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Extreme climatic events shape arid and semiarid ecosystems
Author(s) -
Holmgren Milena,
Stapp Paul,
Dickman Chris R.,
Gracia Carlos,
Graham Sonia,
Gutiérrez Julio R.,
Hice Christine,
Jaksic Fabián,
Kelt Douglas A.,
Letnic Mike,
Lima Mauricio,
López Bernat C.,
Meserve Peter L.,
Milstead W Bryan,
Polis Gary A.,
Previtali M Andrea,
Richter Michael,
Sabaté Santi,
Squeo Francisco A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/1540-9295(2006)004[0087:ecesaa]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - ecosystem , arid , productivity , el niño southern oscillation , environmental science , disturbance (geology) , ecology , precipitation , wildlife , primary production , agroecosystem , geography , agroforestry , climatology , agriculture , biology , geology , paleontology , meteorology , economics , macroeconomics
Climatic changes associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can have a dramatic impact on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, but especially on arid and semiarid systems, where productivity is strongly limited by precipitation. Nearly two decades of research, including both short‐term experiments and long‐term studies conducted on three continents, reveal that the initial, extraordinary increases in primary productivity percolate up through entire food webs, attenuating the relative importance of top‐down control by predators, providing key resources that are stored to fuel future production, and altering disturbance regimes for months or years after ENSO conditions have passed. Moreover, the ecological changes associated with ENSO events have important implications for agroecosystems, ecosystem restoration, wildlife conservation, and the spread of disease. Here we present the main ideas and results of a recent symposium on the effects of ENSO in dry ecosystems, which was convened as part of the First Alexander von Humboldt International Conference on the El Niño Phenomenon and its Global Impact (Guayaquil, Ecuador, 16–20 May 2005).