Global empirical study demonstrates a positive link between plant species richness and multifunctionality in drylands, suggesting plant diversity buffers against climate change.
Key Points
To assess the empirical relationship between plant species richness, abiotic drivers, and ecosystem multifunctionality across global natural dryland ecosystems.
Conducted a global empirical field assessment across drylands representing 41% of Earth's land surface.
Modeled multifunctionality—integrating carbon storage, productivity, and nutrient pool accumulation—against plant species richness and abiotic variables.
Ecosystem multifunctionality showed a statistically significant positive relationship with plant species richness.
The best-fitting statistical models accounted for over 55% of the total variation in multifunctionality and consistently included plant species richness as an essential predictor.