Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity
As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with constant or diminishing reductions in productivity as drought duration increases. We quantified the combined effects of drought duration and intensity on aboveground productivity in 74 grasslands and shrublands distributed globally. Ecosystem acclimation with multiyear drought was observed overall, except when droughts were extreme (i.e., ≤1-in-100-year likelihood of occurrence). Productivity losses after four consecutive years of extreme drought increased by ~2.5-fold compared with those of the first year. These results portend a foundational shift in ecosystem behavior if drought duration and intensity increase, from maintenance of reduced functioning over time to progressive and profound losses of productivity when droughts are extreme.
Authors
- Marcus Vinícius Cianciaruso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5866-5345)
- Sven Dahlke
- William E. Rogers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3407-1101)
- H Abdoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2380-6908)
- Harald Auge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7432-8453)
- Daniela Hoss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6766-3904)
- Lara Souza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6005-8667)
- Brooke B. Osborne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4771-7677)
- Frederick Curtis Lubbe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1272-6226)
- Changqing Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5224-4433)
- Robert M. Plowes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5803-755X)
- Melinda D. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4920-6985)
- Juan Manuel Piñeiro‐Guerra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5958-1589)
- James F. Cahill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4110-1516)
- György Kröel‐Dulay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-1232)
- Rafael Otfinowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8242-5947)
- Maren Dubbert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2352-8516)
- Manjunatha H. Chandregowda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9767-2457)
- Peter A. Wilfahrt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1594-6512)
- Laura W. Ploughe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8421-1299)
- Karen Castillioni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9205-7631)
- Anja Linstädter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0038-9557)
- Klaus Steenberg Larsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1421-6182)
- Hugh A. L. Henry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8397-6292)
- Guadalupe Peter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7792-7045)
- Qiang Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5480-0623)
- Lauchlan H. Fraser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3998-5540)
- Josep Peñuelas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7215-0150)
- Tyson J. Terry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1839-0671)
- Uffe N. Nielsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2400-7453)
- Andy Hector (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1309-7716)
- Taryn L. Bauerle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2741-2593)
- Malesela Vincent Mokoka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1026-2982)
- Jeff Chieppa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2854-1514)
- Liv Guri Velle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0433-5337)
- Marcelo Sternberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8710-4141)
- Scott L. Collins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0193-2892)
- Liebao Han
- Timothy Ohlert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6976-5114)
- Christiane Werner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7676-9057)
- Steven R. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4581-3684)
- Gastón R. Oñatibia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2329-6601)
- Michael Bahn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7482-9776)
- Cristina Portales‐Reyes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0162-4785)
- Ruonan Shen
- Kai Behn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2598-9575)
- Kate Wilkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9875-1149)
- Michelle Tedder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8021-0929)
- Daniel B. Metcalfe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8325-9269)
- Nico Eisenhauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-6720)
- Vigdis Vandvik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4651-4798)
- Jenifer L. Yost (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9033-7058)
- Viviana F. Bondaruk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8087-6584)
- Ana M. Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6220-3001)
- Juntao Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0379-3213)
- Christiane Roscher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9301-7909)
- Cameron N. Carlyle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4753-5945)
- Michaela Zeiter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6772-5378)
- Romà Ogaya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4927-8479)
- Dianela A. Calvo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4191-9163)
- Cunzheng Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9309-2722)
- Richard P. Phillips (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1345-4138)
- Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8269-0708)
- Fernando T. Maestre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7434-4856)
- Maud Tissink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5838-9956)
- Sasha C. Reed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8597-8619)
- Baoku Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3954-9415)
- Anke Jentsch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2345-8300)
- Laura Yahdjian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9635-1221)
- Alessandro Petraglia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4632-2251)
- Darcy Galiano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9928-9446)
- Raúl Ochoa‐Hueso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1839-6926)
- Martin C. Holdrege (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4078-6012)
- D. I. Rowley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4568-3752)
- D. Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7834-774X)
- Michele Carbognani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7701-9859)
- Rory C C O’Connor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6473-0032)
- Jüergen Kreyling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8489-7289)
- David C. Bartholomew (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8123-1817)
- Miguel Castillo-García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9017-9696)
- Maggie Anderson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8188-2399)
- Amanda L. Cordeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7226-0133)
- Michael E. Loik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0847-6778)
- Lucio Biancari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6539-6267)
- Amelia A. Wolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7660-3455)
- Heidi Asbjornsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8126-3328)
- Andrey V. Malyshev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2215-0918)
- David S. Pescador (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0395-9543)
- Andreas Stämpfli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5517-1363)
- Daniela Cusack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4681-7449)
- Ildikó Orbán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1547-675X)
- Junwei Luan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-4747)
- Jennifer L. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4497-4961)
- Sara A. O. Cousins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2656-2645)
- Kerry Byrne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5611-0620)
- Elizabeth T. Borer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2259-5853)
- Jeffrey S. Dukes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9482-7743)
- Yolanda Pueyo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6970-7790)
- Glenda M. Wardle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0189-1899)
- Smriti Pehim Limbu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9086-7895)
- Ping Yue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7976-8538)
- Samuel E. Jordan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6074-3330)
- Meghan L. Avolio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2649-9159)
- Mehdi Abedi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1499-0119)
- Forest Isbell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9689-769X)
- Alicia Kröpfl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9086-2741)
- Akira S. Mori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8422-1198)
- Carlos Martín Bruschetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2461-1629)
- Catherine Picon‐Cochard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7728-8936)
- Ilka Beil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1136-1373)
- Grisel Longo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7546-3870)
