El futuro de los pastizales sudamericanos

Los pastizales de Sudamérica mantienen actividades de pastoreo de subsistencia y comerciales, y son un factor clave en la economía de muchos países. Esta actividad depende en forma directa del clima, principalmente las lluvias. La cantidad y distribución anual de precipitaciones determina la productividad primaria, es decir la energía fijada por las plantas, la que a su vez determina la cantidad de animales que se pueden producir. La actual tendencia de cambio climático producirá un aumento en la temperatura, cambios en las precipitaciones y mayor frecuencia de eventos extremos (sequías, inundaciones) que pueden afectar negativamente la productividad de estos pastizales. En la medida en que se puedan conocer las relaciones entre la producción y el clima, y que los pronósticos climáticos se hagan más precisos y confiables, se pueden implementar sistemas de alarma temprana que permitan mitigar las consecuencias negativas del cambio climático. Por ejemplo, a través de Sistemas de Alarma Ganadero se puede alertar a los productores sobre las sequías inminentes y sus consecuencias sobre la disponibilidad de forraje, a fin de mitigar las pérdidas económicas a corto plazo y el deterioro de los ecosistemas en el largo plazo. El cambio climático es inminente y ya se está experimentando. La alternativa ante este cambio inevitable es la adaptación al mismo, usando el conocimiento del funcionamiento de los sistemas biológicos e implementando herramientas que deben estar al servicio de los productores.Fil: Yahdjian, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Arizona State University; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Interactions among resource partitioning, sampling effect, and facilitation on the biodiversity effect: A modeling approach

Resource partitioning, facilitation, and sampling effect are the three mechanisms behind the biodiversity effect, which is depicted usually as the effect of plant-species richness on aboveground net primary production. These mechanisms operate simultaneously but their relative importance and interactions are difficult to unravel experimentally. Thus, niche differentiation and facilitation have been lumped together and separated from the sampling effect. Here, we propose three hypotheses about interactions among the three mechanisms and test them using a simulation model. The model simulated water movement through soil and vegetation, and net primary production mimicking the Patagonian steppe. Using the model, we created grass and shrub monocultures and mixtures, controlled root overlap and grass water-use efficiency (WUE) to simulate gradients of biodiversity, resource partitioning and facilitation. The presence of shrubs facilitated grass growth by increasing its WUE and in turn increased the sampling effect whereas root overlap (resource partitioning) had, on average, no effect on sampling effect. Interestingly, resource partitioning and facilitation interacted so the effect of facilitation on sampling effect decreased as resource partitioning increased. Sampling effect was enhanced by the difference between the two functional groups in their efficiency in using resources. Morphological and physiological differences make one group outperform the other, once those differences were established further differences did not enhance the sampling effect. In addition, grass WUE and root overlap positively influence the biodiversity effect but showed no interactions.Fil: Flombaum, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences and School of Sustainability; Estados UnidosFil: Rastetter, Edward B.. Marine Biological Laboratory. The Ecosystem Center; Estados Unido

Reduction of solar UV-B mediates changes in the Sphagnum capitulum microenvironment and the peatland microfungal community

The influence of near-ambient and reduced solar UV-B radiation on a peatland microfungal community was assessed by exposing experimental plots to UV-selective filtration. Replicate plots were covered with special plastic films to effect treatments of near-ambient and attenuated solar UV-B. The microfungal community from the top 1 cm of Sphagnum capitulum in a Tierra del Fuego peatland was censused throughout three growing seasons, between 1999 and 2002. Sphagnum capitula under near-ambient UV-B were more compressed and held more water than capitula under reduced UV-B. This water had a greater conductivity and was more acidic under near-ambient UV-B, as would be expected with increased leaching from the Sphagnum leaves. Nine regularly occurring hyphal fungi from the peatland were identified, at least to genus. Over three field seasons, no treatment effect on total fungal colony abundance was recorded, but individual species abundance was increased (Mortierella alpina), decreased (Penicillium frequentans), or was unaffected (P. thomii, Aureobasidium) by near-ambient UV-B. Species richness was also slightly lower under near-ambient UV-B. These treatment differences were smaller than seasonal or inter-annual fluctuations in abundance and species richness. In a growth chamber experiment, lamp UV-B treatments indicated that realistic fluxes of UV-B can inhibit fungal growth in some species. In addition to this direct UV-B effect, we suggest that changes in the peatland fungal community under near-ambient solar UV-B may also result from increased nutrient and moisture availability in the Sphagnum capitulum. The subtle nature of the responses of peatland fungi to solar UV-B suggests that most fungal species we encountered are well adapted to current solar UV-B fluxes in Tierra del Fuego.Fil: Robson, T. Matthew. State University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Pancotto, Veronica Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Ballare, Carlos Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Scopel, Ana Leonor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Caldwell, Martyn M.. State University of Utah; Estados Unido

