Soil biotic processes remain remarkably stable after 100-year extreme weather events in experimental grassland and heath

Climate change will increase the recurrence of extreme weather events such as drought and heavy rainfall. Evidence suggests that extreme weather events pose threats to ecosystem functioning, particularly to nutrient cycling and biomass production. These ecosystem functions depend strongly on below-ground biotic processes, including the activity and interactions among plants, soil fauna, and micro-organisms. Here, experimental grassland and heath communities of three phytodiversity levels were exposed either to a simulated single drought or to a heavy rainfall event. Both weather manipulations were repeated for two consecutive years. The magnitude of manipulations imitated the local 100-year extreme weather event. Heavy rainfall events increased below-ground plant biomass and stimulated soil enzyme activities as well as decomposition rates for both plant communities. In contrast, extreme drought did not reduce below-ground plant biomass and root length, soil enzyme activities, and cellulose decomposition rate. The low responsiveness of the measured ecosystem properties in face of the applied weather manipulations rendered the detection of significant interactions between weather events and phytodiversity impossible. Our data indicate on the one hand the close interaction between below ground plant parameters and microbial turnover processes in soil; on the other hand it shows that the plant–soil system can buffer against extreme drought events, at last for the period of investigation.     

Invasibility of grassland and heath communities exposed to extreme weather events – additive effects of diversity resistance and fluctuating physical environment

Understanding the resistance of plant communities to invasion is urgent in times of changes in the physical environment due to climate change and changes in the resident communities due to biodiversity loss. Here, we test the interaction between repeated drought or heavy rainfall events and functional diversity of grassland and heath communities on invasibility, measured as the number of plant individuals invading from the matrix vegetation. Invasibility of experimental plant communities was influenced by extreme weather events, although no change in above‐ground productivity of the resident communities was observed. Drought decreased invasibility while heavy rainfall increased invasibility, a pattern that is consistent with the fluctuating resource hypothesis. Higher community diversity generally decreased invasibility, which can be explained by a combination of the fluctuating resource hypothesis and niche theory. The effects of the physical environment (extreme weather events) and diversity resistance (community composition) were additive, as they were independent from each other. Differences in the composition of invading species sets were found, and Indicator Species Analysis revealed several invading species with significant affinity to one particular extreme weather event or community composition. This finding supports niche theory and contradicts neutral species assembly. Our data supports theories which predict decreased resistance of plant communities due to both increased climate variability and biodiversity loss. The effects of these two factors, however, appear to be independent from each other.     

Recurrent Mild Drought Events Increase Resistance Toward Extreme Drought Stress

The frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events such as drought are expected to increase in the future. At present, plant responses to recurrent extreme events have been sparsely examined and the role of stress history on subsequent stress response has been widely neglected. In a long-term field experiment, we investigated the response of grassland and heath communities to a very severe drought event, which exceeded the duration of projected drought scenarios. During the preceding 6 years, the plant communities experienced scenarios of varying water supply, including annually recurring drought, heavy rain, regular watering, and natural drought periods. Single species and plant communities that were regularly watered in the preceding years revealed the highest tissue die-back under a very severe drought when compared to plants that experienced mild or severe drought stress before. Contrary to expectations, the root to shoot ratio did not increase due to previous recurrent drought occurrences. Furthermore, pre-exposure effects on Vaccinium myrtillus and Plantago lanceolata tissue die-back and reproductive biomass (P. lanceolata) were altered by community composition. Recurrent mild drought stress seems to improve drought resistance of plant communities and species. Potential reasons could be epigenetic changes or soil biotic legacies. Morphological legacies such as altered root to shoot ratio did not play a role in our study. Imprinting events which trigger this ecological stress memory do not have to be extreme themselves. Thresholds, longevity of effects, and the role of biodiversity shown by the importance of community composition require further attention.     

