Drylands cover 40% of the global terrestrial surface and provide important ecosystem services. While drylands as a whole are expected to increase in distribution and aridity in coming decades, temperature and precipitation forecasts vary by latitude and geographic region suggesting different trajectories for tropical, subtropical, and temperate drylands. Uncertainty in the future of tropical and subtropical drylands is well constrained, whereas soil moisture and ecological droughts, which drive vegetation productivity and composition, remain poorly understood in temperate drylands. Here we show that, over the 21st century, temperate drylands may contract by a third, primarily converting to subtropical drylands,...
Categories: Data,
Publication;
Types: Citation;
Tags: Eastern Asia,
North America,
South America,
Southern Africa,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), All tags...
Western Mediterranean,
Western and Central Asia,
climate change,
climatology,
drylands,
ecology,
hydrology,
soil sciences,
vegetation, Fewer tags
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