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Timing is important: seasonality of precipitation influences ecosystem properties and response to grazing

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dc.contributor.authorDev, Laura, author
dc.contributor.authorKlein, Julia, advisor
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Cynthia, advisor
dc.contributor.authorBlumenthal, Dana, committee member
dc.contributor.authorHobbs, N. Thompson, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T08:11:03Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T08:11:03Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractWater availability and grazing are both strong drivers of grassland community structure and function. We know that water limited ecosystems, can be very sensitive to temporal changes in precipitation, influencing important properties including primary production, carbon and nutrient cycling and plant and microbial species composition. However, little is known about how the timing of water availability interacts with grazing. I conducted a global meta-analysis to investigate the importance of precipitation seasonality in determining broad-scale patterns of plant community response to grazing. I focused on the relative importance of climatic factors compared with grazing variables in influencing the effects of grazing on plant species composition and primary production. Locations with more summer precipitation experienced greater grazing-induced changes in species composition. Species composition was more responsive to grazing covariates, whereas production was more responsive to climatic variables, particularly the length of the growing season. I explored potential mechanisms for this pattern by conducting a trait study at a climate change experiment on the Tibetan Plateau. Shifting the timing of water availability toward the winter altered community-level plant traits associated with grazing avoidance and tolerance, and grazing sometimes acted as a feedback. Together, these results provide compelling evidence that the timing of precipitation can interact with grazing to drive changes in plant community structure and function. In light of climate changes that may shift the timing of precipitation in many systems worldwide, these effects are increasingly important to understand.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierDev_colostate_0053N_11283.pdf
dc.identifierETDF2012500215ECOL
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/68102
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relationwwdl
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectclimate change
dc.subjectgrassland
dc.subjectgrazing
dc.subjectprecipitation timing
dc.subjectrangeland
dc.subjectseasonality
dc.titleTiming is important: seasonality of precipitation influences ecosystem properties and response to grazing
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEcology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

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