Beyond gradual warming: extreme weather events alter flower phenology of European grassland and heath species

Shifts in the phenology of plant and animal species or in the migratory arrival of birds are seen as ‘fingerprints’ of global warming. However, even if such responses have been documented in large continent‐wide datasets of the northern hemisphere, all studies to date correlate the phenological pattern of various taxa with gradual climatic trends. Here, we report a previously unobserved phenomenon: severe drought and heavy rain events caused phenological shifts in plants of the same magnitude as one decade of gradual warming. We present data from two vegetation periods in an experimental setting containing the first evidence of shifted phenological response of 10 grassland and heath species to simulated 100‐year extreme weather events in Central Europe. Averaged over all species, 32 days of drought significantly advanced the mid‐flowering date by 4 days. The flowering length was significantly extended by 4 days. Heavy rainfall (170 mm over 14 days) had no significant effect on the mid‐flowering date. However, heavy rainfall reduced the flowering length by several days. Observed shifts were species‐specific, (e.g. drought advanced the mid‐flowering date for Holcus lanatus by 1.5 days and delayed the mid‐flowering date for Calluna vulgaris by 5.7 days, heavy rain advanced mid‐flowering date of Lotus corniculatus by 26.6 days and shortened the flowering length of the same species by 36.9 days). Interestingly, the phenological response of individual species was modified by community composition. For example, the mid‐flowering date of C. vulgaris was delayed after drought by 9.3 days in communities composed of grasses and dwarf shrubs compared with communities composed of dwarf shrubs only. This indicates that responses to extreme events are context specific. Additionally, the phenological response of experimental communities to extreme weather events can be modified by the functional diversity of a stand. Future studies on phenological response patterns related to climate change would profit from explicitly addressing the role of extreme weather events.     

Extreme weather events and plant–plant interactions: shifts between competition and facilitation among grassland species in the face of drought and heavy rainfall

Biotic interactions play an important role in ecosystem function and structure in the face of global climate change. We tested how plant–plant interactions, namely competition and facilitation among grassland species, respond to extreme drought and heavy rainfall events. We also examined how the functional composition (grasses, forbs, legumes) of grassland communities influenced the competition intensity for grass species when facing extreme events. We exposed experimental grassland communities of different functional compositions to either an extreme single drought event or to a prolonged heavy rainfall event. Relative neighbour effect, relative crowding and interaction strength were calculated for five widespread European grassland species to quantify competition. Single climatic extremes caused species specific shifts in plant–plant interactions from facilitation to competition or vice versa but the nature of the shifts varied depending on the community composition. Facilitation by neighbouring plants was observed for Arrhenatherum elatius when subjected to drought. Contrarily, the facilitative effect of neighbours on Lotus corniculatus was transformed into competition. Heavy rainfall increased the competitive effect of neighbours on Holcus lanatus and Lotus corniculatus in communities composed of three functional groups. Competitive pressure on Geranium pratense and Plantago lanceolata was not affected by extreme weather events. Neither heavy rainfall nor extreme drought altered the overall productivity of the grassland communities. The complementary responses in competition intensity experienced by grassland species under drought suggest biotic interactions as one stabilizing mechanism for overall community performance. Understanding competitive dynamics under fluctuating resources is important for assessing plant community shifts and degree of stability of ecosystem functions.     

Stability of above-ground and below-ground processes to extreme drought in model grassland ecosystems: Interactions with plant species diversity and soil nitrogen availability

Extreme drought events have the potential to cause dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and function, but the controls upon ecosystem stability to drought remain poorly understood. Here we used model systems of two commonly occurring, temperate grassland communities to investigate the short-term interactive effects of a simulated 100-year summer drought event, soil nitrogen (N) availability and plant species diversity (low/high) on key ecosystem processes related to carbon (C) and N cycling. Whole ecosystem CO₂ fluxes and leaching losses were recorded during drought and post-rewetting. Litter decomposition and C/N stocks in vegetation, soil and soil microbes were assessed 4 weeks after the end of drought. Experimental drought caused strong reductions in ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem CO₂ exchange, but ecosystem fluxes recovered rapidly following rewetting irrespective of N and species diversity. As expected, root C stocks and litter decomposition were adversely affected by drought across all N and plant diversity treatments. In contrast, drought increased soil water retention, organic nutrient leaching losses and soil fertility. Drought responses of above-ground vegetation C stocks varied depending on plant diversity, with greater stability of above-ground vegetation C to drought in the high versus low diversity treatment. This positive effect of high plant diversity on above-ground vegetation C stability coincided with a decrease in the stability of microbial biomass C. Unlike species diversity, soil N availability had limited effects on the stability of ecosystem processes to extreme drought. Overall, our findings indicate that extreme drought events promote post-drought soil nutrient retention and soil fertility, with cascading effects on ecosystem C fixation rates. Data on above-ground ecosystem processes underline the importance of species diversity for grassland function in a changing environment. Furthermore, our results suggest that plant–soil interactions play a key role for the short-term stability of above-ground vegetation C storage to extreme drought events.     

