Vestland heathlands in extreme drought experiments
Siri Haugum and Vigdis Vandvik have been part of a global network researching the effects of extreme drought using the Heathland Centre at Lygra to collect experimental data.
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The global study which was organised and led by Colorado State University scientists shows that the effects of extreme drought – which is expected to increase in frequency with climate change – have been greatly underestimated for grasslands and shrublands.
The resulting paper "Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally" is published in PNAS. The paper demonstrates that the loss of above-ground plant growth is 60% greater when short-term drought is extreme compared to less severe droughts, with greater loss in drier and less diverse sites. But even less severe droughts can cause moderate losses impacting the ecosystems and their services.