Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
R. Allan, B. Soden (2008)
Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation ExtremesScience, 321
Jana Heisler-White, A. Knapp, E. Kelly (2008)
Increasing precipitation event size increases aboveground net primary productivity in a semi-arid grasslandOecologia, 158
J. Weltzin, M. Loik, S. Schwinning, David Williams, P. Fay, B. Haddad, J. Harte, T. Huxman, A. Knapp, G. Lin, W. Pockman, Rebecca Shaw, E. Small, Melinda Smith, Stanley Smith, D. Tissue, J. Zak (2003)
Assessing the Response of Terrestrial Ecosystems to Potential Changes in Precipitation, 53
Amy Miller, J. Schimel, T. Meixner, J. Sickman, J. Melack (2005)
Episodic rewetting enhances carbon and nitrogen release from chaparral soilsSoil Biology & Biochemistry, 37
Sala Sala, Lauenroth Lauenroth (1982)
Small rain eventsOecologia, 53
P. Fay, J. Carlisle, A. Knapp, J. Blair, S. Collins (2003)
Productivity responses to altered rainfall patterns in a C4-dominated grasslandOecologia, 137
T. Karl, K. Trenberth (2003)
Modern Global Climate ChangeScience, 302
Briggs Briggs, Knapp Knapp (1995)
Interannual variability in primary production in tallgrass prairieAmerican Journal of Botany, 82
F. Samson, F. Knopf (1997)
Prairie conservation: preserving North America's most endangered ecosystem.Ecology, 78
M. Vinton, I. Burke (1997)
Contingent effects of plant species on soils along a regional moisture gradient in the Great PlainsOecologia, 110
A. Knapp, J. Briggs, D. Childers, O. Sala (2007)
Estimating aboveground net primary production in grassland- and herbaceous-dominated ecosystems
D. Easterling, G. Meehl, C. Parmesan, S. Changnon, T. Karl, L. Mearns (2000)
Climate extremes: observations, modeling, and impacts.Science, 289 5487
N. Fierer, J. Schimel (2002)
Effects of drying–rewetting frequency on soil carbon and nitrogen transformationsSoil Biology & Biochemistry, 34
Emmett Emmett, Beier Beier, Estiarte Estiarte (2004)
The response of soil processes to climate changeEcosystems, 7
M. Jankju (2008)
Individual Performances and the Interaction Between Arid Land Plants Affected by the Growth Season Water PulsesArid Land Research and Management, 22
B. Emmett, C. Beier, M. Estiarte, A. Tietema, H. Kristensen, Dylan Williams, J. Peñuelas, I. Schmidt, A. Sowerby (2004)
The Response of Soil Processes to Climate Change: Results from Manipulation Studies of Shrublands Across an Environmental GradientEcosystems, 7
Blecker Blecker, McCulley McCulley, Chadwick Chadwick, Kelly Kelly (2006)
Silica biogeochemistry in grassland ecosystems of the Great PlainsGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles, 20
John Williams, S. Jackson, J. Kutzbach (2006)
Projected distributions of novel and disappearing climates by 2100 ADProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104
T. Barker, I. Bashmakov, A. Alharthi, M. Ammann, Luis Cifuentes, J. Drexhage, Duan Mao-sheng, O. Edenhofer, B. Flannery, M. Grubb, M. Hoogwijk, F. Ibitoye, C. Jepma, W. Pizer, K. Yamaji, S. Awerbuch, L. Bernstein, A. Faaij, Hitoshi Hayami, Tom-Reiel Heggedal, S. Kverndokk, John Latham, A. Michaelowa, D. Popp, Peter Read, S. Schleicher, Michael Smith, F. Tóth, B. Metz, O. Davidson, P. Bosch, R. Dave, L. Meyer (2007)
Mitigation from a cross-sectoral perspective
Christopher Harper, J. Blair, Philip Fay, Alan Knapp, J. Carlisle (2005)
Increased rainfall variability and reduced rainfall amount decreases soil CO 2 flux in a grassland ecosystemGlobal Change Biology, 11
J. Weaver, F. Albertson (1957)
Grasslands of the Great Plains: Their Nature and Use
Fay Fay, Kaufman Kaufman, Nippert Nippert, Carlisle Carlisle, Harper Harper (2008)
Changes in grassland ecosystem function due to extreme rainfall eventsGlobal Change Biology, 14
