Delgado-Baquerizo, M; Maestre, FT; Gallardol, A; Bowker, MA; Wallenstein, MD; Luis Quero, J; Ochoa, V; Gozalo, B; Garcia-Gomez, M; Soliveres, S; Garcia-Palacios, P; Berdugo, M; Valencia, E; Escolar, C; Arredondo, T; Barraza-Zepeda, C; Bran, D; Antonio Carreiral, J; Chaieb, M; Conceicao, AA; Derak, M; Eldridge, DJ; Escudero, A; Espinosa, CI; Gaitan, J; Gatica, MG; Gomez-Gonzalez, S; Guzman, E; Gutierrez, JR; Florentino, A; Hepper, E; Hernandez, RM; Huber-Sannwald, E; Jankju, M; Liu, J; Mau, RL; Miriti, M; Monerris, J; Naseri, K; Noumi, Z; Polo, V; Prina, A; Pucheta, E; Ramirez, E; Ramirez-Collantes, DA; Romao, R; Tighe, M; Torres, D; Torres-Diaz, C; Ungar, ED; Val, J; Wamiti, W; Wang, D; Zaady, Eli
The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems(1). It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes(1-5). Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability(6-8). The increase in aridity predicted for the twenty-first century in many drylands worldwide(9-11) may therefore threaten the balance between these cycles, differentially affecting the availability of essential nutrients(12-14). Here we evaluate how aridity affects the balance between C, N and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica. We find a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N, but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. Aridity is negatively related to plant cover, which may favour the dominance of physical processes such as rock weathering, a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes that provide more C and N, such as litter decomposition(12-14). Our findings suggest that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change will probably reduce the concentrations of N and C in global drylands, but increase that of P. These changes would uncouple the C, N and P cycles in drylands and could negatively affect the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems.