When considering how ecosystems will react to climate change the importance of dead matter has been largely overlooked. Here we discuss why dead material is integral to ecosystem form and function, and why its persistence or degradation must be explicitly included in models considering ecosystem futures in a rapidly changing world.
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All authors contributed to manuscript conceptualization. K.A.B. led initial draft and figure preparation, and all authors contributed to manuscript writing, editing and reviewing. U.W. and S.H. contributed equally.
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Barnhill, K.A., Roberts, J.M., Myers-Smith, I. et al. Incorporating dead material in ecosystem assessments and projections. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 113–115 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01565-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01565-5