13.08.2024

Life finds a way – Unexpected plant diversity in global drylands

Science News
Einzelner Baum in der Wüste von Namibia
Lonely tree in the Namib Desert, Namibia. Copyright: Lixin Wang

Plants can be very resilient and adaptable. Even in the most extreme and challenging habitats, they find ways to survive. In a large-scale international study, Dr Pierre Liancourt, plant ecologist at the Natural History Museum Stuttgart, together with over 120 scientists, took a special look at plants in arid and grazed regions. To this end, plants from rangelands, savannahs, steppes and other arid regions were studied in 27 different countries around the world. In particular, the researchers analysed the effects of aridity and grazing pressure on the diversity of chemical properties and the morphology of the plants. This large-scale study has now been published in the journal “Nature”.

The original hypothesis of the researchers was that the extreme conditions in dry ecosystems and heavily grassed areas have a negative impact on plant diversity. However, contrary to the hypothesis the study was able to show that aridity is associated with a surprising trait diversity regarding the form and function of plants. Plants exhibited a variety of adaptation strategies that help them to withstand the harsh dryland conditions. For example, morphological or chemical mechanisms that protect them from drying out or serve as protection against herbivory. In addition, there is less competition between different plant species due to the sparse vegetation in drylands, which can also promote the development of specialized plant traits.

In the future, even more areas will be affected by drought and desertification due to climate change. That is why it is especially important to understand how plants react to aridity stress.

The study underlines the importance of drylands as a global reservoir for plant diversity. Even a harsh environment can harbour a diversity of life.

Press release

Original publication