Severe Prolonged Drought Favours Stress-Tolerant Microbes in Australian Drylands.

ABSTRACT: Drylands comprise one-third of Earth's terrestrial surface area and support over two billion people. Most drylands are projected to experience altered rainfall regimes, including changes in total amounts and fewer but larger rainfall events interspersed by longer periods without rain. This transition will have ecosystem-wide impacts but the long-term effects on microbial communities remain poorly quantified. We assessed belowground effects of altered rainfall regimes (+ 65% and -65% relative to ambient) at six sites in arid and semi-arid Australia over a period of three years (2016-2019) coinciding with a significant natural drought event (2017-2019). Microbial communities differed significantly among semi-arid and arid sites and across years associated with variation in abiotic factors, s

SUBMITTER: Maisnam P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10640424 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature