Enhanced precipitation variability decreases grass- and increases shrub-productivity.

ABSTRACT: Although projections of precipitation change indicate increases in variability, most studies of impacts of climate change on ecosystems focused on effects of changes in amount of precipitation, overlooking precipitation variability effects, especially at the interannual scale. Here, we present results from a 6-y field experiment, where we applied sequences of wet and dry years, increasing interannual precipitation coefficient of variation while maintaining a precipitation amount constant. Increased precipitation variability significantly reduced ecosystem primary production. Dominant plant-functional types showed opposite responses: perennial-grass productivity decreased by 81%, whereas shrub productivity increased by 67%. This pattern was explained by different nonlinear responses to prec

SUBMITTER: Gherardi LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4611653 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature