Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world
Nicolas Gross
(1)
,
Fernando Maestre
(2)
,
Pierre Liancourt
(3)
,
Miguel Berdugo
(4)
,
Raphaël Martin
(1)
,
Beatriz Gozalo
(5)
,
Victoria Ochoa
(5)
,
Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
(6)
,
Vincent Maire
(7)
,
Hugo Saiz
(8)
,
Santiago Soliveres
(5)
,
Enrique Valencia
(4)
,
David Eldridge
(9)
,
Emilio Guirado
,
Franck Jabot
(1)
,
Sergio Asensio
,
Juan Gaitán
,
Miguel García-Gómez
,
Paloma Martínez
,
Jaime Martínez-Valderrama
,
Betty Mendoza
,
Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez
,
David Pescador
,
César Plaza
,
Ivan Santaolaria Pijuan
,
Mehdi Abedi
,
Rodrigo Ahumada
,
Fateh Amghar
,
Antonio Arroyo
,
Khadijeh Bahalkeh
,
Lydia Bailey
,
Farah Ben Salem
,
Niels Blaum
,
Bazartseren Boldgiv
,
Matthew Bowker
,
Cristina Branquinho
,
Liesbeth van den Brink
,
Chongfeng Bu
,
Rafaella Canessa
,
Andrea del P. Castillo-Monroy
,
Helena Castro
,
Patricio Castro
,
Roukaya Chibani
,
Abel Augusto Conceição
,
Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi
,
Yvonne Davila
,
Balázs Deák
,
David Donoso
,
Jorge Durán
,
Carlos Espinosa
,
Alex Fajardo
,
Mohammad Farzam
,
Daniela Ferrante
,
Jorgelina Franzese
,
Lauchlan Fraser
,
Sofía Gonzalez
,
Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan
,
Rosa Mary Hernández-Hernández
,
Norbert Hölzel
,
Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald
,
Oswaldo Jadan
,
Florian Jeltsch
,
Anke Jentsch
,
Mengchen Ju
,
Kudzai Kaseke
,
Liana Kindermann
,
Peter Le Roux
,
Anja Linstädter
,
Michelle Louw
,
Mancha Mabaso
,
Gillian Maggs-Kölling
,
Thulani Makhalanyane
,
Oumarou Malam Issa
,
Antonio Manzaneda
,
Eugene Marais
,
Pierre Margerie
,
Frederic Mendes Hughes
,
João Vitor S. Messeder
,
Juan Mora
,
Gerardo Moreno
,
Seth Munson
,
Alice Nunes
,
Gabriel Oliva
,
Gaston Oñatibia
,
Guadalupe Peter
,
Yolanda Pueyo
,
R. Emiliano Quiroga
,
Elizabeth Ramírez-Iglesias
,
Sasha Reed
,
Pedro Rey
,
Víctor Reyes Gómez
,
Alexandra Rodríguez
,
Victor Rolo
,
Juan Rubalcaba
,
Jan Ruppert
,
Osvaldo Sala
,
Ayman Salah
,
Phokgedi Julius Sebei
,
Ilan Stavi
,
Colton Stephens
,
Alberto Teixido
,
Andrew Thomas
,
Heather Throop
,
Katja Tielbörger
,
Samantha Travers
,
Sainbileg Undrakhbold
,
James Val
,
Orsolya Valkó
,
Frederike Velbert
,
Wanyoike Wamiti
,
Lixin Wang
,
Deli Wang
,
Glenda Wardle
,
Peter Wolff
,
Laura Yahdjian
,
Reza Yari
,
Eli Zaady
,
Juan Manuel Zeberio
,
Yuanling Zhang
,
Xiaobing Zhou
,
Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet
1
UREP -
Unité Mixte de Recherche sur l'Ecosystème Prairial - UMR
2 KAUST - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology [Saudi Arabia]
3 Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History
4 UCM - Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid [Madrid]
5 Universidad de Alicante
6 IRNAS - Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla
7 UQTR - Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
8 Universidad de Zaragoza = University of Zaragoza [Saragossa University] = Université de Saragosse
9 UNSW - University of New South Wales [Sydney]
2 KAUST - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology [Saudi Arabia]
3 Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History
4 UCM - Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid [Madrid]
5 Universidad de Alicante
6 IRNAS - Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla
7 UQTR - Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
8 Universidad de Zaragoza = University of Zaragoza [Saragossa University] = Université de Saragosse
9 UNSW - University of New South Wales [Sydney]
Nicolas Gross
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Fernando Maestre
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Pierre Liancourt
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Miguel Berdugo
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Raphaël Martin
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Victoria Ochoa
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Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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Vincent Maire
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Santiago Soliveres
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David Eldridge
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Emilio Guirado
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Sergio Asensio
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Juan Gaitán
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Miguel García-Gómez
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Paloma Martínez
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Jaime Martínez-Valderrama
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Betty Mendoza
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Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez
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David Pescador
- Function : Author
César Plaza
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Ivan Santaolaria Pijuan
- Function : Author
Mehdi Abedi
- Function : Author
Rodrigo Ahumada
- Function : Author
Fateh Amghar
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Antonio Arroyo
- Function : Author
Khadijeh Bahalkeh
- Function : Author
Lydia Bailey
- Function : Author
Farah Ben Salem
- Function : Author
Niels Blaum
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Bazartseren Boldgiv
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Matthew Bowker
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Cristina Branquinho
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Liesbeth van den Brink
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Chongfeng Bu
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Rafaella Canessa
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Andrea del P. Castillo-Monroy
- Function : Author
Helena Castro
- Function : Author
Patricio Castro
- Function : Author
Roukaya Chibani
- Function : Author
Abel Augusto Conceição
- Function : Author
Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi
- Function : Author
Yvonne Davila
