Woody plant proliferation in North American drylands: A synthesis of impacts on ecosystem carbon balance

[1] Changes in the magnitude and direction of ecosystem carbon (C) balance accompanying woody plant encroachment are among the largest contributors to the uncertainty in the North American C budget. In this synthesis we identify the important species contributing to woody encroachment, summarize our current knowledge of aboveground and belowground C storage change with woody encroachment, and evaluate the range of human and natural disturbance...