Droughting a megadrought: Ecological consequences of a decade of experimental drought atop aridification on the Colorado Plateau
Global dryland vegetation communities will likely change as ongoing drought conditions shift regional climates towards a more arid future. Additional aridification of drylands can impact plant and ground cover, biogeochemical cycles, and plant-soil feedbacks, yet how and when these crucial ecosystem components will respond to drought intensification requires further investigation. Using a long-term precipitation reduction experiment (35% reduction) conducted across the Colorado Plateau and spanning ten years into a 20+ year regional megadrought, we explored how vegetation cover, soil conditions, and growing season nitrogen (N) availability are impacted by drying climate conditions. We observed large declines for all dominant plant functional types (C3 and C4 grasses and C3 and C4 shrubs) across measurement period, both in the drought treatment and control plots, likely due to ongoing regional megadrought conditions. In experimental drought plots, we observed less plant cover, less biological soil crust cover, warmer and drier soil conditions, and more soil resin-extractable N compared to the control plots. Observed increases in soil N availability were best explained by a negative correlation with plant cover regardless of treatment, suggesting that declines in vegetation N uptake may be driving increases in available soil N. However, in ecosystems experiencing long-term aridification, increased N availability may ultimately result in N losses if soil moisture is consistently too dry to support plant and microbial N immobilization and ecosystem recovery. These results show dramatic, worrisome declines in plant cover with long-term drought. Additionally, this study highlights that more plant cover losses are possible with further drought intensification, and underscore that, in addition to large drought effects on aboveground communities, drying trends drive significant changes to critical soil resources such as N availability, all of which could have long-term ecosystem impacts for drylands.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Title | Droughting a megadrought: Ecological consequences of a decade of experimental drought atop aridification on the Colorado Plateau |
| DOI | 10.1111/gcb.16681 |
| Authors | Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, Tara Boyce Belnap Bishop, Jayne Belnap, Erika L. Geiger, Edmund E. Grote, David Hoover, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Global Change Biology |
| Index ID | 70242077 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Southwest Biological Science Center |
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Vegetation cover, ground cover, plant mortality, and species abundance across an experimental drought treatment on the Colorado Plateau from 2010-2022
Mike Duniway, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist & Soil Scientist
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- Data
Vegetation cover, ground cover, plant mortality, and species abundance across an experimental drought treatment on the Colorado Plateau from 2010-2022
These data were compiled to assess the response of vegetation and biological soil crusts to drought in a semi-arid ecosystem on the Colorado Plateau near Moab, Utah. Objective(s) of our study were to explore how vegetation cover, soil conditions, and growing season nitrogen (N) availability are impacted by multifaceted drying climate conditions using data from a long-term precipitation reduction e - Connect
Mike Duniway, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist & Soil ScientistEmailPhone