A Multiscale, Hierarchical Model of Pulse Dynamics in Arid-Land Ecosystems

Autor: Jayne Belnap, Scott L. Collins, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Donald O. Natvig, Marcy E. Litvak, Paolo D'Odorico, Nancy B. Grimm, Blair O. Wolf, William T. Pockman, Douglas C. Peters, Clifford N. Dahm, Robert L. Sinsabaugh
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 45:397-419
ISSN: 1545-2069
1543-592X
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091650
Popis: Ecological processes in arid lands are often described by the pulse-reserve paradigm, in which rain events drive biological activity until moisture is depleted, leaving a reserve. This paradigm is frequently applied to processes stimulated by one or a few precipitation events within a growing season. Here we expand the original framework in time and space and include other pulses that interact with rainfall. This new hierarchical pulse-dynamics framework integrates space and time through pulse-driven exchanges, interactions, transitions, and transfers that occur across individual to multiple pulses extending from micro to watershed scales. Climate change will likely alter the size, frequency, and intensity of precipitation pulses in the future, and arid-land ecosystems are known to be highly sensitive to climate variability. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of arid-land pulse dynamics is needed to determine how these ecosystems will respond to, and be shaped by, increased climate variability.
Databáze: OpenAIRE