Journal
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
Volume 89, Issue -, Pages 57-66Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.10.005
Keywords
Alpha grass; Global change; Macrochloa tenacissima (=Stipa tenacissima); Soil aggregation; Soil carbon fractionation; Southeast Spain
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Funding
- research projects PREVEA [CGL2007-63258/BOS]
- Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
- European Regional Development Fund [RNM-3614, RNM 04023]
- Autonomous Government of Andalusia, Spain
- Juan de la Cierva contract
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The typical patchy structure of dryland vegetation is a result of soil-plant feedbacks occurring in water-limited areas. The resilience of dryland ecosystems depends largely on the persistence of fertility islands associated with vegetated patches, which determines the efficiency of the vegetation regarding recolonising the gaps that result from disturbances. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms underlying soil-plant interactions throughout the process of the growth and senescence of alpha grass (Macrochloa tenacissima) and the subsequent disintegration of islands of fertility and microtopography formed during the process at two nearby alpha grass communities exhibiting different degrees of development. The life cycle of alpha grass and the rise and disintegration of the underlying microrelief were accompanied by feedback changes in the content of soil C fractions presenting different times of cycling and incorporation to the soil, the collection of particles from splash erosion, redistribution phenomena related to particles of different sizes, and erosion of the most easily erodible materials. Despite their ecological and geographical proximity, the study sites differ with respect to the persistence, after plant death, of fertility islands, which almost disappear in one case, while they remain in the other, constituting a resource for the growth of new plants and resulting in greater development and resilience in the community. A subtle erodibility threshold emerges as a cause of the considerable differences in vegetation between the two sites. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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