- Beyond productivity- Effects of extreme weather events on
ecosystem processes and biotic interactions (2012) - Under
global climate change, extreme weather events, such as heat
waves, drought or heavy rain spells, are projected to increase
in magnitude and frequency. As these may affect vegetation and
ecosystems more than gradual shifts in mean climatic parameters,
investigating the consequences of extreme weather events
recently became an important issue in climate change research.
The main focus of most experiments investigating effects of
extreme weather events on vegetation is on primary productivity.
In our experiment in artificially planted communities, even an
extreme drought of 1000-year recurrence did not have effects on
above- or below-ground biomass production from 2005-2010. Thus,
the main objectives of this thesis were (1) to investigate if
extreme weather events have an effect on ecosystem functions
beyond productivity, (2) to test if such a high resistance or
resilience in response to drought