Drought Impact on Desert Ecosystems, Drought Network precipitation manipulation experiment in desert grasslands

Climate change amplifies the global water cycle, making droughts
more frequent and more severe. The hot deserts of the U.S. rely on
the stability and frequency of water availability in order to
sustain biological communities, making these ecosystems incredibly
vulnerable to anticipated alterations in the water cycle. This
project seeks to understand which biotic and abiotic variables are
principle in determining desert ecosystem sensitivity to drought? To
answer these questions, we have installed a drought manipulation
that will simulate an extreme drought event by reducing annual
precipitation by 66% in seven desert sites. Plant abundance data are
collected annually to track changes in the plant community. Data
collection began in Spring 2018. Treatments at three Sevilleta sites
began in Fall 2018 after data collection in October 2018. Treatments
started at four sites in Arizona and California in March and April
of 2019 and spring pretreatment data collection. The treatments will
last for four years.