Invader presence disrupts the stabilizing effect of species richness in plant community recovery after drought

Higher biodiversity can stabilize the productivity and functioning of grassland communities when subjected to extreme climatic events. The positive biodiversity–stability relationship emerges via increased resistance and/or recovery to these events. However, invader presence might disrupt this diversity–stability relationship by altering biotic interactions. Investigating such disruptions is important given that invasion by non‐native species and extreme climatic events are expected to increase in the future due to anthropogenic pressure. Here we present one of the first multisite invader × biodiversity × drought manipulation experiment to examine combined effects of biodiversity and invasion on drought resistance and recovery at three semi‐natural grassland sites across Europe. The stability of biomass production to an extreme drought manipulation (100% rainfall reduction; BE: 88 days, BG: 85 days, DE: 76 days) was quantified in field mesocosms with a richness gradient of 1, 3, and 6 species and three invasion treatments (no invader, Lupinus polyphyllus, Senecio inaequidens). Our results suggest that biodiversity stabilized community productivity by increasing the ability of native species to recover from extreme drought events. However, invader presence turned the positive and stabilizing effects of diversity on native species recovery into a neutral relationship. This effect was independent of the two invader's own capacity to recover from an extreme drought event. In summary, we found that invader presence may disrupt how native community interactions lead to stability of ecosystems in response to extreme climatic events. Consequently, the interaction of three global change drivers, climate extremes, diversity decline, and invasive species, may exacerbate their effects on ecosystem functioning.     

Species richness effects on grassland recovery from drought depend on community productivity in a multisite experiment

Biodiversity can buffer ecosystem functioning against extreme climatic events, but few experiments have explicitly tested this. Here, we present the first multisite biodiversity × drought manipulation experiment to examine drought resistance and recovery at five temperate and Mediterranean grassland sites. Aboveground biomass production declined by 30% due to experimental drought (standardised local extremity by rainfall exclusion for 72–98 consecutive days). Species richness did not affect resistance but promoted recovery. Recovery was only positively affected by species richness in low‐productive communities, with most diverse communities even showing overcompensation. This positive diversity effect could be linked to asynchrony of species responses. Our results suggest that a more context‐dependent view considering the nature of the climatic disturbance as well as the productivity of the studied system will help identify under which circumstances biodiversity promotes drought resistance or recovery. Stability of biomass production can generally be expected to decrease with biodiversity loss and climate change.     

Acacia,climate, and geochemistry in Australia

Background

Nitrogen-fixing legumes are key species in grassland ecosystems, as their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen can facilitate neighboring plants. However, little is known about the fate of this legume effect in the face of extreme weather events, which are increasingly expected to occur.

Methods

Here, we examined experimentally how the presence of a legume modifies above-ground net primary production (ANPP) and nitrogen supply of neighboring non-legumes under annually recurrent pulsed drought and heavy rainfall events by comparing responses of three key species in European grassland versus without legume presence over 4 years.

Results

Legume presence facilitated community productivity of neighboring non-legumes under ambient weather conditions and also under experimental heavy rainfall. However, no facilitation of community productivity by the legume was found under experimental drought. Productivity of the three target species responded species-specifically to legume presence under different weather conditions: Holcus lanatus was facilitated only under control conditions, Plantago lanceolata was facilitated only under heavy rainfall, and Arrhenatherum elatius was facilitated irrespective of climate manipulations. The legume effects on δ ¹⁵N, leaf N concentration, and N uptake were also species-specific, yet irrespective of the climate manipulations. The data suggest that the missing legume effect on community productivity under the pulsed drought was rather caused by reduced N-uptake of the target species than by reduced N-fixation by the legume.

Conclusions

In contrast to heavy rain, the presence of a legume could not effectively buffer community ANPP against the negative effects of extreme drought events in an experimental temperate grassland. Facilitation also depends on the key species that are dominating a grassland community.     

