Authors: Gaitán, Juan J.; Bran, Donaldo; Oliva, Gabriel Esteban; Maestre, Fernando T.; Aguiar, Martin Roberto; Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel; Buono, Gustavo; Ferrante, Daniela; Nakamatsu, Viviana; Ciari, Georgina; Salomone, Jorge; Massara, Virginia
Publication Date: 2014.
Language: English.
Abstract:
Drought is an increasingly common phenomenon in drylands as a consequence of climate change. We used 311 sites across a broad range of environmental conditions in Patagonian rangelands to evaluate how drought severity and temperature (abiotic factors) and vegetation structure (biotic factors) modulate the impact of a drought event on the annual integral of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI-I), our surrogate of ecosystem functioning. We found that NDVI-I decreases were larger with both increasing drought severity and temperature. Plant species richness (SR) and shrub cover (SC) attenuated the effects of drought on NDVI-I. Grass cover did not affect the impacts of drought on NDVI-I. Our results suggest that warming and species loss, two important imprints of global environmental change, could increase the vulnerability of Patagonian ecosystems to drought. Therefore, maintaining SR through appropriate grazing management can attenuate the adverse effects of climate change on ecosystem functioning.
Author affiliation: Gaitán, Juan J.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Carlos de Bariloche; Argentina
Author affiliation: Bran, Donaldo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Carlos de Bariloche; Argentina
Author affiliation: Oliva, Gabriel Esteban. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina
Author affiliation: Maestre, Fernando T.. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica. Area de Biodiversidad y Conservación ; España
Author affiliation: 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
Author affiliation: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina
Author affiliation: Buono, Gustavo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina
Author affiliation: Ferrante, Daniela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina
Author affiliation: Nakamatsu, Viviana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina
Author affiliation: Ciari, Georgina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Estación Experimental Agroforestal Esquel; Argentina
Author affiliation: Salomone, Jorge. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina
Author affiliation: Massara, Virginia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Chubut; Argentina
Repository: CONICET Digital (CONICET). Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas