The Relationship Between Grazing Pressure and Environmental Factors Drives Vegetation Fragmentation Across Global Drylands

作者：Yanchuang Zhao, Sonia Kéfi, Emilio Guirado, Miguel Berdugo, David J. Eldridge, Nicolas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Hugo Sáiz, Sergio Asensio, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Jaime Martínez‐Valderrama, César Plaza, Enrique Valencia, Fernando T. Maestre · 发表于：Global Ecology and Biogeography · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1111/geb.70098 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Ecosystem dynamics and resilience、Land Use and Ecosystem Services

ABSTRACT Aim To evaluate how grazing pressure, a key land‐use factor, interacts with climatic, vegetation, and soil variables to shape the fragmentation of perennial vegetation across drylands globally. Location 171 plots across 25 countries on six continents. Time Period Field data: 2016–2019. Major Taxa Studied Perennial grasses, shrubs, and woody plants. Methods We conducted a standardised field survey across 171 45 m × 45 m plots to assess grazing pressure, vegetation, and soil properties. Vegetation fragmentation was quantified using three patch‐based metrics derived from high‐resolution satellite images. Linear mixed‐effects models were used to relate fragmentation to climatic, vegetation, and soil variables. Predictor importance was assessed through multi‐model inference and validated using a random forest approach. Results Vegetation fragmentation increased with aridity, and this effect was 4.7 times stronger under high grazing pressure than under low pressure. The most influential interactions involved grazing pressure with soil amelioration (49.7% importance) and with vegetation cover (44.6%). Soil amelioration—measured as the enrichment of soil organic carbon beneath vegetation—reduced fragmentation, especially under high grazing pressure. In contrast, the ability of vegetation cover to sustain large patches diminished as grazing intensity increased. Soil amelioration was strongly linked to the proportion of facilitated plant species ( p < 0.01), whereas soil or...