Variability of water supply affected shoot biomass and root depth distribution of four temperate grassland species in monocultures and mixtures

极端降雨事件对生态系统功能影响的研究主要集中在干旱或洪水事件，通常包括全年或某个季度的平均或总降雨量的变化。然而，在不改变平均量或总量的情况下，增加降雨变异性的影响还很少被研究。本研究调查了增加水分供应变异性对单一栽培和混合栽培下4种草原植物的地上和根系生物量以及根系生物量分布的影响。将多年生黑麦草(Lolium perenne L., 浅根)，菊苣(Cichorium intybus L., 深根)，白车轴草(Trifolium repens L., 浅根)和红车轴草(Trifolium pratense L., 深根)种植在中型实验生态系统中。单一栽培条件下种植4株同种植物，混合栽 培条件下每种植物各1株。水分供应变异性处理设置低中高3种水平：与低变异水分供应处理相比，另设置一个中度变异处理(±40%)和高度变 异处理(±80%)，测定了地上和根的生物量，拟合了根系垂直分布模型。研究结果表明，与低变异处理相比，白车轴草，红车轴草和4种植物 混种群落的茎生物量在高变异处理下显著减少。在所有处理中，4种植物混种群落产生的茎和根生物量比单一栽培(超产)中物种表现所预测的要多。在水分变异增加的情况下，菊苣在单一栽培下根系分配了更多的生物量到更深的土层，而白车轴草在单一栽培下根系总生物量显著降 低。这些结果表明，水分供应变异的增加会对单一栽培和混合栽培草地的地上和根的生物量产生负面影响。在野外尺度上，水分变异对多物种 草地系统功能的影响需要进一步研究。     

小叶锦鸡儿灌丛化对典型草原群落结构与生态系统功能的影响

草原灌丛化是全球干旱半干旱地区面临的重要生态问题。灌丛化对草原生态系统结构与功能的影响较为复杂, 有待于在更广泛的区域开展研究。该研究在内蒙古锡林郭勒典型草原选择轻度、中度和重度灌丛化草地, 通过群落调查, 结合植物功能性状和土壤理化性质观测, 研究了小叶锦鸡儿(Caragana microphylla)灌丛化对草原群落结构(物种多样性、功能多样性和功能群组成)和生态系统功能(初级生产力、植被和土壤养分库)的影响。结果表明: 1)不同程度灌丛化草地的物种丰富度、功能性状多样性和群落加权性状平均值差异显著, 其中, 中度灌丛化草地的物种多样性和功能多样性较高, 表明一定程度的灌丛化有利于生物多样性维持。2)重度灌丛化草地的地上净初级生产力(ANPP)显著高于轻度和中度灌丛化草地, 其原因主要是随着灌丛化程度加剧, 群落内一/二年生草本植物显著增加, 而多年生禾草和多年生杂类草显著减少。三个灌丛化草地的植被叶片和土壤碳、氮库差异均不显著。3)灌丛化对草原生态系统功能包括ANPP、植被和土壤养分库均没有直接的影响, 而是通过影响功能群组成、土壤理化性质和功能多样性, 间接地影响生态系统功能; 灌丛化导致功能群发生替代和土壤旱碱化是最重要的生物和非生物因素。     

高寒草甸不同草地类型功能群多样性及组成对植物群落生产力的影响

对不同类型草地功能群多样性和组成与植物群落生产力之间的关系进行了探讨。结果表明：(1)在矮嵩草(Kobresia humlis)草甸和金露梅(Potentilla froticosa)灌丛中,豆科植物的作用比较明显,而其他功能群植物的作用较弱。(2)在藏嵩草(Kobresia tibetica)沼泽化草甸和小嵩草(K．pygmaca)草甸中,虽然杂类草、C3植物和莎草科植物功能群的生产力占群落初级生产力的比例较大,但二者在统计上没有显著性差异,这表明群落生产力除受物种多样性的影响外,也受物种本身特征和环境资源的影响,更主要的是受到功能群内物种密度和均匀度的影响,即功能群组成比功能群多样性更能说明对生态系统过程的影响。(3)不同类型草地群落植物功能群盖度与群落初级生产力呈显著的线性相关。(4)不同类型草地群落生产力与功能群内物种数的变化均表现为单峰曲线关系,即功能群内物种数处于中间水平时,群落生产力最高。     

Do changes in rainfall patterns affect semiarid annual plant communities?

