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World-wide impacts of climate change and nitrogen deposition on vegetation structure, composition, and functioning of shrublands

Liu, Daijun ; Zhang, Chao ; Ogaya, Romà ; Acil, Nezha ; Pugh, Thomas A M LU ; Domene, Xavier ; Zhang, Xiwen ; Fang, Yunting ; Yang, Xiaohong and Essl, Franz , et al. (2025) In New Phytologist
Abstract

Environmental changes and their effects are among the most pressing topics of today's ecological research. Shrublands, although widespread across the globe, remain understudied in this respect. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 81 shrubland sites subjected to experimental warming, shifts in precipitation (e.g. increased precipitation and drought), and nitrogen addition to quantify seven types of vegetation responses, including density and cover, species diversity, shrub proportion, and ecosystem functions. Our results indicated that the magnitude of responses varied depending on the vegetation metrics and treatment conditions. Specifically, aboveground biomass (AGB) was most sensitive to warming, increased precipitation, and... (More)

Environmental changes and their effects are among the most pressing topics of today's ecological research. Shrublands, although widespread across the globe, remain understudied in this respect. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 81 shrubland sites subjected to experimental warming, shifts in precipitation (e.g. increased precipitation and drought), and nitrogen addition to quantify seven types of vegetation responses, including density and cover, species diversity, shrub proportion, and ecosystem functions. Our results indicated that the magnitude of responses varied depending on the vegetation metrics and treatment conditions. Specifically, aboveground biomass (AGB) was most sensitive to warming, increased precipitation, and nitrogen addition, while density was most responsive to drought treatment. Short-term treatments (1-5 yr) generally elicited stronger responses than long-term ones (> 5 yr), particularly under drought. High sensitivity to changes in climate and nitrogen addition was observed at extremely arid sites (aridity index < 0.2), and water availability strongly mediated sensitivity variation. Surprisingly, many vegetation metrics revealed no association between sensitivity variability and site water availability. Our research offers a global perspective on shrubland vegetation responses to environmental changes, highlighting the importance of water availability in sustaining shrubland biodiversity and functioning under future conditions.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
New Phytologist
pages
12 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:40433795
ISSN
1469-8137
DOI
10.1111/nph.70235
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2025 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2025 New Phytologist Foundation.
id
c8c48bdd-7ae7-4bee-9992-cf5d0a35b62d
date added to LUP
2025-06-01 18:39:00
date last changed
2025-06-03 09:08:35
@article{c8c48bdd-7ae7-4bee-9992-cf5d0a35b62d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Environmental changes and their effects are among the most pressing topics of today's ecological research. Shrublands, although widespread across the globe, remain understudied in this respect. We conducted a global meta-analysis of 81 shrubland sites subjected to experimental warming, shifts in precipitation (e.g. increased precipitation and drought), and nitrogen addition to quantify seven types of vegetation responses, including density and cover, species diversity, shrub proportion, and ecosystem functions. Our results indicated that the magnitude of responses varied depending on the vegetation metrics and treatment conditions. Specifically, aboveground biomass (AGB) was most sensitive to warming, increased precipitation, and nitrogen addition, while density was most responsive to drought treatment. Short-term treatments (1-5 yr) generally elicited stronger responses than long-term ones (&gt; 5 yr), particularly under drought. High sensitivity to changes in climate and nitrogen addition was observed at extremely arid sites (aridity index &lt; 0.2), and water availability strongly mediated sensitivity variation. Surprisingly, many vegetation metrics revealed no association between sensitivity variability and site water availability. Our research offers a global perspective on shrubland vegetation responses to environmental changes, highlighting the importance of water availability in sustaining shrubland biodiversity and functioning under future conditions.</p>}},
  author       = {{Liu, Daijun and Zhang, Chao and Ogaya, Romà and Acil, Nezha and Pugh, Thomas A M and Domene, Xavier and Zhang, Xiwen and Fang, Yunting and Yang, Xiaohong and Essl, Franz and Dullinger, Stefan and Peñuelas, Josep}},
  issn         = {{1469-8137}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{New Phytologist}},
  title        = {{World-wide impacts of climate change and nitrogen deposition on vegetation structure, composition, and functioning of shrublands}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nph.70235}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/nph.70235}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}