Soil aridity under climate change and implications for agriculture in Italy

Colantoni, Andrea; Delfanti, Lavinia M.P.; Cossio, Filippo; Baciotti, Benedetto; Salvati, Luca; Perini, Luigi; Lord, Richard

doi:10.12988/ams.2015.52112

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Even though lacking behavioral osmoregulatory benefits of social living, the solitary African mole-rats that inhabit mesic areas (G. capensis; B. suillus) still have fewer water demands placed on them as food is more abundant and equally dispersed in the softer and wetter soils of their environment. At the same time, C. h. natalensis possesses similar WEI to the solitary mole-rat species due to living in a hyper-mesic environment (Colantoni et al, 2015).…”

Section: Water Turnover and Water Economy Indexmentioning

confidence: 93%

Energetics and Water Flux in the Subterranean Rodent Family Bathyergidae

et al. 2022

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The doubly labeled water (DLW) technique and indirect calorimetry enable measurement of an animal’s daily energy expenditure (DEE, kJ/day), resting metabolic rate (RMR, kJ/d), sustained metabolic scope (SusMS), body fat content (BF, %) as well as water turnover (WTO, ml/day), and water economy index (ml/kJ). Small mammals have been the primary focus of many of the DLW studies to date. From large multi-species analyses of the energetics and water flux of aboveground small mammals, well-defined trends have been observed. These trends mainly refer to an adaptive advantage for lower RMR, DEE, SusMS, WTO and WEI in more ariddwelling animals to increase water and energy savings under low and unpredictable resource availability. The study of the subterranean rodent family Bathyergidae (African mole-rats) has been of particular interest with regards to field metabolic rate and metabolic studies. Although a great deal of research has been conducted on the Bathyergidae, a complete overview and multi-species analysis of the energetics and water flux of this family is lacking. Consequently, we assessed DEE, RMR, SusMS, BF, WTO and WEI across several different species of bathyergids from various climatic regions, and compared these to the established patterns of energetics and water flux for aboveground rodents. There was notable variation across the Bathyergidae inhabiting areas with different aridities, often contrary to the variations observed in above-ground species. These include increased DEE and WEI in arid-dwelling bathyergid species. While the climate was not a clear factor when predicting the SusMS of a bathyergid species, rather the degree of group living was a strong driver of SusMS, with solitary species possessing the highest SusMS compared to the socially living species. We conclude that the constraints of the underground lifestyle and the consequent spectrum of social behaviors possessed by the family Bathyergidae are most likely to be more crucial to their energetics and water flux than their habitat; however other important unstudied factors may still be at play. More so, this study provides evidence that often unreported parameters, measured through use of the DLW technique (such as BF and WEI) can enable species to be identified that might be at particular risk to climate change.

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Section: Water Turnover and Water Economy Indexmentioning

confidence: 93%

Energetics and Water Flux in the Subterranean Rodent Family Bathyergidae

et al. 2022

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“…According to Colantoni et al [ 92 ], Somerset West (AI: 0.95 ± 0.03) is hyper-mesic, while Darling (AI: 0.51 ± 0.02) is semi-arid and Steinkopf (AI: 0.08 ± 0.01) is arid. Furthermore, the consequences of anthropogenic climate change within the last six years (2016-current) have exacerbated aridification, resulting in decreased AI in both the Western and Northern Cape ( Figure 1 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tissue Oxidative Ecology along an Aridity Gradient in a Mammalian Subterranean Species

et al. 2022

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Climate change has caused aridification which can alter habitat vegetation, soil and precipitation profiles potentially affecting resident species. Vegetation and soil profiles are important for subterranean mole-rats as increasing aridity causes soils to become harder and geophytes less evenly distributed, and the inter-geophyte distance increases. Mole-rats obtain all water and dietary requirements from geophytes, and thus digging in harder soils may amplify stressors (hyperthermia, dehydration- or exercise-induced damage). This study assessed the oxidative status of the wild common mole-rat along an aridity gradient (arid, semi-arid and mesic). Kidney and liver oxidative markers, including total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), oxidative stress index (OSI), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. Liver oxidative status did not demonstrate any significance with the degree of the aridity gradient. Aridity affected the TAC and OSI of the kidney, with individuals in the most arid habitats possessing the highest TAC. The evolution of increased group size to promote survival in African mole-rats in arid habitats may have resulted in the additional benefit of reduced oxidative stress in the kidneys. The SOD activity of the kidneys was higher than that of the liver with lower oxidative damage, suggesting this species pre-emptively protects its kidneys as these are important for water balance and retention.

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“…The classification of climate by the values of AI was conducted using the guidelines by Colantoni et al [2015] (Table 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irrigation Needs in Ukraine According to Current Aridity Level

Lykhovyd¹

2021

J. Ecol. Eng.

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Global climate change has led to significant shifts in local climatic conditions of Ukraine with the trend to aridity aggravation. Sustainable crop production is at risk due to the aridity level increase. The study is aimed to evaluate aridity index in Ukraine (on the whole country and individual regions' scales) and the needs in irrigation using hydro-meteorological data of the key regional stations for the periods of 1961-1990 and 2010-2020. The results of hydro-meteorological evaluation were supported by the data on the soil moisture regimes provided by Soil Explorer service. The general trend to aridity aggravation in Ukraine was proved. It was found out that modern climate in most territory of Ukraine is semi-arid, dry subhumid and humid zones are observed in the western regions only. Humid soil moisture regimes (ustic and udic) are observed in the West and the North of the country. As a result of combined analysis of both aridity index and soil moisture regimes the conclusion was drawn that 46.05% of Ukrainian croplands cannot provide sustainable crop production without irrigation, 42.65% need irrigation for the cultivation of crops with high water use, and just 11.30% of the arable land require little or no irrigation.

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Soil aridity under climate change and implications for agriculture in Italy

Cited by 11 publications

References 5 publications

Energetics and Water Flux in the Subterranean Rodent Family Bathyergidae

Energetics and Water Flux in the Subterranean Rodent Family Bathyergidae

Tissue Oxidative Ecology along an Aridity Gradient in a Mammalian Subterranean Species

Irrigation Needs in Ukraine According to Current Aridity Level

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