Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions

Ponce Campos, GE; Moran, MS; Huete, A; Zhang, Y; Bresloff, C; Huxman, TE; Eamus, D; Bosch, DD; Buda, AR; Gunter, SA; Heartsill-Scalley, T; Kitchen, SG; Mcclaran, MP; Mcnab, WH; Montoya, DS; Morgan, JA; Peters, DPC; Sadler, EJ; Seyfried, MS; Starks, PJ

Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions

Ponce Campos, GE Moran, MS Huete, A

Zhang, Y Bresloff, C Huxman, TE Eamus, D

Bosch, DD Buda, AR Gunter, SA Heartsill-Scalley, T Kitchen, SG Mcclaran, MP Mcnab, WH Montoya, DS Morgan, JA Peters, DPC Sadler, EJ Seyfried, MS Starks, PJ

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Nature, 2013, 494 (7437), pp. 349 - 352
Issue Date:: 2013-02-21

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ponce Campos, GE	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Moran, MS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Huete, A https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2809-2376	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, Y	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bresloff, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Huxman, TE	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Eamus, D https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2765-8040	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bosch, DD	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Buda, AR	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gunter, SA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Heartsill-Scalley, T	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Kitchen, SG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mcclaran, MP	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mcnab, WH	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Montoya, DS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Morgan, JA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Peters, DPC	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sadler, EJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Seyfried, MS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Starks, PJ	en_US
dc.date.available	2012-12-03	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-02-21	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Nature, 2013, 494 (7437), pp. 349 - 352	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0028-0836	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/26283
dc.description.abstract	Climate change is predicted to increase both drought frequency and duration, and when coupled with substantial warming, will establish a new hydroclimatological model for many regions. Large-scale, warm droughts have recently occurred in North America, Africa, Europe, Amazonia and Australia, resulting in major effects on terrestrial ecosystems, carbon balance and food security. Here we compare the functional response of above-ground net primary production to contrasting hydroclimatic periods in the late twentieth century (1975-1998), and drier, warmer conditions in the early twenty-first century (2000-2009) in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. We find a common ecosystem water-use efficiency (WUE e: Above-ground net primary production/ evapotranspiration) across biomes ranging from grassland to forest that indicates an intrinsic system sensitivity to water availability across rainfall regimes, regardless of hydroclimatic conditions. We found higher WUE e in drier years that increased significantly with drought to a maximum WUE e across all biomes; and a minimum native state in wetter years that was common across hydroclimatic periods. This indicates biome-scale resilience to the interannual variability associated with the early twenty-first century drought - that is, the capacity to tolerate low, annual precipitation and to respond to subsequent periods of favourable water balance. These findings provide a conceptual model of ecosystem properties at the decadal scale applicable to the widespread altered hydroclimatic conditions that are predicted for later this century. Understanding the hydroclimatic threshold that will break down ecosystem resilience and alter maximum WUE e may allow us to predict land-surface consequences as large regions become more arid, starting with water-limited, low-productivity grasslands. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Nature	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1038/nature11836	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General Science & Technology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Plants	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Poaceae	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Trees	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Water	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Ecosystem	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Rain	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	History, 20th Century	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	History, 21st Century	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Droughts	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Climate Change	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Water Cycle	en_US
dc.title	Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	7437	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	494	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CAMGIS - Centre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial lnformation Systems
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	7437	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	494	en_US

Abstract:

Climate change is predicted to increase both drought frequency and duration, and when coupled with substantial warming, will establish a new hydroclimatological model for many regions. Large-scale, warm droughts have recently occurred in North America, Africa, Europe, Amazonia and Australia, resulting in major effects on terrestrial ecosystems, carbon balance and food security. Here we compare the functional response of above-ground net primary production to contrasting hydroclimatic periods in the late twentieth century (1975-1998), and drier, warmer conditions in the early twenty-first century (2000-2009) in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. We find a common ecosystem water-use efficiency (WUE e: Above-ground net primary production/ evapotranspiration) across biomes ranging from grassland to forest that indicates an intrinsic system sensitivity to water availability across rainfall regimes, regardless of hydroclimatic conditions. We found higher WUE e in drier years that increased significantly with drought to a maximum WUE e across all biomes; and a minimum native state in wetter years that was common across hydroclimatic periods. This indicates biome-scale resilience to the interannual variability associated with the early twenty-first century drought - that is, the capacity to tolerate low, annual precipitation and to respond to subsequent periods of favourable water balance. These findings provide a conceptual model of ecosystem properties at the decadal scale applicable to the widespread altered hydroclimatic conditions that are predicted for later this century. Understanding the hydroclimatic threshold that will break down ecosystem resilience and alter maximum WUE e may allow us to predict land-surface consequences as large regions become more arid, starting with water-limited, low-productivity grasslands. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/26283