Differential sensitivity of above- and belowground plant biomass to drought and defoliation in temperate grasslands

Batbaatar, Amgaa; Carlyle, Cameron N.; Bork, Edward W.; Chang, Scott X.; Cahill, James

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2023.108660

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Furthermore, some components of the nitrogen cycle may respond positively to drought (Deng et al., 2021; Liu, Siri, et al., 2023). But overall, extended periods of unusual water limitation will slow most ecosystem processes, with productivity responses to drought usually more negative above‐ground than belowground (Guasconi et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2021; Wang, Vera‐Vélez, et al., 2022, but see Batbaatar et al., 2023; Carroll et al., 2021 and Frank, 2007 for some intriguing exceptions). Similarly, species richness and diversity of terrestrial plant communities often respond negatively to drought (Liu, Zhang, et al., 2021) although there is much more variability in community responses, likely due to the variable time frames required for annual versus long‐lived perennial plant communities to change (Alon & Sternberg, 2019; Ploughe et al., 2019; Smith et al., 2009).…”

Section: A Brief Recap Of Previous Reviews and Meta‐analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Martínez‐Vilalta & Lloret, 2016; Qian et al., 2023), including the role of the soil seed bank in both annual and perennial‐dominated ecosystems (DeMalach et al., 2021, 2023; Loydi & Collins, 2021). How herbivory affects drought responses remains to be resolved as well (Batbaatar et al., 2023). Finally, although we have made great progress in understanding drought mortality mechanisms in trees (e.g.…”

Section: Looking Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Field experiments have enhanced our understanding of drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems—But where do we go from here?

Knapp,

Condon,

Folks

et al. 2023

Functional Ecology

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We review results from field experiments that simulate drought, an ecologically impactful global change threat that is predicted to increase in magnitude, extent, duration and frequency. Our goal is to address, from primarily an ecosystem perspective, the questions ‘What have we learned from drought experiments?’ and ‘Where do we go from here?’. Drought experiments are among the most numerous climate change manipulations and have been deployed across a wide range of biomes, although most are conducted in short‐statured, water‐limited ecosystems. Collectively, these experiments have enabled ecologists to quantify the negative responses to drought that occur for most aspects of ecosystem structure and function. Multiple meta‐analyses of responses have also enabled comparisons of relative effect sizes of drought across hundreds of sites, particularly for carbon cycle metrics. Overall, drought experiments have provided strong evidence that ecosystem sensitivity to drought increases with aridity, but that plant traits associated with aridity are not necessarily predictive of drought resistance. There is also intriguing evidence that as drought magnitude or duration increases to extreme levels, plant strategies may shift from drought tolerance to drought escape/avoidance. We highlight three areas where more drought experiments are needed to advance our understanding. First, because drought is intensifying in multiple ways, experiments are needed that address alterations in drought magnitude versus duration, timing and/or frequency (individually and interactively). Second, drivers of drought may be shifting—from precipitation deficits to rising atmospheric demand for water—and disentangling how ecosystems respond to changes in hydrological ‘supply versus demand’ is critical for understanding drought impacts in the future. Finally, more attention should be focussed on post‐drought recovery periods since legacies of drought can affect ecosystem functioning much longer than the drought itself. We conclude with a call for a fundamental shift in the focus of drought experiments from those designed primarily as ‘response experiments’, quantifying the magnitude of change in ecosystem structure and function, to more ‘mechanistic experiments’—those that explicitly manipulate ecological processes or attributes thought to underpin drought responses. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: A Brief Recap Of Previous Reviews and Meta‐analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Looking Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field experiments have enhanced our understanding of drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems—But where do we go from here?

Knapp,

Condon,

Folks

et al. 2023

Functional Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Effects of defoliation on root traits, nitrogen fixation, soil nitrogen availability, soil enzyme activities and soil bacterial communities of forage legumes

Dollete,

Lumactud,

Carlyle

et al. 2024

Plant Soil

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Decoupled responses of the stability of above‐ and belowground productivity to drought and clipping in an alpine meadow

Ma,

Zhang,

Svenning

et al. 2024

Journal of Ecology

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Extreme drought and intensification of land use pose substantial threats to ecosystem stability. However, existing studies that assess ecosystem stability focus primarily on the stability of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), while the stability of belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) is often not considered. Here, we examined the response patterns and drivers of ANPP stability and BNPP stability in an alpine meadow to drought and clipping (simulating grazing and mowing) by the implementation of five levels of simulated precipitation (1/12, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and ambient precipitation) and clipping (unclipped vs. clipped) treatments over 7 years (2016–2022). The results showed that extreme drought decreased ANPP stability, while moderate drought increased BNPP stability and net primary productivity stability. The findings highlight the importance of jointly considering above‐ and belowground processes when evaluating ecosystem stability. Moreover, clipping did not have an impact on ANPP stability but reduced BNPP stability, and clipping differentially affected the stability of ANPP and BNPP in response to extreme drought. Furthermore, ANPP stability was largely determined by species temporal asynchrony rather than richness, whereas dominant species stability strongly contributed to the variation in BNPP stability of this alpine meadow faced with drought and clipping. Synthesis: In general, these results provide experimental evidence for the decoupling of the responses of above‐ and belowground productivity stability to extreme drought and clipping. Our findings indicate that aboveground responses should not be used as the sole indicator of the whole ecosystem consequences of extreme drought and disturbance factors such as grazing or mowing, emphasizing the need to evaluate ecosystem stability from a whole ecosystem perspective.

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Differential sensitivity of above- and belowground plant biomass to drought and defoliation in temperate grasslands

Cited by 3 publications

References 47 publications

Field experiments have enhanced our understanding of drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems—But where do we go from here?

Field experiments have enhanced our understanding of drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems—But where do we go from here?

Effects of defoliation on root traits, nitrogen fixation, soil nitrogen availability, soil enzyme activities and soil bacterial communities of forage legumes

Decoupled responses of the stability of above‐ and belowground productivity to drought and clipping in an alpine meadow

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