Vertical root distribution underpins belowground resistance to extreme drought
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ID: 328776
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Extreme droughts are becoming more frequent and strongly affect ecosystem productivity, yet their impact on belowground productivity—key to the carbon cycle—remain underexplored. Using a coordinated drought experiment across six Eurasian grassland sites spanning a precipitation gradient, we found that extreme drought had little effect on belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) or root biomass across the 0-20 cm soil profile because drought-induced shifts in root allocation compensated across soil depths. Specifically, drought induced site- and depth-specific shifts: in xeric grasslands, BNPP and root biomass increased in the 0-10 cm layer but declined in the 10-20 cm layer, whereas mesic grasslands exhibited the opposite pattern. These contrasting responses were consistent with shifts in depth-specific soil moisture. Consequently, the apparent resistance of belowground productivity to drought masks a redistribution of root growth along the vertical soil profile. Accounting for such depth-dependent root dynamics is essential for understanding ecosystem functioning, including carbon cycling, plant persistence, and ecosystem responses to intensifying climate extremes.
| Reference Key |
openalex_W7213245558
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| Authors | Chong Xu, Yunlong Zhang, Honghui Wu, Qiang Yu, Hongqiang Wang, Yuguang Ke, Wei Zhou, Yingjie Yan, Jiale Chen, Yadong Yang, Tian Yang, Xiaoan Zuo, Wentao Luo, Melinda D. Smith, Elizabeth T Borer, Iain P. Hartley, Ingrid J. Slette, Wenping Yuan, Deliang Kong, Xiaoping Xin, Shikui Dong, Baoming Ji, Liebao Han, Wenju Zhang, Minggang Xu, Guirui Yu, Xingguo Han, Yann Hautier |
| Journal | national science review |
| Year | 2026 |
| DOI |
10.1093/nsr/nwag592
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| URL | |
| Keywords | Keywords not found |
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