Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

Fernando T. Maestre; José L. Quero; Nicholas J. Gotelli; Adrián Escudero; Victoria Ochoa; Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo; Miguel García-Gómez; Matthew A. Bowker; Santiago Soliveres; Cristina Escolar; Pablo García-Palacios; Miguel Berdugo; Enrique Valencia; Beatriz Gozalo; Antonio Gallardo; Lorgio Aguilera; Tulio Arredondo; Julio Blones; Bertrand Boeken; Donaldo Bran; Abel A. Conceição; Omar Cabrera; Mohamed Chaieb; Mchich Derak; David J. Eldridge; Carlos I. Espinosa; Adriana Florentino; Juan Gaitán; M. Gabriel Gatica; Wahida Ghiloufi; Susana Gómez-González; Julio R. Gutiérrez; Rosa M. Hernández; Xuewen Huang; Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald; Mohammad Jankju; Maria Miriti; Jorge Monerris; Rebecca L. Mau; Ernesto Morici; Kamal Naseri; Abelardo Ospina; Vicente Polo; Aníbal Prina; Eduardo Pucheta; David A. Ramírez-Collantes; Roberto Romão; Matthew Tighe; Cristian Torres-Díaz; James Val

doi:10.1126/science.1215442

Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

Fernando T. Maestre^*, José L. Quero, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Adrián Escudero, Victoria Ochoa, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Miguel García-Gómez, Matthew A. Bowker, Santiago Soliveres, Cristina Escolar, Pablo García-Palacios, Miguel Berdugo, Enrique Valencia, Beatriz Gozalo, Antonio Gallardo, Lorgio Aguilera, Tulio Arredondo, Julio Blones, Bertrand Boeken, Donaldo BranAbel A. Conceição, Omar Cabrera, Mohamed Chaieb, Mchich Derak, David J. Eldridge, Carlos I. Espinosa, Adriana Florentino, Juan Gaitán, M. Gabriel Gatica, Wahida Ghiloufi, Susana Gómez-González, Julio R. Gutiérrez, Rosa M. Hernández, Xuewen Huang, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Mohammad Jankju, Maria Miriti, Jorge Monerris, Rebecca L. Mau, Ernesto Morici, Kamal Naseri, Abelardo Ospina, Vicente Polo, Aníbal Prina, Eduardo Pucheta, David A. Ramírez-Collantes, Roberto Romão, Matthew Tighe, Cristian Torres-Díaz, James Val

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environmental Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1116 Scopus citations

Abstract

Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on 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. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	214-218
Number of pages	5
Journal	SCIENCE
Volume	335
Issue number	6065
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215442
State	Published - Jan 13 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Maestre, F. T., Quero, J. L., Gotelli, N. J., Escudero, A., Ochoa, V., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., García-Gómez, M., Bowker, M. A., Soliveres, S., Escolar, C., García-Palacios, P., Berdugo, M., Valencia, E., Gozalo, B., Gallardo, A., Aguilera, L., Arredondo, T., Blones, J., Boeken, B., ... Val, J. (2012). Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands. SCIENCE, 335(6065), 214-218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215442

@article{12fc3e5058094588bbf59d865749ddc9,

title = "Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands",

abstract = "Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on 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. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.",

