engleski

Urgent need for a common metric to make precipitation manipulation experiments comparable

If we want to understand why plant responses to altered precipitation differ among ecosystems, comparisons of effects of precipitation manipulations must use a more ecologically meaningful metric to describe the actual treatment than merely the change in precipitation. A common denominator that properly characterizes the actual treatment should reflect the drought stress as experienced by the biota. Otherwise, observed differences in ecosystem responses to altered precipitation may reflect differences not only in ecosystem properties, but also in the actual treatment. In order to test how different ecosystems respond to altered precipitation, data from 62 experimental sites were gathered via networks such as Carbo-Extreme, CLIMMANI and INTERFACE. Available data currently dictate that cross-site analyses focus on precipitation differences, but once the necessary site-level data are available, synthesis studies can further improve our mechanistic understanding of ecosystem responses to changes in water availability.

drought stress; plant available water; precipitation manipulation experiments; soil moisture; synthesis

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