Biotic and Abiotic Drivers of Topsoil Organic Carbon Concentration in Drylands Have Similar Effects at Regional and Global Scales
| Autor: | Donaldo Bran, Andrew J. Dougill, Reginald T. Guuroh, Gustavo Gabriel Buono, Virginia Massara, Andrew D. Thomas, Anja Linstädter, Gabriel Oliva, Daniela Ferrante, Juan José Gaitán, Guillermo Carlos Garcia Martinez, Fernando T. Maestre |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
2. Zero hunger
0106 biological sciences Abiotic component 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Ecology Agroforestry media_common.quotation_subject Soil organic matter Global warming Climate change Soil carbon 15. Life on land 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Ecosystem services Desertification 13. Climate action Environmental Chemistry Environmental science Ecosystem Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences media_common |
| Zdroj: | Ecosystems |
| ISSN: | 1435-0629 1432-9840 |
| Popis: | Drylands contain 25% of the world’s soil organic carbon (SOC), which is controlled by many factors, both abiotic and biotic. Thus, understanding how these factors control SOC concentration can help to design more sustainable land-use practices in drylands aiming to foster and preserve SOC storage, something particularly important to fight ongoing global warming. We use two independent, large-scale databases with contrasting geographic coverage (236 sites in global drylands and 185 sites in Patagonia, Argentina) to evaluate the relative importance of abiotic (precipitation, temperature and soil texture) and biotic (primary productivity) factors as drivers of SOC concentration in drylands at global and regional scales. We found that biotic and abiotic factors had similar effects on SOC concentration across regional and global scales: Maximum temperature and sand content had negative effects, while precipitation and plant productivity exerted positive effects. Our findings provide empirical evidence that increases in temperature and reductions in rainfall, as forecasted by climatic models in many drylands worldwide, promote declines in SOC both directly and indirectly via the reduction in plant productivity. This has important implications for the conservation of drylands under climate change; land management should seek to enhance plant productivity as a tool to offset the negative impact of climate change on SOC storage and on associated ecosystem services. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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