- Seth M. Munson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2736-6374)
- Eric W. Seabloom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6780-9259)
- Edwin I. Mudongo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1396-5023)
- Wei Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1601-2159)
- Ingrid J. Slette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7707-3246)
- T’ai G. W. Forte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8685-5872)
- Andrew J. Felton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1533-6071)
- Yiqi Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4556-0218)
- Liesbeth van den Brink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0313-8147)
- Rachel J. Standish (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8118-1904)
- Angelika Kübert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3985-9261)
- Pål Thorvaldsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3883-847X)
- Xuechen Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9679-652X)
- Irmgard Blindow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8263-1102)
- Gregory S. Newman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8932-0809)
- Osvaldo E. Sala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0142-9450)
- Pablo L. Peri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5398-4408)
- Alan K. Knapp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1695-4696)
- Yuguang Ke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1884-7627)
- Amber C. Churchill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9136-8131)
- C. David McIntire (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9666-5805)
- Laureano Gherardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5743-1096)
- Valério D. Pillar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6408-2891)
- Sally A. Power (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2723-8671)
- Sally E. Koerner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6403-7513)
- Claus Beier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0348-7179)
- Georg Wiehl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1192-8333)
- Aaron C. Greenville (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0113-4778)
- Marie Sünnemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5385-258X)
- Antonio I. Arroyo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9559-5785)
- Michael Scherer‐Lorenzen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9566-590X)
- Lee H. Dietterich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4465-5845)
- Alejandro Loydi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0306-905X)
- Xiaoan Zuo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1063-1100)
- Flavia A. Funk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4694-3701)
- Alyssa L. Young (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2373-4264)
- Suzanne M. Prober (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6518-239X)
- Juan M. Zeberio
- Meelis Pärtel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5874-0138)
- Meghan T. Hayden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2929-1078)
- Andrew Kulmatiski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9977-5508)
- Juan Alberti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1600-0921)
- Seton Bachle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2970-862X)
- Eric G. Lamb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5201-4541)
- Scott X. Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7624-439X)
- Edward William Bork (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2623-8223)
- Amgaa Batbaatar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6687-0274)
- Katja Tielbörger
- Bráulio Almeida Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6046-4024)
- Alejandro Valdecantos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3761-3500)
- Karen H. Beard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4997-2495)
- Yann Hautier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4347-7741)
- Nicholas J. Lyon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3905-1078)
- Siri Vatsø Haugum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4958-7132)
- Haiyang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7951-0502)
- Shirong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1103-9803)
- Anping Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2085-3863)
- Jesús Pascual (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1862-2484)
- Honghui Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1541-9675)
- Angel Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3515-6710)
- Pedro Daleo
- Eugene F. Kelly
- Yadong Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8970-7277)
- Michael P. Schellenberg
- Svenja Wanke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1619-7701)
- Golsa Rahmati
Institutions
- Dartmouth College (US)
- University of Bern (CH)
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Utah State University (US)
- Binghamton University (US)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Parma (IT)
- Western University (CA)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- University of Alicante (ES)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
- National Park Service (US)
- Bern University of Applied Sciences (CH)
- US Forest Service (US)
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (CA)
- International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (CN)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (DE)
- LI-COR Biosciences (United States) (US)
- Lynn University (US)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- Tarbiat Modares University (IR)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Haverford College (US)
- Thompson Rivers University (CA)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- University of New Hampshire (US)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Universidade Federal da Paraíba (BR)
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro (US)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- University of Concepción (CL)
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- Murdoch University (AU)
- Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (ES)
- Northeast Normal University (CN)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- Cal Poly Humboldt (US)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Université Clermont Auvergne (FR)
- Cornell University (US)
- Eastern Oregon University (US)
- Montana State University (US)
- Denver Zoo (US)
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (NO)
- University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (DE)
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE)
- Leverhulme Trust (GB)
- National University of Austral Patagonia (AR)
- National University of Río Negro (AR)
- Beijing Forestry University (CN)
- University of Saskatchewan (CA)
- Universität Greifswald (DE)
- Universidad de Cádiz (ES)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Agricultural Plant Physiology and Ecology Research Institute (AR)
- Institute of Ecology and Botany (HU)
- Institute of Botany of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
- University Medical Center Brackenridge (US)
- Coordenação de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (BR)
- Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (PE)
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (US)
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (CN)
- VetAgro Sup (FR)
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (CN)
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NL)
- Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (CN)
- Astrogeology Science Center (US)
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (DE)
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- University of Education Freiburg (DE)
- Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (ES)
- Chinese Academy of Forestry (CN)
- Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications (ES)
- HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU)
- State Forestry and Grassland Administration (CN)
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Research (AR)
- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NO)
- Oklahoma Biological Survey (US)
- Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BW)
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (CN)
- Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection (CN)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Experimental Botany (CZ)
- Institute of Botany (CN)
- Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (CN)
- GeoInformation (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory (US)
- Hebei University (CN)
- Southwest Biological Science Center
- Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Saint Louis University (US)
- University of Bayreuth (DE)
- Arizona State University (US)
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Universidad Nacional del Sur (AR)
- Western Sydney University (AU)
- Universidade Federal de Goiás (BR)
- Universidad Nacional del Comahue (AR)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
- The University of Winnipeg (CA)
- Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Colorado State University (US)
- Leipzig University (DE)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-10-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads8144
- Citations
- 21
- Primary Topic
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 23.21