Resource pulses in arid environments - patterns of rain, patterns of life

Jake F. Weltzin, David T. Tissue

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    49 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Global warming means that precipitation patterns will change nearly everywhere in the world, but nowhere more than in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Here, precipitation is the dominant driver of biological processes across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. However, characterizations of water-limited ecosystems on the basis of long-term, mean precipitation are often inadequate, especially in changing environments. Research is therefore now focusing on precipitation patterns, and how changes in these patterns could modify the effect of mean precipitation on the dynamics of soil processes and plant and animal populations.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalNew Phytologist
    Publication statusPublished - 2003

    Keywords

    • climatic changes
    • deserts
    • global warming
    • precipitation (meteorology)

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