Plants Reverse Warming Effect on Ecosystem Water Balance

Models predict that global warming may increase aridity in water-limited ecosystems by accelerating evapotranspiration. We show that interactions between warming and the dominant biota in a grassland ecosystem produced the reverse effect. In a 2-year field experiment, simulated warming increased spr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2003-08, Vol.100 (17), p.9892-9893
Main Authors: Zavaleta, Erika S., Thomas, Brian D., Chiariello, Nona R., Asner, Gregory P., Shaw, M. Rebecca, Field, Christopher B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological Sciences
Carbon Dioxide
Ecosystem
Ecosystem models
Ecosystems
Flowers & plants
Global warming
Grasses
Greenhouse Effect
Marine ecosystems
Phenology
Plants
Plants - metabolism
Soil - analysis
Soil heating
Soil water
Temperature
Vegetation canopies
Water
Water - analysis
Water - metabolism
Water balance
Water Supply
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Summary:Models predict that global warming may increase aridity in water-limited ecosystems by accelerating evapotranspiration. We show that interactions between warming and the dominant biota in a grassland ecosystem produced the reverse effect. In a 2-year field experiment, simulated warming increased spring soil moisture by 5-10% under both ambient and elevated CO2. Warming also accelerated the decline of canopy greenness (normalized difference vegetation index) each spring by 11-17% by inducing earlier plant senescence. Lower transpirational water losses resulting from this earlier senescence provide a mechanism for the unexpected rise in soil moisture. Our findings illustrate the potential for organism-environment interactions to modify the direction as well as the magnitude of global change effects on ecosystem functioning.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1732012100