Groisman Groisman, Knight Knight (2008)
Prolonged dry episodes over the conterminous United StatesJournal of Climate, 21
Easterling Easterling, Meehl Meehl, Parmesan Parmesan, Changnon Changnon, Karl Karl, Mearns Mearns (2000)
Climate extremesScience, 289
R. McCulley, I. Burke, J. Nelson, W. Lauenroth, A. Knapp, E. Kelly (2005)
Regional Patterns in Carbon Cycling Across the Great Plains of North AmericaEcosystems, 8
W. Lauenroth, O. Sala (1992)
Long-Term Forage Production of North American Shortgrass Steppe.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America, 2 4
K. Harmoney (2007)
Grazing and Burning Japanese Brome (Bromus Japonicus) on Mixed Grass Rangelands, 60
R. Mcgregor, T. Barkley, R. Brooks (1987)
In: Flora of the Great Plains
J. Borchert (1950)
The Climate of the Central North American GrasslandAnnals of The Association of American Geographers, 40
P. Fay, Dawn Kaufman, J. Nippert, J. Carlisle, Christopher Harper (2008)
Changes in grassland ecosystem function due to extreme rainfall events: implications for responses to climate changeGlobal Change Biology, 14
S. Naeem, K. Håkansson, J. Lawton, M. Crawley, L. Thompson (1996)
Biodiversity and plant productivity in a model assemblage of plant speciesOikos, 76
A. Malo, A. Soler, M. Fernández-Santos, M. Esteso, Andrés García, Eduardo Roldan (2006)
Increasing Trend of Extreme Rain Events Over India in a Warming EnvironmentScience, 314
Briggs (1995)
10.2307/2446232American Journal of Botany, 82
Kirk Wythers, W. Lauenroth, J. Paruelo (1999)
Bare‐Soil Evaporation Under Semiarid Field ConditionsSoil Science Society of America Journal, 63
R. Warrick, E. Barrow (1991)
Climate change scenarios for the UKTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 16
I. Burke, T. Kittel, W. Lauenroth, P. Snook, C. Yonker, W. Parton (1991)
Regional Analysis of the Central Great PlainsBioScience, 41
Blecker (2006)
10.1029/2006GB002690Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 20
M. Maccracken, E. Barron, D. Easterling, B. Felzer, T. Karl (2003)
CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS FOR THE U.S. NATIONAL ASSESSMENTBulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84
J. Paruelo, W. Lauenroth, I. Burke, O. Sala (1999)
Grassland Precipitation-Use Efficiency Varies Across a Resource GradientEcosystems, 2
O. Sala, W. Lauenroth (1982)
Small rainfall events: An ecological role in semiarid regionsOecologia, 53
R. Alley, T. Berntsen, N. Bindoff, Zhenlin Chen, A. Chidthaisong, P. Friedlingstein, J. Gregory, G. Hegerl, M. Heimann, B. Hewitson, B. Hoskins, F. Joos, J. Jouzel, V. Kattsov, U. Lohmann, M. Manning, T. Matsuno, M. Molina, N. Nicholls, J. Overpeck, D. Qin, G. Raga, V. Ramaswamy, Jiawen Ren, M. Rusticucci, S. Solomon, R. Somerville, T. Stocker, P. Stott, R. Stouffer, P. Whetton, R. Wood, D. Wratt, J. Arblaster, G. Brasseur, J. Christensen, K. Denman, D. Fahey, P. Forster, E. Jansen, P. Jones, R. Knutti, H. Treut, P. Lemke, G. Meehl, P. Mote, D. Randall, D. Stone, K. Trenberth, J. Willebrand, F. Zwiers (2007)
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
W. Luaenroth, I. Burke, M. Gutmann (1999)
The Structure and Function of Ecosystems in the Central North American Grassland Region
O. Sala, W. Lauenroth, W. Parton (1992)
Long‐Term Soil Water Dynamics in the Shortgrass SteppeEcology, 73
F. Albertson, J. Weaver (1944)
Nature and Degree of Recovery of Grassland from the Great Drought of 1933 to 1940Ecological Monographs, 14
Heisler Heisler, Weltzin Weltzin (2006)
Variability mattersNew Phytologist, 172
P. Groisman, R. Knight (2008)
Prolonged Dry Episodes over the Conterminous United States: New Tendencies Emerging during the Last 40 YearsJournal of Climate, 21
