Multifaceted characteristics of aridity changes and causal mechanisms in Chinese drylands

Hu, Ying; Wei, Fengsi; Fu, Bojie; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Lanhui; Chen, Yongzhe

doi:10.1177/03091333221129867

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 61 publications

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“…VPD drives vegetation changes in hyperarid and dry sub‐humid areas but does not significantly affect soil moisture in hyperarid regions. Conversely, human disturbance predominantly influences soil moisture in dry sub‐humid areas (Hu et al., 2023). As well as altering community specialization, and increasing competition between plant species (Berdugo et al., 2019), non‐native shrub species may even be most sensitive to reduced moisture (Lucero et al., 2022), though this may vary regionally.…”

Section: Changes In Distribution and Communities In Global Drylandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of aridity rise and arid lands expansion on carbon‐storing capacity, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem services

Tariq,

Sardans,

Zeng

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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Drylands, comprising semi‐arid, arid, and hyperarid regions, cover approximately 41% of the Earth's land surface and have expanded considerably in recent decades. Even under more optimistic scenarios, such as limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2100, semi‐arid lands may increase by up to 38%. This study provides an overview of the state‐of‐the‐art regarding changing aridity in arid regions, with a specific focus on its effects on the accumulation and availability of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in plant–soil systems. Additionally, we summarized the impacts of rising aridity on biodiversity, service provisioning, and feedback effects on climate change across scales. The expansion of arid ecosystems is linked to a decline in C and nutrient stocks, plant community biomass and diversity, thereby diminishing the capacity for recovery and maintaining adequate water‐use efficiency by plants and microbes. Prolonged drought led to a −3.3% reduction in soil organic carbon (SOC) content (based on 148 drought‐manipulation studies), a −8.7% decrease in plant litter input, a −13.0% decline in absolute litter decomposition, and a −5.7% decrease in litter decomposition rate. Moreover, a substantial positive feedback loop with global warming exists, primarily due to increased albedo. The loss of critical ecosystem services, including food production capacity and water resources, poses a severe challenge to the inhabitants of these regions. Increased aridity reduces SOC, nutrient, and water content. Aridity expansion and intensification exacerbate socio‐economic disparities between economically rich and least developed countries, with significant opportunities for improvement through substantial investments in infrastructure and technology. By 2100, half the world's landmass may become dryland, characterized by severe conditions marked by limited C, N, and P resources, water scarcity, and substantial loss of native species biodiversity. These conditions pose formidable challenges for maintaining essential services, impacting human well‐being and raising complex global and regional socio‐political challenges.

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Section: Changes In Distribution and Communities In Global Drylandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of aridity rise and arid lands expansion on carbon‐storing capacity, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem services

Tariq,

Sardans,

Zeng

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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Divergent patterns of rainfall regimes in dry and humid areas of China

Hu,

Wei,

et al. 2024

Journal of Hydrology

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Changes and influencing factors of ecosystem resilience in China

Wei

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The multifunctionality and sustainability of ecosystems are strongly dependent on their abilityto withstand and recover from disturbances—that is, ecosystem resilience (ER). However, thedynamics and attributes of ER remain largely unknown, especially in China, where climaticand anthropogenic pressures are high. In this study, we evaluated spatiotemporal patterns ofER in China from 2001 to 2020 using solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. We estimatedthe relative independent importance of climate change, CO2, and anthropogenic factors onchanges in ER signals. The results showed that more than half of the ecosystems in the studyarea have experienced ER gain followed by ER loss during the past two decades. Beforebreakpoints, climate change explained 58.29% of the ER change associated with increasingprecipitation. After breakpoints, 65.10% of the ER change was most affected by CO2, anddrought from rising temperature further deteriorated ER loss. We highlight that relationshipsbetween changes in ER and climate are spatial heterogeneous and suggest increased negativeradiative effects of CO2, associated with global warming, on ecosystem stability due to thesaturated canopy photosynthesis. These findings have crucial implications for future climatechange mitigation, carbon peak, and carbon neutrality targets.

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Multifaceted characteristics of aridity changes and causal mechanisms in Chinese drylands

Cited by 3 publications

References 61 publications

Impact of aridity rise and arid lands expansion on carbon‐storing capacity, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem services

Impact of aridity rise and arid lands expansion on carbon‐storing capacity, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem services

Divergent patterns of rainfall regimes in dry and humid areas of China

Changes and influencing factors of ecosystem resilience in China

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