Question: Climate change models forecast a reduction in annual precipitation and more extreme events (less rainy days and longer drought periods between rainfall events), which may have profound effects on terrestrial ecosystems. Plant growth, population and community dynamics in dry environments are likely to be affected by these changes since productivity is already limited by water availability. We tested the effects of reduced precipitation and fewer rain events on three semiarid plant communities dominated by annual species. Location: Three semiarid plant communities from Almería province (SE Spain). Methods: Rain‐out shelters were set up in each community and watering quantity and frequency were manipulated from autumn to early summer. Plant productivity, cover and diversity were measured at the end of the experimental period. Results: We found that a 50% reduction in watering reduced productivity, plant cover and diversity in all three communities. However, neither the 25% reduction in watering nor changes in the frequency of watering events affected these parameters. Conclusions: The lack of response to small reductions in water could be due to the identity and resistance of the plant communities involved, which are adapted to rainfall variability characteristic of arid environments. Therefore, a rainfall reduction of 25% or less may not affect these plant communities in the short term, although higher reductions or long‐term changes in water availability would probably reduce productivity and diversity in these communities.     

El Niño-Southern Oscillation, rainfall, temperature and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index fluctuations in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem

Understanding long-term climatic variability is basic to wise management and conservation of biodiversity. We analysed temporal variations in the local rainfall, temperature, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and the hemispheric El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), using the Southern Oscillation Index and how they co varied in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem of Kenya and Tanzania. Local rainfall showed a striking temporal variability and an evident 5-year quasi-periodicity in the ecosystem. Severe droughts were a recurrent/persistent feature of the ecosystem but extreme floods were relatively infrequent. The timings of droughts and floods coincided with strong episodes in the activities of the ENSO phenomenon. Above-average rainfall often accompanied cold ENSO episodes and below-average rainfall warm ENSO events, contrary to past generalizations suggesting that warm ENSO events are only associated with above-average rainfall whereas cold ENSO events with below-average rainfall in equatorial East Africa. Both minimum and maximum temperatures were below-normal during cold ENSO episodes and above-normal during warm ENSO events. Rising temperatures and declining rainfall throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, with unprecedently prolonged and strong ENSO episodes, engendered progressive habitat desiccation and reduction in vegetation production in the ecosystem. This exacerbated the debilitating effects of adverse weather on local plant and animal communities, resulting in high mortalities of ungulates.     

基于NDVI的云南省2009-2010年干旱遗产效应研究

气候变化正导致干旱事件发生的强度、频度显著改变,极端气候事件发生的不确定性直接影响陆地生态系统关键生态过程。我国西南地区在2009-2010年发生百年一遇的极端干旱,目前关于植被生长在长时间尺度对此次干旱事件的响应尚不明确。以云南省为研究区,基于多年Normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)影像数据以及长时间序列气象资料对此次极端事件的干旱遗产效应开展研究,分析了干旱遗产效应的持续时间以及不同植被类型的响应差异。结果表明:1)云南省植被生长在极端干旱事件发生后受到的抑制时间大约持续1-2年,受影响区域主要集中在遭遇降水严重减少的地区;2)海拔2000 m附近为植被对干旱响应最为敏感的区域,海拔高于4000 m的植被生长几乎未受到干旱影响;3)较之草地和农田,森林植被受到的抑制作用更为强烈。研究揭示了极端干旱对云南省植被生长造成的影响,为该地区未来应对极端干旱并有效开展植被恢复提供理论依据。     

Carbon and Nitrogen Decoupling Under an 11-Year Drought in the Shortgrass Steppe

The frequency and magnitude of drought is expected to increase in the US Great Plains under future climate regimes. Although semiarid systems are considered highly resistant to water limitation, novel drought events could alter linkages among biogeochemical processes, and result in new feedbacks that influence the timescale of ecosystem recovery. We examined changes in carbon and nitrogen cycling in the last 2 years of an 11-year drought manipulation in the shortgrass steppe, and under the first 2 years of recovery from drought. We measured plant production, plant tissue chemistry, soil trace gas flux, and soil inorganic nitrogen dynamics to test the extent that this magnitude of drought altered carbon and nitrogen fluxes and how these changes affected post-drought dynamics. We found that soil inorganic nitrogen was up to five times higher under severe drought than under control conditions, but that this nitrogen may not have been accessible to plants and microbial communities during drought due to diffusion limitations. Drought plots had higher N₂O flux when they received equal rainfall pulses, showing that this accumulated N may be vulnerable to loss. In addition, plants in drought plots had higher tissue nitrogen for 2 years following drought. These results show that decadal-length droughts that may occur under future precipitation regimes are likely to alter ecosystem properties through interactions among precipitation, vegetation, and N cycling. Shifts in plant N, vulnerability of nitrogen to loss, and rainfall use efficiency that we observed are likely to affect the recovery time of semiarid systems subject to droughts of this magnitude.     

