The potential of groundwater-dependent ecosystems to enhance soil biological activity and soil fertility in drylands
Identificadores
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10835/15922
ISSN: 0048-9697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154111
ISSN: 0048-9697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154111
Compartir
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Torres García, María Trinidad; Oyonarte Gutiérrez, Cecilio; Cabello Piñar, Francisco Javier; Guirado, Emilio; Rodríguez Lozano, Borja; [et al.]Fecha
2022-02-24Resumen
Water availability controls the functioning of dryland ecosystems, driving a patchy vegetation distribution, unequal nutrient availability, soil respiration in pulses, and limited productivity. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are acknowledged to be decoupled from precipitation, since their vegetation relies on groundwater sources. Despite their relevance to enhance productivity in drylands, our understanding of howdifferent components of GDEs interconnect (i.e., soil, vegetation, water) remains limited. We studied the GDE dominated by the deep-rooted phreatophyte Ziziphus lotus, a winter-deciduous shrub adapted to arid conditions along the Mediterranean basin.We aimed to disentangle whether the groundwater connection established by Z. lotus will foster soil biological activity and therefore soil fertility in drylands. We assessed (1) soil and vegetation dynamics over seasons (soil CO2 efflux and plant activity), (2) the effect of the patchy distribution on soil quality (propert...
Palabra/s clave
Fertility island
Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)
Soil microbial biomass
Semi-arid region
Soil quality
Ziziphus lotus