Why coordinated distributed experiments should go global

The performance of coordinated distributed experiments designed to compare ecosystem sensitivity to global-change drivers depends on whether they cover a significant proportion of the global range of environmental variables. In the present article, we described the global distribution of climatic and soil variables and quantified main differences among continents. Then, as a test case, we assessed the representativeness of the International Drought Experiment (IDE) in parameter space. Considering the global environmental variability at this scale, the different continents harbor unique combinations of parameters. As such, coordinated experiments set up across a single continent may fail to capture the full extent of global variation in climate and soil parameter space. IDE with representation on all continents has the potential to address global scale hypotheses about ecosystem sensitivity to environmental change. Our results provide a unique vision of climate and soil variability at the global scale and highlight the need to design globally distributed networks.Fil: Yahdjian, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Indiana University; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Piñeiro Guerra, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Knapp, Alan K.. State University of Colorado - Fort Collins; Estados UnidosFil: Collins, Scott L.. University of New Mexico; Estados UnidosFil: Phillips, Richard P.. State University of Colorado - Fort Collins; Estados UnidosFil: Smith, Melinda D.. State University of Colorado - Fort Collins; Estados Unido

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Effects of plant species traits on ecosystem processes: experiments in the Patagonian steppe

Several experiments have shown that aboveground net primary productivity increases with plant species richness. The main mechanism proposed to explain this relationship is niche complementarity, which is determined by differences in plant traits that affect resource use. We combined field and laboratory experiments using the most abundant species of the Patagonian steppe to identify which are the traits that determine niche complementarity in this ecosystem. We estimated traits that affect carbon, water, microclimate, and nitrogen dynamics. The most important traits distinguishing among species, from the standpoint of their effects on ecosystem functioning, were potential soil nitrification, rooting depth, and soil thermal amplitude. Additionally, we explored the relationship between trait diversity and aboveground net primary production (ANPP) using a manipulative field experiment. ANPP and the fraction of ANPP accounted for by trait diversity increased with number of traits. The effect of trait diversity decreased as the number of traits increased. Here, the use of traits gave us a mechanistic understanding of niche complementarity in the Patagonian steppe.Fil: Flombaum, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmosfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmosfera; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Arizona State University; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Size of precipitation pulses controls nitrogen transformation and losses in an arid Patagonian ecosystem

Arid ecosystems receive precipitation pulses of different sizes that may differentially affect nitrogen (N) losses and N turnover during the growing season. We designed a rainfall manipulation experiment in the Patagonian steppe, southern Argentina, where we simulated different precipitation patterns by adding the same amount of water in evenly spaced three-small rainfall events or in one-single large rainfall event, three times during a growing season. We measured the effect of the size of rainfall pulses on N mineralization and N losses by denitrification, ammonia volatilization, and nitrate and ammonia leaching. Irrigation pulses stimulated N mineralization (P < 0.05), with small and frequent pulses showing higher responses than large pulses (P < 0.10). Irrigation effects were transient and did not result in changes in seasonal net N mineralization suggesting a long-term substrate limitation. Water pulses stimulated gaseous N losses by denitrification, with large pulses showing higher responses than small pulses (P < 0.05), but did not stimulate ammonia volatilization. Nitrate leaching also was higher after large than after small precipitation events (P < 0.05). Small events produced higher N transformations and lower N losses by denitrification and nitrate leaching than large events, which would produce higher N availability for plant growth. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme precipitation events and the proportion of large to small rainfall events. Our results suggest that these changes would result in reduced N availability and a competitive advantage for deep-rooted species that prefer nitrate over ammonia. Similarly, the ammonium:nitrate ratio might decrease because large events foster nitrate losses but not ammonium losses. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.Fil: Yahdjian, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Brown University; Estados Unido

