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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
general
Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands
Nature, Volume 502, No. 7473, Year 2013
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Description
The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes. Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability. The increase in aridity predicted for the twenty-first century in many drylands worldwide may therefore threaten the balance between these cycles, differentially affecting the availability of essential nutrients. Here we evaluate how aridity affects the balance between C, N and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica. We find a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N, but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. Aridity is negatively related to plant cover, which may favour the dominance of physical processes such as rock weathering, a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes that provide more C and N, such as litter decomposition. Our findings suggest that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change will probably reduce the concentrations of N and C in global drylands, but increase that of P. These changes would uncouple the C, N and P cycles in drylands and could negatively affect the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
Authors & Co-Authors
Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
Unknown Affiliation
Maestre, Fernando T.
Unknown Affiliation
Gallardo, Antonio
Unknown Affiliation
Bowker, Matthew A.
Unknown Affiliation
Wallenstein, Matthew David
Unknown Affiliation
Quero, José Luis
Unknown Affiliation
Ochoa, Victoria Elena Meza
Unknown Affiliation
Gozalo, Beatriz
Unknown Affiliation
García-Gómez, Miguel
Unknown Affiliation
Soliveres, Santiago
Unknown Affiliation
García-Palacios, Pablo
Unknown Affiliation
Berdugo, Miguel
Unknown Affiliation
Valencia, Enrique
Unknown Affiliation
Escolar, Cristina
Unknown Affiliation
Arredondo Moreno, José Tulio
Unknown Affiliation
Barraza-Zepeda, Claudia
Unknown Affiliation
Bran, Donaldo Eduardo
Unknown Affiliation
Carreira, José A.
Unknown Affiliation
Chaïeb, Mohamed
Unknown Affiliation
Conceição, Abel A.
Unknown Affiliation
Derak, Mchich
Unknown Affiliation
Eldridge, David J.
Unknown Affiliation
Escudero, Adrián
Unknown Affiliation
Espinosa Iñiguez, Carlos Iván
Unknown Affiliation
Gaitán, Juan José
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Gabriel Gatica, M.
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Gómez-González, Susana
Unknown Affiliation
Guzman, Elizabeth
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Gutiérrez, Julio R.
Unknown Affiliation
Florentino, Adriana
Unknown Affiliation
Hepper, Estela N.
Unknown Affiliation
Hernández, Rosa Mary
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Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth
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Jankju, Mohammad
Unknown Affiliation
Liu, Jushan
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Mau, Rebecca L.
Unknown Affiliation
Miriti, Maria
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Monerris, Jorge J.
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Naseri, Kamal
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Noumi, Zouhaier
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Polo, Vicente
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Prina, Aníbal Oscar
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Pucheta, Eduardo
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Ramírez, Elizabeth
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Ramirez, David A.
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Romão, Roberto L.
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Tighe, Matthew
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Torres, Duilio
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Torres-Díaz, Cristian
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D. Ungar, Eugene
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Val, James
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Wamiti, W.
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Wang, Deli
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Zaady, Eli
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Statistics
Citations: 704
Authors: 54
Affiliations: 29
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/nature12670
ISSN:
00280836
e-ISSN:
14764687
Research Areas
Environmental