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Ecosystems : Volume 17, Issue 8, December 2014

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“Hotspots” and “Hot Moments” of Denitrification in Urban Brownfield Wetlands

Long-Term Increase in Aboveground Carbon Stocks Following Exclusion of Grazers and Forest Establishment in an Alpine Ecosystem

Warming-Induced Shrub Expansion and Lichen Decline in the Western Canadian Arctic

Temporal Variation in the Importance of a Dominant Consumer to Stream Nutrient Cycling

Partitioning Climatic and Biotic Effects on Interannual Variability of Ecosystem Carbon Exchange in Three Ecosystems

Limitations of Protected Areas Zoning in Mediterranean Cultural Landscapes Under the Ecosystem Services Approach

Habitat-Specific Effects of Fishing Disturbance on Benthic Species Richness in Marine Soft Sediments

Infilled Ditches are Hotspots of Landscape Methane Flux Following Peatland Re-wetting

Vascular Plants and Biocrusts Modulate How Abiotic Factors Affect Wetting and Drying Events in Drylands

Do Earthworms Have a Greater Influence on Nitrogen Dynamics Than Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition?

Methane Flux Influenced by Experimental Water Table Drawdown and Soil Warming in a Dry Boreal Continental Bog

Assessing Nitrogen-Saturation in a Seasonally Dry Chaparral Watershed: Limitations of Traditional Indicators of N-Saturation

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Vascular Plants and Biocrusts Modulate How Abiotic Factors Affect Wetting and Drying Events in Drylands

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Berdugo, Miguel Soliveres, Santiago Maestre, Fernando T.
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Understanding how organisms control soil water dynamics is a major research goal in dryland ecology. Although previous studies have mostly focused on the role of vascular plants on the hydrological cycle of drylands, recent studies highlight the importance of biological soil crusts formed by lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria (biocrusts) as a major player in this cycle. We used data from a 6.5-year study to evaluate how multiple abiotic (rainfall characteristics, temperature, and initial soil moisture) and biotic (vascular plants and biocrusts) factors interact to determine wetting and drying processes in a semi-arid grassland from Central Spain. We found that the shrub Retama sphaerocarpa and biocrusts with medium cover (25–75%) enhanced water gain and slowed drying compared with bare ground areas (BSCl). Well-developed biocrusts (>75% cover) gained more water, but lost it faster than BSCl microsites. The grass Stipa tenacissima reduced water gain due to rainfall interception, but increased soil moisture retention compared to BSCl microsites. Biotic modulation of water dynamics was the result of different mechanisms acting in tandem and often in opposite directions. For instance, biocrusts promoted an exponential behavior during the first stage of the drying curve, but reduced the importance of soil characteristics that accentuate drying rates. Biocrust-dominated microsites gained a similar amount of water than vascular plants, although they lost it faster than vascular plants during dry periods. Our results emphasize the importance of biocrusts for water dynamics in drylands, and illustrate the potential mechanisms behind their effects. They will help to further advance theoretical and modeling efforts on the hydrology of drylands and their response to ongoing climate change.
Starting Page	1242
Ending Page	1256
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF
ISSN	14329840
Journal	Ecosystems
Volume Number	17
Issue Number	7
e-ISSN	14350629
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2014-07-12
Publisher Place	Boston
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	water dynamics infiltration Retama sphaerocarpa Stipa tenacissima pulse reserve semiarid soil water Ecology Plant Sciences Zoology Environmental Management Geoecology/Natural Processes Hydrology/Water Resources
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology Environmental Chemistry Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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Vascular Plants and Biocrusts Modulate How Abiotic Factors Affect Wetting and Drying Events in Drylands

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Vascular Plants and Biocrusts Modulate How Abiotic Factors Affect Wetting and Drying Events in Drylands