Imprint of crop choice on global nutrient needs

Future changes in crop composition could contribute to more sustainable food systems, optimizing land and fertilizer use. Changes in crop composition strongly affect how much soil nutrients need to be withdrawn per unit of food output. The paper explores three aspects of major global crops and to what extent crop choice offers the potential to increase food outputs at a faster rate than soil nutrient withdrawals and fertilizer use on the same available land. While soil nutrient needs shift in response to basic biological attributes of crops; fertilizer additions are more dependent on the economic context of crop production

Global-change drivers of ecosystem functioning modulated by natural variability and saturating responses

Humans are altering global environment at an unprecedented rate through changes in biodiversity, climate, nitrogen cycle, and land use. To address their effects on ecosystem functioning, experiments most frequently explore one driver at a time and control as many confounding factors as possible. Yet, which driver exerts the largest influence on ecosystem functioning and whether their relative importance changes among systems remain unclear. We analyzed experiments in the Patagonian steppe that evaluated the aboveground net primary production (ANPP) response to manipulated gradients of species richness, precipitation, temperature, nitrogen fertilization (N), and grazing intensity. We compared the effect on ANPP relative to ambient conditions considering intensity and direction of manipulations for each driver. The ranking of responses to drivers with comparable manipulation intensity was as follows: biodiversity>grazing>precipitation>N. For a similar intensity of manipulation, the effect of biodiversity loss was 4.0, 3.6, and 1.5, times larger than N deposition, decreased precipitation, and increased grazing intensity. We interpreted our results considering two hypotheses. First, the response of ANPP to changes in precipitation and biodiversity is saturating, so we expected larger effects when the driver was reduced, relative to ambient conditions, than when it was increased. Experimental manipulations that reduced ambient levels had larger effects than those that increased them. Second, the sensitivity of ANPP to each driver is inversely related to the natural variability of the driver. In Patagonia, the ranking of natural variability of drivers is as follows: precipitation>grazing>temperature>biodiversity>N. So, in general, the ecosystem was most sensitive to drivers that varied the least. Comparable results from Cedar Creek (MN) support both hypotheses and suggest that sensitivity to drivers varies among ecosystem types. Given the importance of understanding ecosystem sensitivity to predict global-change impacts, it is necessary to design new experiments located in regions with contrasting natural variability and that include the full range of drivers.Fil: Flombaum, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; ArgentinaFil: Yahdjian, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Cátedra de Ecología General; ArgentinaFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Arizona State University; Estados Unido

Nitrogen limitation in arid-subhumid ecosystems: A meta-analysis of fertilization studies

Evidence supporting water limitation in arid-semiarid ecosystems includes strong correlations between aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and annual precipitation as well as results from experimental water additions. Similarly, there is evidence of N limitation on ANPP in low precipitation ecosystems, but is this a widespread phenomenon? Are all arid-semiarid ecosystems equally limited by nitrogen? Is the response of N fertilization modulated by water availability? We conducted a meta-analysis of ANPP responses to N fertilization across arid to subhumid ecosystems to quantify N limitation, using the effect-size index R which is the ratio of ANPP in fertilized to control plots. Nitrogen addition increased ANPP across all studies by an average of 50%, and nitrogen effects increased significantly (P = 0.03) along the 50-650 mm yr-1 precipitation gradient. The response ratio decreased with mean annual temperature in arid and semiarid ecosystems but was insensitive in subhumid systems. Sown pastures showed significant (P = 0.007) higher responses than natural ecosystems. Neither plant-life form nor chemical form of the applied fertilizer showed significant effects on the primary production response to N addition. Our results showed that nitrogen limitation is a widespread phenomenon in low-precipitation ecosystems and that its importance increases with annual precipitation from arid to subhumid regions. Both water and N availability limit primary production, probably at different times during the year; with frequency of N limitation increasing and frequency of water limitation decreasing as annual precipitation increases. Expected increase N deposition, which could be significant even in arid ecosystems, would increase aboveground net primary production in water-limited ecosystems that account for 40% of the terrestrial surface. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.Fil: Yahdjian, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Gherardi, Laureano. Arizona State University; Estados UnidosFil: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Arizona State University; Estados Unido