The consequences of climate change for dryland biogeochemistry

Authors: OSBORNE, BROOKE - Us Geological Survey (USGS); Bestelmeyer, Brandon; CURRIER, COURTNEY - Arizona State University; HOMYAK, PETER - Dominican University Of California; THROOP, HEATHER - Arizona State University; YOUNG, KRISTINA - Utah State University; REED, SASHA - Us Geological Survey (USGS)

Submitted to: New Phytologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2022
Publication Date: 6/15/2022
Citation: Osborne, B., Bestelmeyer, B.T., Currier, C., Homyak, P., Throop, H., Young, K., Reed, S. 2022. The consequences of climate change for dryland biogeochemistry. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18312.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18312

Interpretive Summary: An organized oral session and forum at the Ecological Society of America’s 2021 meeting produced four emergent themes to consider when evaluating dryland biogeochemical responses to climate change and help increase our capacity to predict ecosystem change: 1) drylands are highly spatially and temporally variable systems, so its hard to generalize, 2) drylands are characterized by general resource scarcity, 3) dryland restoration and adaptation strategies must include biogeochemical perspectives, and 4) swift collaborative action is critical to successfully address dryland degradation issues across the globe.

Technical Abstract: Drylands, Earth’s largest terrestrial biome, make up over 40% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface and support roughly 35% of the human population, many of whose livelihoods depend on dryland ecosystem services. Drylands are also increasingly recognized as dominant drivers of global biogeochemical cycling, including the long-term trend and interannual variability of both the terrestrial carbon sink and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This is particularly important because recent observations suggest drylands are especially sensitive to anthropogenic drivers of change, and climate projections predict that warming, drought frequency and severity, and evaporative demand will increase in drylands at higher rates than the global mean. Yet, despite their sensitivity to global change, and due perhaps in part to a common perception that drylands are unproductive or “useless” ecosystems, our capacity to predict how a changing climate may alter dryland biogeochemistry and ecosystem functions lags severely behind their mesic counterparts. Closing these knowledge gaps has become a top priority for the scientific community and decision makers alike. Our organized oral session and forum at the Ecological Society of America’s 2021 meeting produced four emergent themes to consider when evaluating dryland biogeochemical responses to climate change and help increase our capacity to predict ecosystem change: 1) drylands are highly spatially and temporally heterogeneous systems, 2) drylands are characterized by general resource scarcity, 3) dryland restoration and adaptation strategies must include biogeochemical perspectives, and 4) swift collaborative action is critical to successfully address dryland degradation issues across the globe.