In seasons of increased precipitation, forage availability improves dramatically (Niamir-Fuller and Turner 1999; Gregory et al. 2008) whereas in years of drought, forage becomes scarce.
A possible explanation could be that higher precipitation facilitates feed availability during the dry season, which subsequently minimizes mortality and increases births, leading to increased goat populations (Mapiye et al. [2009]).
Mera et al. [32] included the effect of solar radiation in their research and found a non-linear contribution to yield development, however, not as prominent as changes in precipitation or water availability.
In general, the temporal variability is similar, indicating similar forcing and similar response to precipitation and moisture availability, both important drivers of vegetation productivity in drier parts of Africa [22,59].
This instance can be attributed to the complete mobilisation of iron through iron oxyhydroxide precipitation and the availability of calcium ions induced by the dissolution of calcium carbonates present on Xiaheyan outcrops during palaeo-weathering.
The increasing pressure of tourism on water resources in many Mediterranean coastal areas, and uncertainty related to future precipitation and water availability, make it urgent to understand the spatio-temporal response of groundwater bodies to precipitation variability, if sustainable use of the resource is to be achieved.
The three environmental factors being manipulated in this experiment, atmospheric [CO2], air temperature, and precipitation, alter light availability and soil moisture, either directly or indirectly via changes in the plant community; hence, they might also influence the establishment of woody species in these old-field ecosystems [5].
Variability in precipitation influences habitat availability for Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus larvae and pupae.
Given that the second principal component was related to the light conditions (radiation and sunshine) and water availability (precipitation and snow cover), we hypothesize that microhabitat conditions can be a factor in local adaptation.
PC1 was related to the three temperature variables (daily mean, maximum and minimum air temperature) as well as the altitude, whereas PC2 was related to the light conditions (radiation and sunshine) and water availability (precipitation and snow cover).
