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From desert to Mediterranean rangelands: will increasing drought and inter-annual rainfall variability affect herbaceous annual primary productivity? |
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| Authors: | Carly Golodets Marcelo Sternberg Jaime Kigel Bertrand Boeken Zalmen Henkin No’am G Seligman Eugene David Ungar |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel 2. Institute for Plant Sciences and Genetics, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot Campus, Rehovot, 76100, Israel 3. Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Sede Boqer, 84990, Israel 4. Agricultural Research Organization, Newe Ya’ar Research Center, Ramat Yishai, 30095, Israel 5. Northern Research and Development, Galilee Technology Center, Kiryat Shemona, 11016, Israel 6. Department of Agronomy and Natural Resources, Institute for Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel |
| Abstract: | Climate change is predicted to alter the rainfall regime in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin: total annual rainfall will decrease, while seasonal and inter-annual variation in rainfall will increase. Such changes in the rainfall regime could potentially lead to large-scale changes in aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) in the region. We conducted a data-driven evaluation of herbaceous ANPP along an entire regional rainfall gradient, from desert (90 mm MAR Mean Annual Rainfall]) to Mesic-Mediterranean (780 mm MAR) ecosystems, using the largest database ever collated for herbaceous ANPP in Israel, with the aim of predicting consequences of climate change for rangeland productivity. This research revealed that herbaceous ANPP increases with increasing rainfall along the gradient, but strong dependence on rainfall was only apparent within dry sites. Rain Use Efficiency peaks at mid-gradient in Mediterranean sites without woody vegetation (560 and 610 mm MAR). Inter-annual coefficients of variation in rainfall and herbaceous ANPP decrease along the rainfall gradient up to ca. 500 mm MAR. Climate change is more likely to affect herbaceous ANPP of rangelands in the arid end of the rainfall gradient, requiring adaptation of rangeland management, while ANPP of rangelands in more mesic ecosystems is less responsive to variation in rainfall. We conclude that herbaceous ANPP in most Mediterranean rangelands is less vulnerable to climate change than generally predicted. |
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