Miguel Berdugo

TL;DR: The findings provide empirical evidence that any loss in microbial diversity will likely reduce multifunctionality, negatively impacting the provision of services such as climate regulation, soil fertility and food and fibre production by terrestrial ecosystems.

TL;DR: A global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth’s land surface and support over 38% of the human population, suggests that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in dryland.

TL;DR: 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, suggesting the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems could be negatively affected.

TL;DR: Investigation of how 20 structural and functional ecosystem attributes respond to aridity in global drylands found evidence for a series of abrupt ecological events occurring sequentially in three phases, culminating with a shift to low-cover ecosystems that are nutrient- and species-poor at high aridity values.

TL;DR: This synthesis highlights the importance of biotic attributes (e.g. species richness) in maintaining fundamental ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, illustrates how N deposition and grazing pressure are impacting ecosystem functioning in drylands worldwide, and highlights the role of the traits of woody species as drivers of their expansion in former grasslands.