Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology & Biodiversity (CASEB), Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile.
Ecol Lett. 2011 Dec;14(12):1227-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01693.x. Epub 2011 Oct 12.
Extreme climatic events represent disturbances that change the availability of resources. We studied their effects on annual plant assemblages in a semi-arid ecosystem in north-central Chile. We analysed 130 years of precipitation data using generalised extreme-value distribution to determine extreme events, and multivariate techniques to analyse 20 years of plant cover data of 34 native and 11 exotic species. Extreme drought resets the dynamics of the system and renders it susceptible to invasion. On the other hand, by favouring native annuals, moderately wet events change species composition and allow the community to be resilient to extreme drought. The probability of extreme drought has doubled over the last 50 years. Therefore, investigations on the interaction of climate change and biological invasions are relevant to determine the potential for future effects on the dynamics of semi-arid annual plant communities.
极端气候事件代表着改变资源可获得性的干扰。我们研究了它们对智利中北部半干旱生态系统中一年生植物组合的影响。我们使用广义极值分布分析了 130 年的降水数据，以确定极端事件，并使用多元技术分析了 20 年的 34 种本地和 11 种外来物种的植物覆盖数据。极端干旱重置了系统的动态，使其易受入侵影响。另一方面，适度湿润的事件通过有利于本地一年生植物来改变物种组成，并使群落能够抵御极端干旱。在过去的 50 年里，极端干旱的可能性增加了一倍。因此，研究气候变化和生物入侵的相互作用对于确定未来对半干旱一年生植物群落动态的潜在影响是相关的。