Effects of extreme weather events and legume presence on mycorrhization of Plantago lanceolata and Holcus lanatus in the field

Little is known about direct and indirect effects of extreme weather events on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) under field conditions. In a field experiment, we investigated the response of mycorrhization to drought and heavy rain in grassland communities. We quantified AMF biomass in soil, mycorrhization of roots of the grass Holcus lanatus and the forb Plantago lanceolata, as well as plant performance. Plants were grown in four‐species communities with or without a legume. We hypothesised that drought increases and heavy rain decreases mycorrhization, and that higher mycorrhization will be linked to improved stress resistance and higher biomass production. Soil AMF biomass increased under both weather extremes. Heavy rain generally benefitted plants and increased arbuscules in P. lanceolata. Drought neither reduced plant performance nor root mycorrhization. Arbuscules increased in H. lanatus several weeks after drought, and in P. lanceolata several weeks after heavy rain spells. These long‐lasting effects of weather events on mycorrhization highlight the indirect influence of climate on AMF via their host plant. Legume presence increased plant community biomass, but had only minor effects on mycorrhization. Arbuscule colonisation was negatively correlated with senescence during the dry summer. Mycorrhization and biomass production in P. lanceolata were positively related. However, increased mycorrhization was related to less biomass in the grass. AMF mycelium in soil might generally increase under extreme events, root colonisation, however, is host species specific. This might amplify community shifts in grassland under climate change by further increasing stress resistance of species that already benefit from changed precipitation.     

Heterogeneous flows foster heterogeneous assemblages: relationships between functional diversity and hydrological heterogeneity in riparian plant communities

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Ecosystem functions are resistant to extreme changes to rainfall regimes in a mesotrophic grassland

Aims

Major changes to rainfall regimes are predicted for the future but the effect of such changes on terrestrial ecosystem function is largely unknown. We created a rainfall manipulation experiment to investigate the effects of extreme changes in rainfall regimes on ecosystem functioning in a grassland system.

Methods

We applied two rainfall regimes; a prolonged drought treatment (30 % reduction over spring and summer) and drought/downpour treatment (long periods of no rainfall interspersed with downpours), with an ambient control. Both rainfall manipulations included increased winter rainfall. We measured plant community composition, CO₂ fluxes and soil nutrient availability.

Results

Plant species richness and cover were lower in the drought/downpour treatment, and showed little recovery after the treatment ceased. Ecosystem processes were less affected, possibly due to winter rainfall additions buffering reduced summer rainfall, which saw relatively small soil moisture changes. However, soil extractable P and ecosystem respiration were significantly higher in rainfall change treatments than in the control.

Conclusions

This grassland appears fairly resistant, in the short term, to even the more extreme rainfall changes that are predicted for the region, although prolonged study is needed to measure longer-term impacts. Differences in ecosystem responses between the two treatments emphasise the variety of ecosystem responses to changes in both the size and frequency of rainfall events. Given that model predictions are inconsistent there is therefore a need to assess ecosystem function under a range of potential climate change scenarios.     

Precipitation amount and event size interact to reduce ecosystem functioning during dry years in a mesic grassland

Ongoing intensification of the hydrological cycle is altering rainfall regimes by increasing the frequency of extreme wet and dry years and the size of individual rainfall events. Despite long‐standing recognition of the importance of precipitation amount and variability for most terrestrial ecosystem processes, we lack understanding of their interactive effects on ecosystem functioning. We quantified this interaction in native grassland by experimentally eliminating temporal variability in growing season rainfall over a wide range of precipitation amounts, from extreme wet to dry conditions. We contrasted the rain use efficiency (RUE) of above‐ground net primary productivity (ANPP) under conditions of experimentally reduced versus naturally high rainfall variability using a 32‐year precipitation–ANPP dataset from the same site as our experiment. We found that increased growing season rainfall variability can reduce RUE and thus ecosystem functioning by as much as 42% during dry years, but that such impacts weaken as years become wetter. During low precipitation years, RUE is lowest when rainfall event sizes are relatively large, and when a larger proportion of total rainfall is derived from large events. Thus, a shift towards precipitation regimes dominated by fewer but larger rainfall events, already documented over much of the globe, can be expected to reduce the functioning of mesic ecosystems primarily during drought, when ecosystem processes are already compromised by low water availability.