W. Landman (2010)
Climate change 2007: the physical science basisSouth African Geographical Journal, 92
A. Knapp, Melinda Smith (2001)
Variation among biomes in temporal dynamics of aboveground primary production.Science, 291 5503
A. Knapp, C. Beier, D. Briske, A. Classen, Yiqi Luo, M. Reichstein, Melinda Smith, Stanley Smith, J. Bell, P. Fay, Jana Heisler, S. Leavitt, R. Sherry, Benjamin Smith, Ensheng Weng (2008)
Consequences of More Extreme Precipitation Regimes for Terrestrial Ecosystems, 58
J. Briggs, A. Knapp (1995)
Interannual variability in primary production in tallgrass prairie: climate, soil moisture, topographic position, and fire as determinants of aboveground biomassAmerican Journal of Botany, 82
D. Tilman, J. Downing (1996)
Biodiversity and stability in grasslandsNature, 367
O. Sala, W. Parton, L. Joyce, W. Lauenroth (1988)
Primary Production of the Central Grassland Region of the United StatesEcology, 69
Jana Heisler, J. Weltzin (2006)
Variability matters: towards a perspective on the influence of precipitation on terrestrial ecosystems. Effects of precipitation change on ecosystems (EPRECOT)--a Terrestrial Ecosystem Response to Atmospheric and Climatic Change (TERACC) and European Commission sponsored precipitation workshop, ElsiThe New phytologist, 172 2
J. Singh, D. Milchunas, W. Lauenroth (2004)
Soil water dynamics and vegetation patterns in a semiarid grasslandPlant Ecology, 134
A. Knapp, P. Fay, J. Blair, S. Collins, Melinda Smith, J. Carlisle, C. Harper, Brett Danner, Michelle Lett, J. McCarron (2002)
Rainfall Variability, Carbon Cycling, and Plant Species Diversity in a Mesic GrasslandScience, 298
Climate models predict, and empirical evidence confirms, that more extreme precipitation regimes are occurring in tandem with warmer atmospheric temperatures. These more extreme rainfall patterns are characterized by increased event size separated by longer within season drought periods and represent novel climatic conditions whose consequences for different ecosystem types are largely unknown. Here, we present results from an experiment in which more extreme rainfall patterns were imposed in three native grassland sites in the Central Plains Region of North America, USA. Along this 600 km precipitation–productivity gradient, there was strong sensitivity of temperate grasslands to more extreme growing season rainfall regimes, with responses of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) contingent on mean soil water levels for different grassland types. At the mesic end of the gradient (tallgrass prairie), longer dry intervals between events led to extended periods of below‐average soil water content, increased plant water stress and reduced ANPP by 18%. The opposite response occurred at the dry end (semiarid steppe), where a shift to fewer, but larger, events increased periods of above‐average soil water content, reduced seasonal plant water stress and resulted in a 30% increase in ANPP. At an intermediate mixed grass prairie site with high plant species richness, ANPP was most sensitive to more extreme rainfall regimes (70% increase). These results highlight the inherent complexity in predicting how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to forecast novel climate conditions as well as the difficulties in extending inferences from single site experiments across biomes. Even with no change in annual precipitation amount, ANPP responses in a relatively uniform physiographic region differed in both magnitude and direction in response to within season changes in rainfall event size/frequency.
Global Change Biology – Wiley
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.