Drought-induced Changes in Dryland Soil Biogeochemical Cycles

Abstract:

Approximately 41% of Earth´s terrestrial surface consists of drylands and they are an important biome on all continents. Although dryland biota would be expected to be drought adapted, they can be surprisingly vulnerable to extended dry periods with subsequent consequences for biogeochemical cycles. Biological soil crusts, constituting up to 70% of the living cover in these regions, are important in these cycles. They fix both N and C, providing a significant percentage of regional and global inputs. However, extended drought reduces both types of inputs, as biocrusts are only metabolically active when wet, yet losses continue even when soils are dry. In addition, extended droughts can result in their mortality. The amount of net soil C exchange of biocrusted soils is controversial, but in SE Utah, soil C uptake only occurred when only when soils were wet. As soils are infrequently wet, annual balances were negative during the 2 year study and with future extended droughts or increased temperatures that reduce soil moisture, these losses will become even greater. As with C, N fixation also requires biocrusts be wet and thus inputs decline with extended drought or higher temperatures that both reduce input and result in lichen and cyanobacterial mortality. And similarly, N losses continue even when soils are dry. Loss of biocrust mosses can profoundly alter N cycles. Desert plants are also affected by drought: in plots where experimental drought was imposed, plants had lower photosynthetic rates and higher leaf C:N, which will likely affect productivity and decomposition rates and thus have further impacts on soil biogeochemical cycles.