162620 20251017144601.0 doi 10.1111/geb.70098 sideral 145160 ART-2025-145160 eng Zhao, Yanchuang The Relationship Between Grazing Pressure and Environmental Factors Drives Vegetation Fragmentation Across Global Drylands 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Aim: 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. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/CNS2024-154579 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2022-140398NA-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/RYC2021-031797-I info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/647038/EU/Biological feedbacks and ecosystem resilience under global change: a new perspective on dryland desertification/BIODESERT This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 647038-BIODESERT info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess All rights reserved http://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion Kéfi, Sonia Guirado, Emilio Berdugo, Miguel Eldridge, David J. Gross, Nicolas Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann Saiz, Hugo Universidad de Zaragoza Asensio, Sergio Ochoa, Victoria Gozalo, Bea Martínez-Valderrama, Jaime Plaza, César Valencia, Enrique Maestre, Fernando T. 5011 220 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. CC.Agrar.y Medio Natural Área Ecología 34, 8 (2025), e70098 [14 pp.] Glob. ecol. biogeogr. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY 1466-822X 1755985 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/162620/files/texto_completo.pdf Postprint info:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2026-08-04 1185618 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/162620/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Postprint info:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2026-08-04 oai:zaguan.unizar.es:162620 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:14:18 ARTICLE