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Journal article
Long-term aridity shapes grassland drought resistance and modulates the roles of plant diversity and functional composition
The Journal of ecology, Vol.114(7), e70384
2026
Abstract
Understanding the drivers of plant community stability is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses to extreme drought events. In grasslands, drought resistance supports the maintenance of key functions such as above-ground primary productivity, making the identification of resistance drivers essential to guide management under climate change. Proposed factors contributing to grassland stability include multiple diversity facets, functional traits and long-term climate, but most assessments focus on temporal invariability under historical disturbance regimes, leaving mechanisms of extreme drought resistance and their variation across climatic contexts relatively underexplored.
Here, we analysed data from 54 grassland sites of the International Drought Experiment to examine the resistance of above-ground net primary productivity to a short-term (i.e. 1 year) extreme drought. We investigated the relative importance and joint influence of functional composition (i.e. community-weighted means of leaf and root traits), plant diversity facets (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic) and climate (aridity and rainfall variability) on drought resistance. We used structural equation models to disentangle direct, indirect, and moderating pathways linking these drivers to drought resistance.
Long-term aridity appeared as one of the most important drivers of grassland resistance to drought, with more arid sites showing lower resistance. Moreover, aridity impacted resistance through indirect effects by shaping functional composition and plant diversity, and by moderating the influence of plant diversity and functional composition.
Functional composition related to dehydration avoidance and dehydration tolerance was also positively associated with resistance, while diversity had a weaker relationship with resistance, mostly through functional and phylogenetic facets. Interannual rainfall variability also influenced resistance, with different effects in more arid versus humid and less arid sites.
Synthesis. Widely studied stability drivers such as plant diversity and functional composition have only partial explanatory power for short-term drought resistance of above-ground productivity in grasslands at a global scale. The abiotic context, particularly long-term aridity, is crucial for understanding ecosystem responses to rainfall variation and can improve predictive models for advancing the study of ecosystem resistance to drought. Along with management practices that target high species diversity or specific traits, restoration and conservation practices should support vulnerable sites experiencing high aridity
Details
- Title
- Long-term aridity shapes grassland drought resistance and modulates the roles of plant diversity and functional composition
- Authors/Creators
- Diana Bertuol-Garcia - University of VictoriaLiesbeth van den Brink - University of TübingenMichele Carbognani - University of ParmaManjunatha H. Chandregowda - Western Sydney UniversityAmber C. Churchill - Binghamton UniversityDaniela F. Cusack - Colorado State UniversityMaren Dubbert - Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape ResearchJeffrey S. Dukes - Carnegie Institution for ScienceMary Ellyn DuPre - University of MontanaNico Eisenhauer - Leipzig University of Applied SciencesT’ai Gladys Whittingham Forte - University of ParmaYann Hautier - Utrecht UniversityAndrew Hector - University of OxfordHugh A.L. Henry - Western UniversityAnke Jentsch - University of BayreuthSally Koerner - University of North Carolina at GreensboroAngelika Kübert - Helsinki Institute for Information TechnologyEmma Ladouceur - University of Prince Edward IslandDaniel C. Laughlin - University of WyomingMaría Grisel Longo - Universidad de la República de UruguayAlejandro Loydi - Universidad Nacional del SurAkira S. Mori - The University of TokyoSeth M. Munson - United States Geological SurveyUffe N. Nielsen - Western Sydney UniversityTimothy J. Ohlert - University of New MexicoGastón R. Oñatibia - Universidad de Buenos AiresRafael Otfinowski - University of WinnipegMeelis Pärtel - University of TartuGustavo Brant Paterno - University of GöttingenJosep Peñuelas - Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaPablo L. Peri - National University of Austral PatagoniaAlessandro Petraglia - University of ParmaJuan Manuel Piñeiro - Universidade Federal da ParaíbaSally A. Power - Western Sydney UniversityYolanda Pueyo - Instituto Pirenaico de EcologíaWilliam E. Rogers - Texas A&M UniversityBraulio A. Santos - Universidade Federal da ParaíbaMelinda D. Smith - Colorado State UniversityAndreas Stampfli - University of BernRachel J. Standish - Murdoch UniversityMichelle Tedder - University of KwaZulu NatalGeorge R. Wheeler - University of Nebraska–LincolnJennifer Williams - University of British ColumbiaMichaela Zeiter - Bern University of Applied SciencesNancy Shackelford - University of Victoria
- Publication Details
- The Journal of ecology, Vol.114(7), e70384
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.; HOBOKEN
- Number of pages
- 19
- Grant note
- Purdue University (100006377) DEB #2332006 / National Science Foundation (100000001) FZT 118 / Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (501100001659) University of Winnipeg (100009367) 149862 / Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (501100001711) DEB #2340606 / National Science Foundation (100000001) DEB #1655499 / National Science Foundation (100000001) College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A and M University (100019191) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (501100000038) John Fell Fund, University of Oxford (501100004789)
- Identifiers
- 991005904078907891
- Copyright
- © 2026 The Author(s).
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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