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Synergy of extreme drought and shrub invasion reduce ecosystem functioning and resilience in water-limited climates
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Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
Extreme drought events and plant invasions are major drivers of global change that can critically
affect ecosystem functioning and alter ecosystem-atmosphere exchange. Invaders are expanding
worldwide and extreme drought events are projected to increase in frequency and intensity.
However, very little is known on how these drivers may interact to affect the functioning and
resilience of ecosystems to extreme events. Using a manipulative shrub removal experiment and
the co-occurrence of an extreme drought event (2011/2012) in a Mediterranean woodland, we show
that native shrub invasion and extreme drought synergistically reduced ecosystem transpiration and
the resilience of key-stone oak tree species. Ecosystem transpiration was dominated by the water
use of the invasive shrub Cistus ladanifer, which further increased after the extreme drought event.
Meanwhile, the transpiration of key-stone tree species decreased, indicating a competitive advantage
in favour of the invader. Our results suggest that in Mediterranean-type climates the invasion of
water spending species and projected recurrent extreme drought events may synergistically cause
critical drought tolerance thresholds of key-stone tree species to be surpassed, corroborating
observed higher tree mortality in the invaded ecosystems. Ultimately, this may shift seasonally
water limited ecosystems into less desirable alternative states dominated by water spending invasive
shrubs
Descrição
Palavras-chave
drought shrub invasion
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Scientific Reports | 5:15110
Editora
Nature