The relative contribution of short-term versus long-term effects in shrub-understory species interactions under arid conditions.

Plant-plant interactions (competition and facilitation) in terrestrial ecosystems include: (1) short-term effects, primarily quantified with experimental removals; and (2) long-term effects, mostly due to soil weathering processes, primarily quantified with observational methods. It has been argued that these effects are likely to vary in contrasting directions with increasing drought stress in arid systems. However, few studies have used appropriate methodology to assess both types of effects and their variation across nurse species and environmental conditions, in particular in arid systems.

Functional traits determine plant co-occurrence more than environment or evolutionary relatedness in global drylands.

Plant-plant interactions are driven by environmental conditions, evolutionary relationships (ER) and the functional traits of the plants involved. However, studies addressing the relative importance of these drivers are rare, but crucial to improve our predictions of the effects of plant-plant interactions on plant communities and of how they respond to differing environmental conditions. To analyze the relative importance of -and interrelationships among- these factors as drivers of plant-plant interactions, we analyzed perennial plant co-occurrence at 106 dryland plant communities established across rainfall gradients in nine countries.

Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands.

The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes. Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability.

Aridity modulates N availability in arid and semiarid Mediterranean grasslands.

While much is known about the factors that control each component of the terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycle, it is less clear how these factors affect total N availability, the sum of organic and inorganic forms potentially available to microorganisms and plants. This is particularly true for N-poor ecosystems such as drylands, which are highly sensitive to climate change and desertification processes that can lead to the loss of soil nutrients such as N. We evaluated how different climatic, abiotic, plant and nutrient related factors correlate with N availability in semiarid Stipa tenacissima grasslands along a broad aridity gradient from Spain to Tunisia.

Life cycle of the coleopter Bruchidius raddianae and the seed predation of the Acacia tortilis Subsp. raddiana in Tunisia.

Seeds of Acacia tortilis (Forsskal) Hayne ssp. raddiana (Save) Brenan, a savannah tree of great potential for forestry and an excellent browse for game and livestock, is heavily infested by the bruchid beetle Bruchidius raddianae Anton & Delobel. The development from egg to beetle, and the various development stages were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).