Essential Site Maintenance: Authorea-powered sites will be updated circa 15:00-17:00 Eastern on Tuesday 5 November.
There should be no interruption to normal services, but please contact us at [email protected] in case you face any issues.

loading page

Ecohydrology of Salt-Affected Ecosystems: From the Plant-hydraulics- to the Catchment-scale
  • Annalisa Molini,
  • Saverio Perri,
  • Amilcare Porporato
Annalisa Molini
Masdar Institute, Khalifa University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Saverio Perri
Princeton University
Author Profile
Amilcare Porporato
Princeton University
Author Profile

Abstract

Soil salinization represents one of the most widespread forms of land degradation worldwide, posing an enormous threat to food security, sustainable development, and ecosystem resilience across a wide range of climatic, hydrological, and socio-economic conditions. Globally, it already affects an area about the size of Continental United States (circa 1.1 Gha) and is expected to further intensify in response to climate change, sea-level rise (SLR), and increasing demand for crop production. Salt-affected soils are prevalent in arid regions, which are naturally prone to salt accumulation due to elevated evaporative demand and low precipitation input. However, salinity also plays a crucial role in regulating vegetation-climate interactions in highly carbon-intense tidal ecosystems - now threatened by SLR and coastal salinization. This contribution explores the hydrological controls of soil salinization across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales - ranging from the plant to the catchment scale. We focus, in particular, on how salinity affects the bi-directional interaction between vegetation and climate in both the dry land and tidal critical zone. Using both process-based models and observations, we unveil the central role of plant-salt tolerance in regulating soil-plant-atmosphere interactions and show how salinity acts as an aridity enhancer, able to exert major controls on vegetation-climate interactions in the critical zone.