Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands
1. Drylands cover about 41% of Earth’s land surface, and 65% of their area supports domestic livestock that depends on the above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) of natural vegetation. Thus, understanding how biotic and abiotic factors control ANPP and related ecosystem functions can largel...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2017
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/1104 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12273/pdf |
| _version_ | 1855482828912852992 |
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| author | Gaitan, Juan Jose Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Bran, Donaldo Eduardo Maestre, Fernando Tomás Aguiar, Martín Roberto Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel Buono, Gustavo Gabriel Ferrante, Daniela Nakamatsu, Viviana Beatriz Ciari, Georgina Salomone, Jorge Manuel Massara Paletto, Virginia |
| author_browse | Aguiar, Martín Roberto Bran, Donaldo Eduardo Buono, Gustavo Gabriel Ciari, Georgina Ferrante, Daniela Gaitan, Juan Jose Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel Maestre, Fernando Tomás Massara Paletto, Virginia Nakamatsu, Viviana Beatriz Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Salomone, Jorge Manuel |
| author_facet | Gaitan, Juan Jose Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Bran, Donaldo Eduardo Maestre, Fernando Tomás Aguiar, Martín Roberto Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel Buono, Gustavo Gabriel Ferrante, Daniela Nakamatsu, Viviana Beatriz Ciari, Georgina Salomone, Jorge Manuel Massara Paletto, Virginia |
| author_sort | Gaitan, Juan Jose |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | 1. Drylands cover about 41% of Earth’s land surface, and 65% of their area supports domestic
livestock that depends on the above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) of natural vegetation.
Thus, understanding how biotic and abiotic factors control ANPP and related ecosystem functions
can largely help to create more sustainable land-use practices in rangelands, particularly in the
context of ongoing global environmental change.
2. We used 311 sites across a broad natural gradient in Patagonian rangelands to evaluate the relative
importance of climate (temperature and precipitation) and vegetation structure (grass and shrub
cover, species richness) as drivers of ANPP, precipitation-use efficiency (PUE) and precipitation
marginal response (PMR).
3. Climatic variables explained 60%, 52% and 12% of the variation in grass cover, shrub cover and
species richness, respectively. Shrub cover increased in areas with warmer, drier and winter rainfall climates,
while the response observed for both grass cover and species richness was the opposite. Climate
and vegetation structure explained 70%, 60% and 29% of the variation in ANPP, PUE and PMR,
respectively. These three variables increased with increasing vegetation cover, particularly grass cover.
Species richness also increased with ANPP, PUE and PMR. ANPP increased, and PUE decreased with
increasing mean annual precipitation, whereas PMR increased with the proportion of precipitation falling
in spring–summer. Temperature had a strong negative effect on ANPP and PUE, and a positive
direct effect on PMR. Standardized total effects from structural equation modelling showed that vegetation
structure and climate had similar strengths as drivers of ecosystem functioning. Grass cover had
the highest total effect on ANPP (0.58), PUE (0.55) and PMR (0.41). Among the climatic variables,
mean annual precipitation had the strongest total effect on ANPP (0.51) and PUE ( 0.41), and the
proportion of the precipitation falling in spring–summer was the most influential on PMR (0.36).
