Evidence of a threshold in soil erodibility generating differences in vegetation development and resilience between two semiarid grasslands

The typical patchy structure of dryland vegetation is a result of soil–plant feedbacks occurring in water-limited areas. The resilience of dryland ecosystems depends largely on the persistence of fertility islands associated with vegetated patches, which determines the efficiency of the vegetation regarding recolonising the gaps that result from disturbances. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms underlying soil–plant interactions throughout the process of the growth and senescence of alpha grass (Macrochloa tenacissima) and the subsequent disintegration of islands of fertility and microtopography formed during the process at two nearby alpha grass communities exhibiting different degrees of development. The life cycle of alpha grass and the rise and disintegration of the underlying microrelief were accompanied by feedback changes in the content of soil C fractions presenting different times of cycling and incorporation to the soil, the collection of particles from splash erosion, redistribution phenomena related to particles of different sizes, and erosion of the most easily erodible materials. Despite their ecological and geographical proximity, the study sites differ with respect to the persistence, after plant death, of fertility islands, which almost disappear in one case, while they remain in the other, constituting a resource for the growth of new plants and resulting in greater development and resilience in the community. A subtle erodibility threshold emerges as a cause of the considerable differences in vegetation between the two sites.

► We investigated plant–soil feedbacks in two nearby but different semiarid grasslands.
► The vegetation of both sites has not changed in the last 50 years.
► Feedbacks involve different sized particles and SOC with different turnover rates.
► Different rates of feedback arise as a result of differences in soil erodibility.
► The length of the feedback loop determines the persistence of fertility islands.