Differences in plant cover and species composition of semiarid grassland communities of Central Mexico and its effects on net ecosystem exchange

Delgado-Balbuena, Josué; Arredondo, J. T.; Loescher, Henry W.; Huber­-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Chavez-Aguilar, G.; Luna-Luna, M.; Barretero-Hernandez, R.

doi:10.5194/bgd-9-17099-2012

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Maintaining ecosystem structure and functioning may be particularly difficult in drylands, especially when subjected to high-impact disturbances such as grazing (Manzano et al 2000, Delgado-Balbuena et al 2013. In our study system, BSC communities experienced profound changes in species composition under different grazing management regimes, and these compositional changes remained after almost 30 years of disturbance removal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Biological soil crusts across disturbance–recovery scenarios: effect of grazing regime on community dynamics

Concostrina‐Zubiri

Huber-Sannwald

Martínez

et al. 2014

Ecological Applications

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Grazing represents one of the most common disturbances in drylands worldwide, affecting both ecosystem structure and functioning. Despite the efforts to understand the nature and magnitude of grazing effects on ecosystem components and processes, contrasting results continue to arise. This is particularly remarkable for the biological soil crust (BSC) communities (i.e., cyanobacteria, lichens, and bryophytes), which play an important role in soil dynamics. Here we evaluated simultaneously the effect of grazing impact on BSC communities (resistance) and recovery after livestock exclusion (resilience) in a semiarid grassland of Central Mexico. In particular, we examined BSC species distribution, species richness, taxonomical group cover (i.e., cyanobacteria, lichen, bryophyte), and composition along a disturbance gradient with different grazing regimes (low, medium, high impact) and along a recovery gradient with differently aged livestock exclosures (short‐, medium‐, long‐term exclusion). Differences in grazing impact and time of recovery from grazing both resulted in slight changes in species richness; however, there were pronounced shifts in species composition and group cover. We found we could distinguish four highly diverse and dynamic BSC species groups: (1) species with high resistance and resilience to grazing, (2) species with high resistance but low resilience, (3) species with low resistance but high resilience, and (4) species with low resistance and resilience. While disturbance resulted in a novel diversity configuration, which may profoundly affect ecosystem functioning, we observed that 10 years of disturbance removal did not lead to the ecosystem structure found after 27 years of recovery. These findings are an important contribution to our understanding of BCS dynamics from a species and community perspective placed in a land use change context.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Biological soil crusts across disturbance–recovery scenarios: effect of grazing regime on community dynamics

Concostrina‐Zubiri

Huber-Sannwald

Martínez

et al. 2014

Ecological Applications

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“…Ecological communities may adapt to consistent shifts in climate conditions over long time frames (Thomey et al, 2011), but cannot respond to the relatively short changes expected to occur within the next few decades (Jump & Penuelas, 2005). Consequently, numerous studies project significant loss of species associated with a changing climate (Barbet‐Massin & Jetz, 2015; Böhm et al, 2016; Delgado‐Balbuena et al, 2013; Kerr et al, 2015; Sala et al, 2000). However, not all species are expected to be affected equally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inclusion of trophic interactions increases the vulnerability of an alpine butterfly species to climate change

Filazzola

Matter

Roland

2020

Global Change Biology

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Climate change is expected to have significant and complex impacts on ecological communities. In addition to direct effects of climate on species, there can also be indirect effects through an intermediary species, such as in host-plant interactions.Indirect effects are expected to be more pronounced in alpine environments because these ecosystems are sensitive to temperature changes and there are limited areas for migration of both species (i.e. closed systems), and because of simpler trophic interactions. We tested the hypothesis that climate change will reduce the range of an alpine butterfly (Parnassius smintheus) because of indirect effects through its host plant (Sedum sp.). To test for direct and indirect effects, we used the simulations of climate change to assess the distribution of P. smintheus with and without Sedum sp. We also compared the projected ranges of P. smintheus to four other butterfly species that are found in the alpine, but that are generalists feeding on many plant genera. We found that P. smintheus gained distributional area in climate-only models, but these gains were significantly reduced with the inclusion of Sedum sp. and in dryclimate scenarios which resulted in a reduction in net area. When compared to the more generalist butterfly species, P. smintheus exhibited the largest loss in suitable habitat. Our findings support the importance of including indirect effects in modelling species distributions in response to climate change. We highlight the potentially large and still neglected impacts climate change can have on the trophic structure of communities, which can lead to significant losses of biodiversity. In the future, communities will continue to favour species that are generalists as climate change induces asynchronies in the migration of species. K E Y W O R D S alpine, biotic interactions, butterfly, global change, host-plant, maxent, species distribution modelling

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“…Temporal dynamics of SWC may also control the observed differences of C balances among years and the legacy effects of PPT (Figure S4). Our data (Figure b) indicate that dry‐season PPT for 2012, 2014, and 2015 was large enough to recharge the soil profile to a depth where grasses have their largest root biomass (between 0 and 30 cm; Delgado‐Balbuena et al, ; Medina‐Roldán et al, ). This additional water (humidity) allows for the reactivation of photosynthesis when vegetation is usually dormant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Seasonal Precipitation Legacy Effects Determine the Carbon Balance of a Semiarid Grassland

et al. 2019

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Semiarid grasslands are water-limited ecosystems where precipitation (PPT) controls the onset and duration of the growing season; however, this variable does not fully explain interannual variability of productivity at temporal scales. We examined the relationship between PPT and carbon (C) fluxes in a semiarid grassland at both seasonal and interannual scales, as well as the role of lagged effects of PPT and asymmetric sensitivities of net ecosystem carbon exchange to PPT and its components (gross ecosystem exchange [GEE] and ecosystem respiration [ER]). Six years of continuous net ecosystem C exchange data measured with the eddy covariance technique and GEE estimated with 15 years of enhanced vegetation index and the gross primary productivity of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer were used. The semiarid grassland was a C source and a C sink among contrasting PPT years (114 to −107 g C·m −2 ·year −1 ). At seasonal scale, PPT relationship with the 15 years of GEE derived from enhanced vegetation index and gross primary productivity was sigmoidal. Moreover, PPT legacies of the previous dry season determined the C balance of the grassland by affecting the C uptake and ecosystem respiration of the following growing season, but productivity was more sensitive to PPT changes than respiration. Models of climate change for semiarid grasslands in North America predict up to 30% reduction of winter-spring PPT and slight summer PPT decrease. Thus, our results suggest that future changes in PPT may have a strong impact on the C uptake capacity of this ecosystem due to weakened legacy effects in summer C uptake.

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Differences in plant cover and species composition of semiarid grassland communities of Central Mexico and its effects on net ecosystem exchange

Cited by 5 publications

References 40 publications

Biological soil crusts across disturbance–recovery scenarios: effect of grazing regime on community dynamics

Biological soil crusts across disturbance–recovery scenarios: effect of grazing regime on community dynamics

Inclusion of trophic interactions increases the vulnerability of an alpine butterfly species to climate change

Seasonal Precipitation Legacy Effects Determine the Carbon Balance of a Semiarid Grassland

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