Biodiversity and climate extremes: known interactions and research gaps
Climate extremes are on the rise. Impacts of extreme climate and weather events on ecosystem services and ultimately human well-being can be partially attenuated by the organismic, structural, and functional diversity of the affected land surface. However, the ongoing transformation of terrestrial ecosystems through intensified exploitation and management may put this buffering capacity at risk. Here, we summarize the evidence that reductions in biodiversity can destabilize the functioning of ecosystems facing climate extremes. We then explore if impaired ecosystem functioning could, in turn, exacerbate climate extremes. We argue that only a comprehensive approach, incorporating both ecological and hydrometeorological perspectives, enables us to understand and predict the entire feedback system between altered biodiversity and climate extremes. This ambition, however, requires a reformulation of current research priorities to emphasize the bidirectional effects that link ecology and atmospheric processes.
MAHECHA Miguel;
BASTOS Ana;
BOHN Friedrich;
EISENHAUER Nico;
FEILHAUER Hannes;
HICKLER Thomas;
KALESSE-LOS Heike;
MIGLIAVACCA Mirco;
OTTO Friederike;
JIAN Peng;
SIPPEL Sebastian;
TEGEN Ina;
WEIGELT Alexandra;
WENDISCH Manfred;
WIRTH Christian;
AL-HALBOUN Djamil;
DENEKE Hartwig;
DOKTOR Daniel;
DUNKER Susanne;
DUVEILLER G.;
ERLICH Andre;
FOTH Andreas;
GARCIA-GARCIA Almudena;
GUERRA Carlos;
GUIMARAES-STEINICKE Claudia;
HARTMANN Henrik;
HENNING Silvia;
HERRMANN Hartmut;
HU P.;
JI Chaonan;
KATTENBORN Teja;
KOLLECK Nina;
KRETSCHMER Marlene;
KUHN Ingolf;
LUTTKUS Marie Luise;
MAAHN Maximilian;
MONKS Milena;
MORA Karin;
POHLKER Mira;
REICHSTEIN Markus;
RUGER Nadja;
SANCHEZ-PARRA Beatriz;
SCHAEFER Michael;
STRATMANN F.;
TESCHE Matthias;
WEHNER Birgit;
WIENEKE Sebastian;
WINKLER Alexander;
WOLF Sophie;
ZAEHLE Sonke;
ZSCHEISCHLER Jakob;
QUAAS Johannes;
2024-06-13
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
JRC135521
2328-4277 (online),
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF003963,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC135521,
10.1029/2023EF003963 (online),
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