Claim · model-written summary
Xeric grasslands were more drought-sensitive than mesic grasslands in long-term production records.
- Taxon
- grasslandse0
- Material
- xeric grasslandse0
- Outcome
- sensitive to droughte0
- Direction
- more sensitivee0
- Comparator
- mesic grasslandse0
Not reportedGeneCompoundOrgan / stageInteractorInteractor roleSecond interactorSecond interactor roleTreatmentSettingValueQualifier
Verbatim
e0“Long-term records of precipitation and aboveground net primary production (ANPP), a key metric of ecosystem function, suggest that xeric grasslands are more sensitive to drought than mesic grasslands”
Title
Grassland sensitivity to extreme drought: assessing the role of community functional composition
Griffin-Nolan, Robert James; Knapp, Alan K.; Ocheltree, Troy W.; et al. Digital Collections of Colorado (Colorado State University) 2019. doi:10.25675/3.024258
Other claims from this paper (13)
- Observation Recent observations at six grassland sites supported greater xeric grassland sensitivity during natural drought.
- Observation The literature review identified knowledge gaps in plant trait research.
- Recommendation The authors recommend water-use traits weighted by relative species abundance for surveys.
- Method / resource An osmometer method was validated to assess leaf turgor loss point at high throughput.
- Intervention effect Four years of 66% growing-season rainfall removal reduced ANPP in all six grasslands.
- Association Drought sensitivity of ANPP was highly correlated with community functional composition.
- Association Functionally diverse communities had smaller relative ANPP reductions after drought.
- Association Communities rich in conservative resource-use species had smaller ANPP reductions after drought.
- Intervention effect Drought increased functional diversity.
- Intervention effect Drought decreased community-scale drought tolerance.
- Mechanism Dominant species mortality and subsequent re-ordering largely explained community trait changes.
- Mechanism Increased functional diversity may stabilize ecosystem functioning under future drought.
- Mechanism Shifts in community drought strategies may increase future ecosystem drought sensitivity.