author = "Maestre, {Fernando T.} and Quero, {Jos{\'e} L.} and Gotelli, {Nicholas J.} and Adri{\'a}n Escudero and Victoria Ochoa and Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo and Miguel Garc{\'i}a-G{\'o}mez and Bowker, {Matthew A.} and Santiago Soliveres and Cristina Escolar and Pablo Garc{\'i}a-Palacios and Miguel Berdugo and Enrique Valencia and Beatriz Gozalo and Antonio Gallardo and Lorgio Aguilera and Tulio Arredondo and Julio Blones and Bertrand Boeken and Donaldo Bran and Concei{\c c}{\~a}o, {Abel A.} and Omar Cabrera and Mohamed Chaieb and Mchich Derak and Eldridge, {David J.} and Espinosa, {Carlos I.} and Adriana Florentino and Juan Gait{\'a}n and {Gabriel Gatica}, M. and Wahida Ghiloufi and Susana G{\'o}mez-Gonz{\'a}lez and Guti{\'e}rrez, {Julio R.} and Hern{\'a}ndez, {Rosa M.} and Xuewen Huang and Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald and Mohammad Jankju and Maria Miriti and Jorge Monerris and Mau, {Rebecca L.} and Ernesto Morici and Kamal Naseri and Abelardo Ospina and Vicente Polo and An{\'i}bal Prina and Eduardo Pucheta and Ram{\'i}rez-Collantes, {David A.} and Roberto Rom{\~a}o and Matthew Tighe and Cristian Torres-D{\'i}az and James Val",

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language = "English (US)",

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Maestre, FT, Quero, JL, Gotelli, NJ, Escudero, A, Ochoa, V, Delgado-Baquerizo, M, García-Gómez, M, Bowker, MA, Soliveres, S, Escolar, C, García-Palacios, P, Berdugo, M, Valencia, E, Gozalo, B, Gallardo, A, Aguilera, L, Arredondo, T, Blones, J, Boeken, B, Bran, D, Conceição, AA, Cabrera, O, Chaieb, M, Derak, M, Eldridge, DJ, Espinosa, CI, Florentino, A, Gaitán, J, Gabriel Gatica, M, Ghiloufi, W, Gómez-González, S, Gutiérrez, JR, Hernández, RM, Huang, X, Huber-Sannwald, E, Jankju, M, Miriti, M, Monerris, J, Mau, RL, Morici, E, Naseri, K, Ospina, A, Polo, V, Prina, A, Pucheta, E, Ramírez-Collantes, DA, Romão, R, Tighe, M, Torres-Díaz, C & Val, J 2012, 'Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands', SCIENCE, vol. 335, no. 6065, pp. 214-218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215442

TY - JOUR

T1 - Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

AU - Maestre, Fernando T.

AU - Quero, José L.

AU - Gotelli, Nicholas J.

AU - Escudero, Adrián

AU - Ochoa, Victoria

AU - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel

AU - García-Gómez, Miguel

AU - Bowker, Matthew A.

AU - Soliveres, Santiago

AU - Escolar, Cristina

AU - García-Palacios, Pablo

AU - Berdugo, Miguel

AU - Valencia, Enrique

AU - Gozalo, Beatriz

AU - Gallardo, Antonio

AU - Aguilera, Lorgio

AU - Arredondo, Tulio

AU - Blones, Julio

AU - Boeken, Bertrand

AU - Bran, Donaldo

AU - Conceição, Abel A.

AU - Cabrera, Omar

AU - Chaieb, Mohamed

AU - Derak, Mchich

AU - Eldridge, David J.

AU - Espinosa, Carlos I.

AU - Florentino, Adriana

AU - Gaitán, Juan

AU - Gabriel Gatica, M.

AU - Ghiloufi, Wahida

AU - Gómez-González, Susana

AU - Gutiérrez, Julio R.

AU - Hernández, Rosa M.

AU - Huang, Xuewen

AU - Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth

AU - Jankju, Mohammad

AU - Miriti, Maria

AU - Monerris, Jorge

AU - Mau, Rebecca L.

AU - Morici, Ernesto

AU - Naseri, Kamal

AU - Ospina, Abelardo

AU - Polo, Vicente

AU - Prina, Aníbal

AU - Pucheta, Eduardo

AU - Ramírez-Collantes, David A.

AU - Romão, Roberto

AU - Tighe, Matthew

AU - Torres-Díaz, Cristian

AU - Val, James

PY - 2012/1/13

Y1 - 2012/1/13

N2 - Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on 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. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

AB - Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on 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. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862907659&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/science.1215442

DO - 10.1126/science.1215442

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84862907659

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 335

SP - 214

EP - 218

JO - SCIENCE

JF - SCIENCE

IS - 6065

ER -

Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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