A new multi-author scientific study says that preservation of plant biodiversity provides a crucial buffer to negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands. Preventing ecosystem degredation in a warming world is significant with drylands particularly vulnerable to environmental changes and desertification. Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of the land surface of the Earth and support 38% of the human population.
It is the first global study of its kind examining 224 dryland sites in 15 countries. The scientific paper - Plant Species Richness and Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Global Drylands (abstract) was published in the AAAS journal Science on 13 January 2012.