4. Synthesis. Vegetation structure is as important as climate in shaping ecosystem functioning Patagonian
rangelands. Maintaining and enhancing vegetation cover and species richness, particularly in grasses,
could reduce the adverse effects of climate change on ecosystem functioning in these ecosystems |
| format | Artículo |
| id | INTA1104 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA11042019-12-16T17:11:01Z Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands Gaitan, Juan Jose Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Bran, Donaldo Eduardo Maestre, Fernando Tomás Aguiar, Martín Roberto Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel Buono, Gustavo Gabriel Ferrante, Daniela Nakamatsu, Viviana Beatriz Ciari, Georgina Salomone, Jorge Manuel Massara Paletto, Virginia Ecosistema Ecosystems Net Primary Productivity Climatic Factors Plant Cover Pastizal Natural Productividad Primaria Neta Factores Climáticos Cubierta Vegetal Servicios Ecosistémicos Región Patagónica 1. Drylands cover about 41% of Earth’s land surface, and 65% of their area supports domestic livestock that depends on the above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) of natural vegetation. Thus, understanding how biotic and abiotic factors control ANPP and related ecosystem functions can largely help to create more sustainable land-use practices in rangelands, particularly in the context of ongoing global environmental change. 2. We used 311 sites across a broad natural gradient in Patagonian rangelands to evaluate the relative importance of climate (temperature and precipitation) and vegetation structure (grass and shrub cover, species richness) as drivers of ANPP, precipitation-use efficiency (PUE) and precipitation marginal response (PMR). 3. Climatic variables explained 60%, 52% and 12% of the variation in grass cover, shrub cover and species richness, respectively. Shrub cover increased in areas with warmer, drier and winter rainfall climates, while the response observed for both grass cover and species richness was the opposite. Climate and vegetation structure explained 70%, 60% and 29% of the variation in ANPP, PUE and PMR, respectively. These three variables increased with increasing vegetation cover, particularly grass cover. Species richness also increased with ANPP, PUE and PMR. ANPP increased, and PUE decreased with increasing mean annual precipitation, whereas PMR increased with the proportion of precipitation falling in spring–summer. Temperature had a strong negative effect on ANPP and PUE, and a positive direct effect on PMR. Standardized total effects from structural equation modelling showed that vegetation structure and climate had similar strengths as drivers of ecosystem functioning. Grass cover had the highest total effect on ANPP (0.58), PUE (0.55) and PMR (0.41). Among the climatic variables, mean annual precipitation had the strongest total effect on ANPP (0.51) and PUE ( 0.41), and the proportion of the precipitation falling in spring–summer was the most influential on PMR (0.36). 4. Synthesis. Vegetation structure is as important as climate in shaping ecosystem functioning Patagonian rangelands. Maintaining and enhancing vegetation cover and species richness, particularly in grasses, could reduce the adverse effects of climate change on ecosystem functioning in these ecosystems Fil: Gaitan, Juan Jose. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Oliva, Gabriel Esteban. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina Fil: Bran, Donaldo Eduardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Maestre, Fernando T. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biologíıa y Geología Area de Biodiversidad y Conservación; España Fil: Aguiar, Martin Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina Fil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina Fil: Buono, Gustavo Gabriel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina Fil: Ferrante, Daniela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina Fil: Nakamatsu, Viviana Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina Fil: Ciari, Georgina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Esquel; Argentina Fil: Salomone, Jorge Manuel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina Fil: Massara Paletto, Virginia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina 2017-09-01T14:24:55Z 2017-09-01T14:24:55Z 2014-11 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/1104 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12273/pdf 1365-2745 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Patagonia (general region) Journal of ecology 102 (6) : 1419-1428. (November 2014) |
| spellingShingle | Ecosistema Ecosystems Net Primary Productivity Climatic Factors Plant Cover Pastizal Natural Productividad Primaria Neta Factores Climáticos Cubierta Vegetal Servicios Ecosistémicos Región Patagónica Gaitan, Juan Jose Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Bran, Donaldo Eduardo Maestre, Fernando Tomás Aguiar, Martín Roberto Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel Buono, Gustavo Gabriel Ferrante, Daniela Nakamatsu, Viviana Beatriz Ciari, Georgina Salomone, Jorge Manuel Massara Paletto, Virginia Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands |
| title | Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands |
| title_full | Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands |
| title_fullStr | Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands |
| title_short | Vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across Patagonian rangelands |
| title_sort | vegetation structure is as important as climate for explaining ecosystem function across patagonian rangelands |
| topic | Ecosistema Ecosystems Net Primary Productivity Climatic Factors Plant Cover Pastizal Natural Productividad Primaria Neta Factores Climáticos Cubierta Vegetal Servicios Ecosistémicos Región Patagónica |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/1104 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12273/pdf |
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