144618 20260217205527.0 doi 10.1038/s41586-024-07731-3 sideral 139477 ART-2024-139477 eng Gross, Nicolas Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world 2024 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3. However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change4,5,6—shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7. Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds to aridity and grazing pressure within global drylands. Our analysis involved 133,769 trait measurements spanning 1,347 observations of 301 perennial plant species surveyed across 326 plots from 6 continents. Crossing an aridity threshold of approximately 0.7 (close to the transition between semi-arid and arid zones) led to an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity. This threshold appeared in the presence of grazers, and moved toward lower aridity levels with increasing grazing pressure. Moreover, 57% of observed trait diversity occurred only in the most arid and grazed drylands, highlighting the phenotypic uniqueness of these extreme environments. Our work indicates that drylands act as a global reservoir of plant phenotypic diversity and challenge the pervasive view that harsh environmental conditions reduce plant trait diversity8,9,10. They also highlight that many alternative strategies may enable plants to cope with increases in environmental stress induced by climate change and land-use intensification. info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess All rights reserved http://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ 48.5 2024 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES 2 / 136 = 0.015 2024 Q1 T1 18.288 2024 Multidisciplinary 2024 Q1 78.1 2024 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion Maestre, Fernando T. Liancourt, Pierre Berdugo, Miguel Martin, Raphaël Gozalo, Beatriz Ochoa, Victoria Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel Maire, Vincent Saiz, Hugo Universidad de Zaragoza Soliveres, Santiago Valencia, Enrique Eldridge, David J. Guirado, Emilio Jabot, Franck Asensio, Sergio Gaitán, Juan J. García-Gómez, Miguel Martínez, Paloma Martínez-Valderrama, Jaime Mendoza, Betty J. Moreno-Jiménez, Eduardo Pescador, David S. Plaza, César Pijuan, Ivan Santaolaria Abedi, Mehdi Ahumada, Rodrigo J. Amghar, Fateh Arroyo, Antonio I. Bahalkeh, Khadijeh Bailey, Lydia Ben Salem, Farah Blaum, Niels Boldgiv, Bazartseren Bowker, Matthew A. Branquinho, Cristina van den Brink, Liesbeth Bu, Chongfeng Canessa, Rafaella Castillo-Monroy, Andrea del P. Castro, Helena Castro, Patricio Chibani, Roukaya Conceição, Abel Augusto Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony Davila, Yvonne C. Deák, Balázs Donoso, David A. Durán, Jorge Espinosa, Carlos Fajardo, Alex Farzam, Mohammad Ferrante, Daniela Franzese, Jorgelina Fraser, Lauchlan Gonzalez, Sofía Gusman-Montalvan, Elizabeth Hernández-Hernández, Rosa Mary Hölzel, Norbert Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth Jadan, Oswaldo Jeltsch, Florian Jentsch, Anke Ju, Mengchen Kaseke, Kudzai F. Kindermann, Liana le Roux, Peter Linstädter, Anja Louw, Michelle A. Mabaso, Mancha Maggs-Kölling, Gillian Makhalanyane, Thulani P. Issa, Oumarou Malam Manzaneda, Antonio J. Marais, Eugene Margerie, Pierre Hughes, Frederic Mendes Messeder, João Vitor S. Mora, Juan P. Moreno, Gerardo Munson, Seth M. Nunes, Alice Oliva, Gabriel Oñatibia, Gaston R. Peter, Guadalupe Pueyo, Yolanda Quiroga, R. Emiliano Ramírez-Iglesias, Elizabeth Reed, Sasha C. Rey, Pedro J. Reyes Gómez, Víctor M. Rodríguez, Alexandra Rolo, Victor Rubalcaba, Juan G. Ruppert, Jan C. Sala, Osvaldo Salah, Ayman Sebei, Phokgedi Julius Stavi, Ilan Stephens, Colton Teixido, Alberto L. Thomas, Andrew D. Throop, Heather L. Tielbörger, Katja Travers, Samantha Undrakhbold, Sainbileg Val, James Valkó, Orsolya Velbert, Frederike Wamiti, Wanyoike Wang, Lixin Wang, Deli Wardle, Glenda M. Wolff, Peter Yahdjian, Laura Yari, Reza Zaady, Eli Zeberio, Juan Manuel Zhang, Yuanling Zhou, Xiaobing Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann 5011 220 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. CC.Agrar.y Medio Natural Área Ecología 632, 8026 (2024), 808-814 Nature Nature 0028-0836 12599019 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/144618/files/texto_completo.pdf Postprint info:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2025-02-07 1048830 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/144618/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Postprint info:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2025-02-07 oai:zaguan.unizar.es:144618 articulos driver 2026-02-17-20:31:02 ARTICLE