1. Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world.
- Author
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Gross N, Maestre FT, Liancourt P, Berdugo M, Martin R, Gozalo B, Ochoa V, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Maire V, Saiz H, Soliveres S, Valencia E, Eldridge DJ, Guirado E, Jabot F, Asensio S, Gaitán JJ, García-Gómez M, Martínez P, Martínez-Valderrama J, Mendoza BJ, Moreno-Jiménez E, Pescador DS, Plaza C, Pijuan IS, Abedi M, Ahumada RJ, Amghar F, Arroyo AI, Bahalkeh K, Bailey L, Ben Salem F, Blaum N, Boldgiv B, Bowker MA, Branquinho C, van den Brink L, Bu C, Canessa R, Castillo-Monroy ADP, Castro H, Castro P, Chibani R, Conceição AA, Darrouzet-Nardi A, Davila YC, Deák B, Donoso DA, Durán J, Espinosa C, Fajardo A, Farzam M, Ferrante D, Franzese J, Fraser L, Gonzalez S, Gusman-Montalvan E, Hernández-Hernández RM, Hölzel N, Huber-Sannwald E, Jadan O, Jeltsch F, Jentsch A, Ju M, Kaseke KF, Kindermann L, le Roux P, Linstädter A, Louw MA, Mabaso M, Maggs-Kölling G, Makhalanyane TP, Issa OM, Manzaneda AJ, Marais E, Margerie P, Hughes FM, Messeder JVS, Mora JP, Moreno G, Munson SM, Nunes A, Oliva G, Oñatibia GR, Peter G, Pueyo Y, Quiroga RE, Ramírez-Iglesias E, Reed SC, Rey PJ, Reyes Gómez VM, Rodríguez A, Rolo V, Rubalcaba JG, Ruppert JC, Sala O, Salah A, Sebei PJ, Stavi I, Stephens C, Teixido AL, Thomas AD, Throop HL, Tielbörger K, Travers S, Undrakhbold S, Val J, Valkó O, Velbert F, Wamiti W, Wang L, Wang D, Wardle GM, Wolff P, Yahdjian L, Yari R, Zaady E, Zeberio JM, Zhang Y, Zhou X, and Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y
- Subjects
- Animals, Climate Change, Geographic Mapping, Biodiversity, Desert Climate, Herbivory physiology, Livestock physiology, Phenotype, Plants chemistry, Plants classification
- Abstract
Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity
1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3 . However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure-two major drivers of global change4-6 -shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7 . Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds to aridity and grazing pressure within global drylands. Our analysis involved 133,769 trait measurements spanning 1,347 observations of 301 perennial plant species surveyed across 326 plots from 6 continents. Crossing an aridity threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones) led to an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers, and moved toward lower aridity levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait diversity occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. Our work indicates that drylands act as a global reservoir of plant phenotypic diversity and challenge the pervasive view that harsh environmental conditions reduce plant trait diversity8-10 . They also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)- Published
- 2024
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