The African continent hosts some of the largest freshwater systems worldwide, characterized
by a large distribution and variability of surface waters that play a key role in the water …

Drylands are home to more than 38% of the world's population and are one of the most
sensitive areas to climate change and human activities. This review describes recent …

Forest ecosystems depend on their capacity to withstand and recover from natural and
anthropogenic perturbations (that is, their resilience) 1. Experimental evidence of sudden …

Global vegetation and associated ecosystem services critically depend on soil moisture
availability which has decreased in many regions during the last three decades. While …

Climate change is expected to impact the functioning of the entire Earth system. However,
detecting changes in ecosystem dynamics and attributing such change to anthropogenic …

Surface-water availability, defined as precipitation minus evapotranspiration, can be affected
by changes in vegetation. These impacts can be local, due to the modification of …

Both seasonal and annual mean precipitation and evaporation influence patterns of water
availability impacting society and ecosystems. Existing global climate studies rarely consider …

Degradation of ecosystems can occur when certain ecological thresholds are passed below
which ecosystem responses remain within 'safe ecological limits'. Ecosystems such as …

Aridity, which is increasing worldwide because of climate change, affects the structure and
functioning of dryland ecosystems. Whether aridification leads to gradual (versus abrupt) …

The character and health of ecosystems worldwide is tightly coupled to changes in Earth's
climate. Theory suggests that ecosystem resilience—the ability of ecosystems to resist and …