Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation
Plants can facilitate their local environment and create a two-phase spatial structure of vegetation and bare soil in drylands, which largely influences ecosystem functioning. Although an increasing number of studies have examined how global change drivers like aridity influence vegetation spatial s...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositorio: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/123558 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123558 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | 574.4 581.5 631.95 911.2 Associative protection Browsing and grazing Drylands Facilitation Grazing Plant size Resilience Spatial patterns Ecología (Biología) Botánica (Biología) Agricultura 2410.05 Ecología Humana 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 5102.11 Ganadería |
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Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland VegetationPichon, BenoîtKéfi, SoniaGounand, IsabelleGross, NicolasLe Bagousse‐Pinguet, YoannGuerber, JosquinEldridge, DavidValencia Gómez, EnriquePlaza, CésarMartínez‐Valderrama, JaimeSaiz, HugoOchoa, VictoriaGozalo, BeatrizGuirado, EmilioGarcía‐Gómez, MiguelGaitán, Juan J.Asensio, SergioMendoza, Betty JosefinaDonnet, SophieMaestre, Fernando T.574.4581.5631.95911.2Associative protectionBrowsing and grazingDrylandsFacilitationGrazingPlant sizeResilienceSpatial patternsEcología (Biología)Botánica (Biología)Agricultura2410.05 Ecología Humana2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica)5102.11 GanaderíaPlants can facilitate their local environment and create a two-phase spatial structure of vegetation and bare soil in drylands, which largely influences ecosystem functioning. Although an increasing number of studies have examined how global change drivers like aridity influence vegetation spatial structure in drylands (e.g., the patch size distribution), it remains unclear how grazing impacts differ from those of climatic gradients, how these effects vary with herbivore feeding habits, and which plant-level traits—such as size and life form—mediate these spatial responses. Here, we coupled spatial vegetation pattern analyses of ecosystem images with field data analyses of the size distribution and dominant life forms of plants from 326 plots sampled across 25 countries and six continents to explore the effects of herbivores on the spatial structure of dryland vegetation. The effects of herbivores on vegetation spatial structure were opposite to the effects of aridity. Specifically, vegetation in grazed areas was clustered into larger patches, with fewer small patches, which skewed the patch-size distribution towards larger patches. These effects differed between browsing and grazing herbivores. Grazing effects were partially explained by the fact that grazing reduced average plant size, increased shrub density, and promoted facilitation among species of contrasting sizes. Similar effects were also confirmed by using model simulations that accounted for positive plant interactions. By linking remotely sensed images, a global field survey, and a mathematical model, our study uncovers the species-level mechanisms by which herbivores shape ecosystem-level spatial patterns and provides insights into the consequence of herbivory pressure on the resilience of drylands.WileyUniversidad Complutense de Madrid20252025-07-0120252025-07-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123558reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1235582026-06-02T12:44:21Z |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| title |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| spellingShingle |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation Pichon, Benoît 574.4 581.5 631.95 911.2 Associative protection Browsing and grazing Drylands Facilitation Grazing Plant size Resilience Spatial patterns Ecología (Biología) Botánica (Biología) Agricultura 2410.05 Ecología Humana 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 5102.11 Ganadería |
| title_short |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| title_full |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| title_fullStr |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| title_sort |
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Pichon, Benoît Kéfi, Sonia Gounand, Isabelle Gross, Nicolas Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Yoann Guerber, Josquin Eldridge, David Valencia Gómez, Enrique Plaza, César Martínez‐Valderrama, Jaime Saiz, Hugo Ochoa, Victoria Gozalo, Beatriz Guirado, Emilio García‐Gómez, Miguel Gaitán, Juan J. Asensio, Sergio Mendoza, Betty Josefina Donnet, Sophie Maestre, Fernando T. |
| author |
Pichon, Benoît |
| author_facet |
Pichon, Benoît Kéfi, Sonia Gounand, Isabelle Gross, Nicolas Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Yoann Guerber, Josquin Eldridge, David Valencia Gómez, Enrique Plaza, César Martínez‐Valderrama, Jaime Saiz, Hugo Ochoa, Victoria Gozalo, Beatriz Guirado, Emilio García‐Gómez, Miguel Gaitán, Juan J. Asensio, Sergio Mendoza, Betty Josefina Donnet, Sophie Maestre, Fernando T. |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
Kéfi, Sonia Gounand, Isabelle Gross, Nicolas Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Yoann Guerber, Josquin Eldridge, David Valencia Gómez, Enrique Plaza, César Martínez‐Valderrama, Jaime Saiz, Hugo Ochoa, Victoria Gozalo, Beatriz Guirado, Emilio García‐Gómez, Miguel Gaitán, Juan J. Asensio, Sergio Mendoza, Betty Josefina Donnet, Sophie Maestre, Fernando T. |
| author2_role |
author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Universidad Complutense de Madrid |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
574.4 581.5 631.95 911.2 Associative protection Browsing and grazing Drylands Facilitation Grazing Plant size Resilience Spatial patterns Ecología (Biología) Botánica (Biología) Agricultura 2410.05 Ecología Humana 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 5102.11 Ganadería |
| topic |
574.4 581.5 631.95 911.2 Associative protection Browsing and grazing Drylands Facilitation Grazing Plant size Resilience Spatial patterns Ecología (Biología) Botánica (Biología) Agricultura 2410.05 Ecología Humana 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 5102.11 Ganadería |
| description |
Plants can facilitate their local environment and create a two-phase spatial structure of vegetation and bare soil in drylands, which largely influences ecosystem functioning. Although an increasing number of studies have examined how global change drivers like aridity influence vegetation spatial structure in drylands (e.g., the patch size distribution), it remains unclear how grazing impacts differ from those of climatic gradients, how these effects vary with herbivore feeding habits, and which plant-level traits—such as size and life form—mediate these spatial responses. Here, we coupled spatial vegetation pattern analyses of ecosystem images with field data analyses of the size distribution and dominant life forms of plants from 326 plots sampled across 25 countries and six continents to explore the effects of herbivores on the spatial structure of dryland vegetation. The effects of herbivores on vegetation spatial structure were opposite to the effects of aridity. Specifically, vegetation in grazed areas was clustered into larger patches, with fewer small patches, which skewed the patch-size distribution towards larger patches. These effects differed between browsing and grazing herbivores. Grazing effects were partially explained by the fact that grazing reduced average plant size, increased shrub density, and promoted facilitation among species of contrasting sizes. Similar effects were also confirmed by using model simulations that accounted for positive plant interactions. By linking remotely sensed images, a global field survey, and a mathematical model, our study uncovers the species-level mechanisms by which herbivores shape ecosystem-level spatial patterns and provides insights into the consequence of herbivory pressure on the resilience of drylands. |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2025 2025-07-01 2025 2025-07-01 |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 VoR http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 |
| dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| format |
article |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123558 |
| url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123558 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
Inglés eng |
| language_invalid_str_mv |
Inglés |
| language |
eng |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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open access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
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openAccess |
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application/pdf |
| dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Wiley |
| publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Wiley |
| dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Docta Complutense instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
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Docta Complutense |
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Docta Complutense |
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15,81155 |