The climate crisis leads to an increase in the frequency and severity of drought events. In my research, I am focusing on the implications of these drought events.
During the last summers, I studied the effects of recurrent drought on mountain grasslands at our study site in the Stubai Valley in Austria. We simulate summer drought with rainout shelters (see pictures below), to investigate effects on the plant species and communities. We compare the effects of single drought events with effects of recurrent drought events up to 14 years, to see if ecosystems can adapt to recurrent drought events or if they become increasingly impaired. A paper on this research will be published soon.
Further, I was involved in the research conducted in Styria, where we are investigating combined effects of warming and drought on grasslands. You can find the paper from our research here.
© Johannes Ingrisch/Natalie Oram