Several studies have proven that biodiversity is crucial to keeping our climate healthy and strong, but that’s especially true in drylands. A new study from Ben-Gurion University takes a closer look at the relationship between biodiversity and the ability of an eco-system to do multiple things at a time – like store carbon and create nutrient pools (called multifunctionality).

How exactly does the relationship work? Eco-systems in drylands have a better chance of being multifunctional, which is very important for our climate, if there is rich plant biodiversity. And when increasingly warm temperatures make it impossible for those plants to survive, multifunctionality, too, suffers.

That’s no small discovery because 41% of the earth’s surface is made up of drylands. The study, which appeared in the journal Science, also reports that 38% of the global human population live on those drylands and depend on healthy eco-systems for their survival.