The ongoing climate change is pushing many dry ecosystems to decay due to increased intensity and frequency of dry spells, as well as growing aridity associated to climate warming. Long-term research might be decisive to untangle the main mechanisms underpinning changes in natural plant assemblages.
I designed a long-term research in the sandy plains of Cuéllar (central/north Spain) to understand the potential consequences of ongoing increments in drought and aridity on structure and functioning of annual plant assemblages established in sandy soils. I manipulated the soil lichen cover to explore how this organisms modulate the responses of annual plants to climatic variability. Herbaceous plants abundance, cover, height and richness during the peak of aboveground biomass production (early June) are being monitored every year since 2010.