Abstract
The influence of smaller rain events on the survival of arid-zone animal populations is still unclear. In arid Australia, most arthropods declined with increasing drought, as predicted by current pulse–reserve models. However, the abundance of many taxa increased dramatically after a small summer rain event. Soil-dwelling arthropods retained high abundances after the onset of winter temperatures and lack of subsequent rain. Clearly, small rain events can buffer some taxa from declines during drought, highlighting their surprising ability to benefit from rain inputs that do not dramatically influence primary productivity. We introduce a new model of animal responses to rainfall in the arid zone. Photo credits: Kimberly Maute. These photographs illustrate the article “Surviving drought: a framework for understanding animal responses to small rain events in the arid-zone” by Kimberly Maute, Grant C Hose, Paul Story, C. Michael Bull and Kristine French published in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2884
Highlights
Arid zones are characterized by stressful climate conditions, including large seasonal variation in temperatures, and highly unpredictable fluctuations in rain epitomized by the simple pulse-reserve model of ecosystem change developed for large changes in rainfall (NoyMeir 1973)
We suggest that the rapid increases in arthropod abundance we observed were driven by a rain event that was of an insufficient magnitude to elicit significant perennial plant responses, but caused a sufficient increase in the activity of soil microbes and annual plants to provide temporary resources for breeding invertebrates (Schwinning and Sala 2004)
Our findings provide the framework for a new model of invertebrate responses to environmental conditions in the arid zone
Summary
Arid zones are characterized by stressful climate conditions, including large seasonal variation in temperatures, and highly unpredictable fluctuations in rain epitomized by the simple pulse-reserve model of ecosystem change developed for large changes in rainfall (NoyMeir 1973). Rain events influence nutrient cycling and the structure of arid-zone animal and plant communities in a complex fashion, dependent on the timing, magnitude, and duration of rainfall, as well as local abiotic (soil type) and biotic (community type) conditions (Reynolds et al 2004, Morton et al 2011, Nano and Pavey 2013, Jentsch and White 2019). The importance of small rain events over longer-term drought may be critical in maintaining arid-zone populations
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