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Balázs Deák
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David Donoso
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Jorge Durán
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Carlos Espinosa
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Alex Fajardo
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Mohammad Farzam
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Daniela Ferrante
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Jorgelina Franzese
- Function : Author
Lauchlan Fraser
- Function : Author
Sofía Gonzalez
- Function : Author
Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan
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Rosa Mary Hernández-Hernández
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Norbert Hölzel
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Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald
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Oswaldo Jadan
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Florian Jeltsch
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Anke Jentsch
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Mengchen Ju
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Kudzai Kaseke
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Liana Kindermann
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Peter Le Roux
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Anja Linstädter
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Michelle Louw
- Function : Author
Mancha Mabaso
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Gillian Maggs-Kölling
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Thulani Makhalanyane
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Oumarou Malam Issa
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Antonio Manzaneda
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Eugene Marais
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Pierre Margerie
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Frederic Mendes Hughes
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João Vitor S. Messeder
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Juan Mora
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Gerardo Moreno
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Seth Munson
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Alice Nunes
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Gabriel Oliva
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Gaston Oñatibia
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Guadalupe Peter
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Yolanda Pueyo
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R. Emiliano Quiroga
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Elizabeth Ramírez-Iglesias
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Sasha Reed
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Pedro Rey
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Víctor Reyes Gómez
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Alexandra Rodríguez
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Victor Rolo
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Juan Rubalcaba
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Jan Ruppert
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Osvaldo Sala
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Ayman Salah
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Phokgedi Julius Sebei
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Ilan Stavi
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Colton Stephens
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Alberto Teixido
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Andrew Thomas
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Heather Throop
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Katja Tielbörger
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Samantha Travers
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Sainbileg Undrakhbold
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James Val
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Orsolya Valkó
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Frederike Velbert
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Wanyoike Wamiti
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Lixin Wang
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Deli Wang
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Glenda Wardle
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Peter Wolff
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Laura Yahdjian
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Reza Yari
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Eli Zaady
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Juan Manuel Zeberio
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Yuanling Zhang
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Xiaobing Zhou
- Function : Author
Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet
- Function : Author
Abstract
Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3. However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change4,5,6—shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7. Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds to aridity and grazing pressure within global drylands. Our analysis involved 133,769 trait measurements spanning 1,347 observations of 301 perennial plant species surveyed across 326 plots from 6 continents. Crossing an aridity threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones) led to an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers, and moved toward lower aridity levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait diversity occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. Our work indicates that drylands act as a global reservoir of plant phenotypic diversity and challenge the pervasive view that harsh environmental conditions reduce plant trait diversity8,9,10. They also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification.