarid to dry-subhumid conditions, and stabilized thereafter giving place to an increase in the growing season length towards wetter conditions. Our results help to understand and predict the ecological impacts of deforestation on vegetation productivity, a key ecosystem process linked to a broad range of services. Fil: Baldi, Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentina Fil: Texeira González, Marcos Alexis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Murray, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina Fil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentina
- Published
- 2016