The interplay between facilitation and habitat type drives spatial vegetation patterns in global drylands

Berdugo, Miguel; Soliveres, Santiago; Kéfi, Sonia; Maestre, Fernando T.

doi:10.1111/ecog.03795

Cited by 36 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(188 reference statements)

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“…Compared to other shrub species, L. tridentata can be a poor facilitator (Hutto, McAuliffe, & Hogan, 1986; reviewed by Callaway, 2007) due to relatively strong competitive effects and allelopathy (Mahall & Callaway, 1992 dant in the open as aridity increased, but it is unclear which occurred (Table A5; note the lack of a significant microsite × aridity interaction). The former could occur if the quantity, quality or availability of soil resources concentrated under L. tridentata canopies (Schlesinger, Raikes, Hartley, & Cross, 1996) Michalet & Pugnaire, 2016), and can be influenced by the spatial structure of vegetation (Berdugo, Soliveres, Kéfi, & Maestre, 2019 (Schlesinger et al, 1996).…”

Section: Ta B L Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Positive associations with native shrubs are intense and important for an exotic invader but not the native annual community across an aridity gradient

Lucero

Seifan

Callaway

et al. 2020

Diversity and Distributions

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Section: Ta B L Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Positive associations with native shrubs are intense and important for an exotic invader but not the native annual community across an aridity gradient

Lucero

Seifan

Callaway

et al. 2020

Diversity and Distributions

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“…In addition, and within similar aridity gradients such as those we investigated, other studies carried out in drylands have found nonlinear changes in significant ecological properties and mechanisms. These include drastic declines in ecosystem functioning accompanied by abrupt changes of vegetation spatial patterns from power law like to nonpower law like (Berdugo, Kéfi, et al, ; Berdugo, Soliveres, Kéfi, & Maestre, ); shifts in the mechanisms driving the structure of plant communities from facilitation driven to competition driven (Berdugo, Maestre, et al, ); the decoupling of soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles (Delgado‐Baquerizo et al, ); and changes in nitrogen turnover rates (Wang et al, ). Therefore, we hypothesize that at aridity levels around 0.7–0.8, many structural changes occurring on the ecosystem may influence each other through these interacting feedbacks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remotely sensed albedo allows the identification of two ecosystem states along aridity gradients in Africa

et al. 2019

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Empirical verification of multiple states in drylands is scarce, impeding the design of indicators to anticipate the onset of desertification. Remote sensing‐derived indicators of ecosystem states are gaining new ground due to the possibilities they bring to be applied inexpensively over large areas. Remotely sensed albedo has been often used to monitor drylands due to its close relationship with ecosystem status and climate. Here, we used a space‐for‐time‐substitution approach to evaluate whether albedo (averaged from 2000 to 2016) can identify multiple ecosystem states in African drylands spanning from the Saharan desert to tropical Africa. By using latent class analysis, we found that albedo showed two states (low and high; the cut‐off level was 0.22 at the shortwave band). Potential analysis revealed that albedo exhibited an abrupt and discontinuous increase with increased aridity (1 − [precipitation/potential evapotranspiration]). The two albedo states co‐occurred along aridity values ranging from 0.72 to 0.78, during which vegetation cover exhibited a rapid, continuous decrease from ~90% to ~50%. At aridity values of 0.75, the low albedo state started to exhibit less attraction than the high albedo state. Low albedo areas beyond this aridity value were considered as vulnerable regions where abrupt shifts in albedo may occur if aridity increases, as forecasted by current climate change models. Our findings indicate that remotely sensed albedo can identify two ecosystem states in African drylands. They support the suitability of albedo indices to inform us about discontinuous responses to aridity experienced by drylands, which can be linked to the onset of land degradation.

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“…Transitions between different ecological states, e.g. vegetated towards bare soil, can be sometimes observed in the same landscape under the presence of environmental gradients [ 31 ]. In this context, it has been conjectured that spatial correlations can be used as indicators of forthcoming green-desert shifts [ 15 , 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic soil crusts against green-desert transitions: a spatial model

2020

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Semiarid ecosystems are threatened by global warming due to longer dehydration times and increasing soil degradation. Mounting evidence indicates that, given the current trends, drylands are likely to expand and possibly experience catastrophic shifts from vegetated to desert states. Here, we explore a recent suggestion based on the concept of ecosystem terraformation, where a synthetic organism is used to counterbalance some of the nonlinear effects causing the presence of such tipping points. Using an explicit spatial model incorporating facilitation and considering a simplification of states found in semiarid ecosystems including vegetation, fertile and desert soil, we investigate how engineered microorganisms can shape the fate of these ecosystems. Specifically, two different, but complementary, terraformation strategies are proposed: Cooperation -based: C -terraformation; and Dispersion -based: D -terraformation. The first strategy involves the use of soil synthetic microorganisms to introduce cooperative loops (facilitation) with the vegetation. The second one involves the introduction of engineered microorganisms improving their dispersal capacity, thus facilitating the transition from desert to fertile soil. We show that small modifications enhancing cooperative loops can effectively modify the aridity level of the critical transition found at increasing soil degradation rates, also identifying a stronger protection against soil degradation by using the D -terraformation strategy. The same results are found in a mean-field model providing insights into the transitions and dynamics tied to these terraformation strategies. The potential consequences and extensions of these models are discussed.

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The interplay between facilitation and habitat type drives spatial vegetation patterns in global drylands

Cited by 36 publications

References 88 publications

Positive associations with native shrubs are intense and important for an exotic invader but not the native annual community across an aridity gradient

Positive associations with native shrubs are intense and important for an exotic invader but not the native annual community across an aridity gradient

Remotely sensed albedo allows the identification of two ecosystem states along aridity gradients in Africa

Synthetic soil crusts against green-desert transitions: a spatial model

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