Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42710502›Full record

ArticleEcology2026

Drought conditions reorder plant communities through expansion of spatially sparse and temporally intermittent species.

Carmen R E Watkins, Beatriz A Aguirre, Y Anny Chung, Lukas P Bell-Dereske, Lauren M Hallett, David L Hoover, Laureano A Gherardi, Joan C Dudney, Megan E Wilcots, Jennifer A Rudgers and 6 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Ecology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Carmen R E WatkinsDepartment of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3870-3089
Beatriz A AguirreDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Y Anny ChungDepartment of Plant Biology and Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5207-2872
Lukas P Bell-DereskeInstitute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
Lauren M HallettDepartment of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0718-0257
David L HooverRangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9326-9791
Laureano A GherardiDepartment of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5743-1096
Joan C DudneyEnvironmental Studies Program, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3986-065X
Megan E WilcotsThe Nature Conservancy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0383-4065
Jennifer A RudgersDepartment of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7094-4857
Scott L CollinsDepartment of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0193-2892
Melinda D SmithDepartment of Biology and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4920-6985
Forest IsbellDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9689-769X
Tadashi FukamiDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5654-4785
Hanan FarahDepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
Cristina Portales-ReyesDepartment of Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0162-4785

Funding

Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment StationDivision of Environmental Biology 1137342Division of Environmental Biology 1137363Division of Environmental Biology 1137378Division of Environmental Biology 1354732Division of Environmental Biology 1440484Division of Environmental Biology 1929393Division of Environmental Biology 2419138Division of Environmental Biology 2423861Division of Environmental Biology 2425290Kansas State University Agricultural Research CenterUnited States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service High Plains Grasslands Research Station
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The frequency and severity of droughts are increasing in grasslands globally. Forecasting changes in community composition is challenging due to the direct and indirect effects of drought as well as varied species ecologies. Rare species are predicted to be more susceptible to perturbations, but extreme drought may also disproportionately reduce common species that are well adapted to modal environmental conditions. Resolving these contrasting effects is key to predicting species reordering in response to extreme drought. We explored how species drought responses varied by their spatial and temporal rarity, defined by their local abundances relative to co-occurring species, at six sites across a gradient of mean annual precipitation (MAP) in the Central USA. We found that in general, both spatially sparse and temporally intermittent species increased during and after drought, while common and persistent species declined. Responses were similar at four of the six sites across a gradient of MAP, but did not align with the precipitation gradient as expected. Instead, patterns depended on the characteristics of common species, where rarity was not related to drought responses at sites with many common, early-season, C

Indexed as

DroughtsPlantsTime Factorscommon speciesdrought recoverylegacy effectsrare speciesspatial raritytemporal rarity

Identifiers

PMID42710502
PMCPMC13553126

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.