TY - JOUR
T1 - Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands
AU - Maestre, Fernando T.
AU - Quero, Jose L.
AU - Gotelli, Nicholas J.
AU - Escudero, Adrian
AU - Ochoa, Victoria
AU - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
AU - Garcia-Gomez, Miguel
AU - Bowker, Matthew A.
AU - Soliveres, Santiago
AU - Escolar, Cristina
AU - Garcia-Palacios, Pablo
AU - Berdugo, Miguel
AU - Valencia, Enrique
AU - Gozalo, Beatriz
AU - Gallardo, Antonio
AU - Aguilera, Lorgio
AU - Arredondo, Tulio
AU - Blones, Julio
AU - Boeken, Bertrand
AU - Bran, Donaldo
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth's land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.
AB - Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth's land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/549846
U2 - 10.1126/science.1215442
DO - 10.1126/science.1215442
M3 - Article
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 335
SP - 214
EP - 218
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6065
ER -