000162620 001__ 162620
000162620 005__ 20251017144601.0
000162620 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1111/geb.70098
000162620 0248_ $$2sideral$$a145160
000162620 037__ $$aART-2025-145160
000162620 041__ $$aeng
000162620 100__ $$aZhao, Yanchuang
000162620 245__ $$aThe Relationship Between Grazing Pressure and Environmental Factors Drives Vegetation Fragmentation Across Global Drylands
000162620 260__ $$c2025
000162620 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000162620 5203_ $$aAim: To evaluate how grazing pressure, a key land-use factor, interacts with climatic, vegetation, and soil variables to shape the fragmentation of perennial vegetation across drylands globally. Location: 171 plots across 25 countries on six continents. Time Period: Field data: 2016–2019. Major Taxa Studied: Perennial grasses, shrubs, and woody plants. Methods: We conducted a standardised field survey across 171 45 m × 45 m plots to assess grazing pressure, vegetation, and soil properties. Vegetation fragmentation was quantified using three patch-based metrics derived from high-resolution satellite images. Linear mixed-effects models were used to relate fragmentation to climatic, vegetation, and soil variables. Predictor importance was assessed through multi-model inference and validated using a random forest approach. Results: Vegetation fragmentation increased with aridity, and this effect was 4.7 times stronger under high grazing pressure than under low pressure. The most influential interactions involved grazing pressure with soil amelioration (49.7% importance) and with vegetation cover (44.6%). Soil amelioration—measured as the enrichment of soil organic carbon beneath vegetation—reduced fragmentation, especially under high grazing pressure. In contrast, the ability of vegetation cover to sustain large patches diminished as grazing intensity increased. Soil amelioration was strongly linked to the proportion of facilitated plant species (p < 0.01), whereas soil organic carbon alone—beneath vegetation (p = 0.37) or in bare areas (p = 0.94)—was not significantly related. Main Conclusions Grazing pressure and aridity interact to intensify vegetation fragmentation, potentially accelerating land degradation in drylands under future climate and land-use scenarios. Mitigating this fragmentation requires not only enhancing vegetation cover but also promoting plant–soil facilitation processes, especially under high grazing pressure. These findings underscore the critical role of plant-driven soil amelioration in maintaining ecosystem structure and resilience across global drylands.
000162620 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/CNS2024-154579$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2022-140398NA-I00$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/RYC2021-031797-I$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/647038/EU/Biological feedbacks and ecosystem resilience under global change: a new perspective on dryland desertification/BIODESERT$$9This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 647038-BIODESERT
000162620 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess$$aAll rights reserved$$uhttp://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/
000162620 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
000162620 700__ $$aKéfi, Sonia
000162620 700__ $$aGuirado, Emilio
000162620 700__ $$aBerdugo, Miguel
000162620 700__ $$aEldridge, David J.
000162620 700__ $$aGross, Nicolas
000162620 700__ $$aLe Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann
000162620 700__ $$aSaiz, Hugo$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000162620 700__ $$aAsensio, Sergio
000162620 700__ $$aOchoa, Victoria
000162620 700__ $$aGozalo, Bea
000162620 700__ $$aMartínez-Valderrama, Jaime
000162620 700__ $$aPlaza, César
000162620 700__ $$aValencia, Enrique
000162620 700__ $$aMaestre, Fernando T.
000162620 7102_ $$15011$$2220$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. CC.Agrar.y Medio Natural$$cÁrea Ecología
000162620 773__ $$g34, 8 (2025), e70098 [14 pp.]$$pGlob. ecol. biogeogr.$$tGLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY$$x1466-822X
000162620 8564_ $$s1755985$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/162620/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yPostprint$$zinfo:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2026-08-04
000162620 8564_ $$s1185618$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/162620/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yPostprint$$zinfo:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2026-08-04
000162620 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:162620$$particulos$$pdriver
000162620 951__ $$a2025-10-17-14:14:18
000162620 980__ $$aARTICLE