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Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world

Nicholas Gross·Fernando T. Maestre·Pierre Liancourt·Miguel Berdugo·Raphael Martin·Beatriz Gozalo·Victoria Ochoa·Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo·Vincent Maire·Hugo Saiz·Santiago Soliveres·Enrique Valencia·David J. Eldridge·Emilio Guirado·Franck Jabot·Sergio Asensio·Juan J. Gaitan·Miguel García-Gómez·Paloma Martinez·Jaime Martinez-Valderrama·Betty J. Mendoza·Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez·David S. Pescador·Cesar Plaza·Ivan Santaolaria Pijuan·Mehdi Abedi·Rodrigo J. Ahumada·Fateh Amghar·Antonio I. Arroyo·Khadijeh Bahalkeh·Lydia Bailey·Farah Ben Salem·Niels Blaum·Bazartseren Boldgiv·Matthew A. Bowker·Cristina Branquinho·Liesbeth van den Brink·Chongfeng Bu·Rafaella Canessa·Andrea del P. Castillo-Monroy·Helena Castro·Patricio Castro-Quezada·Roukaya Chibani·Abel Augusto Conceicao·Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi·Yvonne C. Davila·Balazs Deak·David A. Donoso·Jorge Duran·Carlos I. Espinosa·Alex Fajardo·Mohammad Farzam·Daniela Ferrante·Jorgelina Franzese·Lauchlan H. Fraser·Sofia Laura Gonzalez·Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan·Rosa Mary Hernandez-Hernandez·Norbert Holzel·Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald·Oswaldo Jadan·Florian Jeltsch·Anke Jentsch·Mengchen Ju·Kudzai F. Kaseke·Liana Kindermann·Peter C. le Roux·Anja Linstadter·Michelle A. Louw·Mancha Mabaso·Gillian Maggs-Kolling·Thulani P. Makhalanyane·Oumarou Malam Issa·Antonio J. Manzaneda·Eugene Marais·Pierre Margerie·Frederic Mendes Hughes·Joao Vitor S. Messeder·Juan P. Mora·Gerardo Moreno·Seth M. Munson·Alice Nunes·Gabriel Oliva·Gaston R. Onatibia·Guadalupe Peter·Yolanda Pueyo·R. Emiliano Quiroga·Elizabeth Ramirez-Iglesias·Sasha C. Reed·Pedro J. Rey·Víctor M. Reyes Gómez·Alexandra Rodriguez·Victor Rolo·Juan G. Rubalcaba·Jan C. Ruppert·Osvaldo E. Sala·Ayman Salah·Phokgedi Julius Sebei·Ilan Stavi·Colton R. A. Stephens
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Abstract

Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity 1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes 2 , 3 . However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change 4 , 5 , 6 —shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity 1 , 7 . Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds to aridity and grazing pressure within global drylands. Our analysis involved 133,769 trait measurements spanning 1,347 observations of 301 perennial plant species surveyed across 326 plots from 6 continents. Crossing an aridity threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones) led to an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers, and moved toward lower aridity levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait diversity occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. Our work indicates that drylands act as a global reservoir of plant phenotypic diversity and challenge the pervasive view that harsh environmental conditions reduce plant trait diversity 8 , 9 , 10 . They also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification.

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Nicholas Gross, Fernando T. Maestre, Pierre Liancourt, Miguel Berdugo, Raphael Martin, Beatriz Gozalo, Victoria Ochoa, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Vincent Maire, Hugo Saiz, Santiago Soliveres, Enrique Valencia, David J. Eldridge, Emilio Guirado, Franck Jabot, Sergio Asensio, Juan J. Gaitan, Miguel García-Gómez, Paloma Martinez, Jaime Martinez-Valderrama, Betty J. Mendoza, Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez, David S. Pescador, Cesar Plaza, Ivan Santaolaria Pijuan, Mehdi Abedi, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Antonio I. Arroyo, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Lydia Bailey, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Cristina Branquinho, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea del P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Roukaya Chibani, Abel Augusto Conceicao, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Yvonne C. Davila, Balazs Deak, David A. Donoso, Jorge Duran, Carlos I. Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Sofia Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan, Rosa Mary Hernandez-Hernandez, Norbert Holzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadan, Florian Jeltsch, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Liana Kindermann, Peter C. le Roux, Anja Linstadter, Michelle A. Louw, Mancha Mabaso, Gillian Maggs-Kolling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Eugene Marais, Pierre Margerie, Frederic Mendes Hughes, Joao Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gaston R. Onatibia, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, R. Emiliano Quiroga, Elizabeth Ramirez-Iglesias, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Víctor M. Reyes Gómez, Alexandra Rodriguez, Victor Rolo, Juan G. Rubalcaba, Jan C. Ruppert, Osvaldo E. Sala, Ayman Salah, Phokgedi Julius Sebei, Ilan Stavi, Colton R. A. Stephens. 2024-08-07. Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07731-3

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