Newswise \u2014 As a dry spell stretches from months to years, grasslands can adapt \u2014 to a point.<\/p>\n
A recent paper in the journal\u00a0Science,\u00a0\u201cDrought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity,\u201d explores how moderate and extreme droughts affect grasslands around the world. The paper has more than 180 international co-authors, with Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Science Amber Churchill among them.<\/p>\n
Known as a distributed network, research projects of this type call upon collaborators to perform the same experiments locally, Churchill explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is that everyone uses the same methodology, but each local site is independently responsible for the maintenance of their site, data collection and ongoing measurements,\u201d she said. \u201cOften, individual sites will collect data in addition to the core project\u2019s data.\u201d<\/p>\n
The experiment measured productivity, or how much plant biomass grows in a year. Less rain typically means less productivity, but the long-term picture is complicated by a number of factors. For one, not all grasslands are created equal; they come in a variety of types, with varying precipitation levels. Removing 10% of rainfall in an arid grassland is the equivalent of removing 40% of the precipitation in a wetter ecosystem, according to the research.<\/p>\n
For her part of the project, Churchill focused on one of the wetter grasslands. She contributed to the coordination and data processing for the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in Minnesota, where she had been a postdoctoral research associate in the University of Minnesota\u2019s Isbell Biodiversity Lab.<\/p>\n
Cedar Creek is an oak savannah, which combines elements of a grassland and a forest. Unlike northeastern forests, the oak trees are spaced widely, with grasses growing in between. This unusual landscape has been historically maintained by a combination of fire and grazing bison. Once widespread, oak savannahs have dwindled to around 3% of their former reach due to the impact of agriculture and urban development.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrought plays a large role in how grasslands contribute to global carbon and climate modeling,\u201d Churchill said. \u201cFor example, we know that grasslands drive much of the inter-annual differences in carbon sequestration on a global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
How ecosystems adapt<\/p>\n
Researchers found that moderate droughts didn\u2019t lead to compounding losses in biomass over time. Here\u2019s why: When drought conditions linger over a period of years, drought-sensitive plants will be replaced by more hardy species, keeping the biomass relatively constant. In short, the grasslands acclimatize to the new conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more than just the number of species, but the identity of what\u2019s there,\u201d Churchill explained. \u201cEcosystems that are more acclimatized to drought are comprised of species that can better withstand drought at different durations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Extreme droughts, on the other hand, can lead to less abundant plant life and overall species loss. While these extreme droughts have typically occurred once every hundred years, global climate change is making them more common.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis can give us a predictor about what we might expect for grassland productivity on a global scale in the future,\u201d Churchill said.<\/p>\n
The plant ecologist is still affiliated with Cedar Creek, although now she mostly works with Northeastern grasslands \u2014 essentially, lawns. The Northeast is less concerned with drought than other regions of the country; dry spells are typically measured in months rather than successive years. Too much rather than too little rain tends to be more of a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve pivoted a bit. I\u2019m still thinking about water availability, but now I\u2019m focusing on how we can use biodiversity to mitigate impacts of flooding for our local grassland ecosystems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The massive distributed network behind the\u00a0Science\u00a0article also created a new ecosystem \u2014 this one of scientists around the globe. While most will never meet in person, they wove connections with one another in multiple ways: by sharing data, offering comments during the revision process and commenting on the suggestions of others.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, it creates this entire community of grassland drought experts that you can go to with new questions as you run into new circumstances,\u201d Churchill reflected. \u201cIt\u2019s a benefit on the human side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, grasslands are more responsive to changes in weather conditions and can fluctuate significantly from one year to the next. Forests, on the other hand, take up carbon at a steadier rate.<\/p>\n
Cedar Creek experienced an extreme drought during the first year of the study and moderate drought in subsequent years, which enabled the ecosystem to recover, Churchill said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswise \u2014 As a dry spell stretches from months to years, grasslands can adapt \u2014 to a point.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[7260,22259,23045,19559,100103,18,3015,7261,19,17,3618,941,7262,133,100104],"class_list":{"0":"post-176155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-all-journal-news","9":"tag-binghamton-university","10":"tag-climate-science","11":"tag-drought","12":"tag-droughtgrasslandsbiomassenvironementrainfallplantsecosystemsecologyenvironmental-science","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-environmental-health","15":"tag-environmental-science","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-nature","19":"tag-newswise","20":"tag-plants","21":"tag-science","22":"tag-state-university-of-new-york"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115534945762254318","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}