Grazing and ecosystem service delivery in global drylands.
Fernando T MaestreYoann Le Bagousse-PinguetManuel Delgado-BaquerizoDavid J EldridgeHugo SaizMiguel BerdugoBeatriz GozaloVictoria OchoaEmilio GuiradoMiguel García-GómezEnrique ValenciaJuan J GaitánSergio AsensioBetty J MendozaCésar PlazaPaloma Díaz-MartínezAna ReyHang-Wei HuJi-Zheng HeJun-Tao WangAnika LehmannMatthias C RilligSimone CesarzHéctor J AguadoJaime Martínez-ValderramaEduardo Moreno-JiménezOsvaldo E SalaMehdi AbediNegar AhmadianConcepción L AladosValeria AramayoFateh AmgharTulio ArredondoRodrigo J AhumadaKhadijeh BahalkehFarah Ben SalemNiels BlaumBazartseren BoldgivMatthew A BowkerDonaldo BranChongfeng BuRafaella CanessaAndrea P Castillo-MonroyHelena CastroIgnacio CastroPatricio Castro-QuezadaRoukaya ChibaniAbel A ConceiçãoCourtney M CurrierAnthony Darrouzet-NardiBalázs DeákDavid A DonosoAndrew J DougillJorge DuránBatdelger ErdenetsetsegCarlos I EspinosaAlex FajardoMohammad FarzamDaniela FerranteAnke S K FrankLauchlan H FraserLaureano A GherardiAaron C GreenvilleCarlos A GuerraElizabeth Gusmán-MontalvanRosa M Hernández-HernándezNorbert HölzelElisabeth Huber-SannwaldFrederic M HughesOswaldo Jadán-MazaFlorian JeltschAnke JentschKudzai Farai KasekeMelanie KöbelJessica E KoopmanCintia V LederAnja LinstädterPeter C le RouxXinkai LiRichard MichaletJushan LiuMichelle A LouwGillian Maggs-KöllingThulani Peter MakhalanyaneOumarou Malam IssaAntonio J ManzanedaEugene MaraisJuan P MoraGerardo MorenoSeth M MunsonAlice NunesGabriel OlivaGastón R OñatibiaGuadalupe PeterMarco O D PivariYolanda PueyoR Emiliano QuirogaSoroor RahmanianSasha C ReedPedro J ReyBenoit RichardAlexandra RodríguezVictor RoloJuan G RubalcabaJan C RuppertAyman SalahMax A SchuchardtSedona SpannIlan StaviColton R A StephensAnthony M SwemmerAlberto L TeixidoAndrew D ThomasHeather L ThroopKatja TielbörgerSamantha K TraversJames ValOrsolya ValkóLiesbeth van den BrinkSergio Velasco AyusoFrederike VelbertWanyoike WamitiDeli WangLixin WangGlenda M WardleLaura YahdjianEli ZaadyYuanming ZhangXiaobing ZhouBrajesh K SinghNicolas GrossPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2022)
Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil, and biodiversity are critical to explain the delivery of fundamental ecosystem services across drylands worldwide. Increasing grazing pressure reduced ecosystem service delivery in warmer and species-poor drylands, whereas positive effects of grazing were observed in colder and species-rich areas. Considering interactions between grazing and local abiotic and biotic factors is key for understanding the fate of dryland ecosystems under climate change and increasing human pressure.