该文综述了干旱对陆地生态系统生产力的影响，分析了其影响机制，并总结了植被对干旱的响应与适应及其机理机制。干旱通过抑制光合作用来降低陆地生态系统总初级生产力，干旱还可以降低生态系统的自养呼吸和异养呼吸。同时干旱还可以通过影响其它干扰形式来间接影响陆地生态系统生产力，如增加火干扰的发生频率和强度，增加植物的死亡率，增加病虫害的发生等。在生态系统水平上干旱可以降低碳固定，减弱碳汇功能，甚至把生态系统从碳汇改变成碳源。目前生态系统水平上的干旱影响研究主要通过两种方法实现，一种是模型模拟，另一种就是大型模拟实验。作为陆地生态系统生产力的实现者，在干旱胁迫条件下，植物也会采取积极的适应策略以减弱干旱对生态系统生产力的影响，其适应策略主要分以下3种：在一些周期性发生干旱的地区，植物会调整生长期以避开干旱或通过休眠来减弱干旱所造成的伤害；还有一些植物会通过调节体内的代谢过程，改变一些生理特性来抵御干旱；而长期生活在干旱条件下的植物则通过进化来改变了自身的生理生化代谢过程，形成耐旱机制。目前，植物对干旱响应的分子学机制，以及生态系统水平上对干旱的响应和适应仍然是薄弱的领域，也必然成为未来研究的重点。
In recent years, there has been increasing concern about the impacts of drought stress on terrestrial ecosystem productivity and the carbon cycle in the context of global change. In this paper, we have reviewed recent progresses in understanding how drought stress affects terrestrial ecosystem processes and how ecosystems adapt to increasing drought stress. Drought stress could cause terrestrial ecosystems to act as a carbon source to the atmosphere by decreasing terrestrial gross primary productivity. Drought stress also results in a reduction of both autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration. Drought often associates wit h high rates of fire intensity, plant mortality and disease, which could lead to a large reduction of terrestrial ecosystem productivity. However, plant and eco system respond to drought dress in a complex way. There are three adaptation strategies that plants can live with a drought condition: 1) some plants adjust their growing season to avoid drought stress; 2) some other plants modify their internal mechanism to counter drought stress; 3) the other plants hold some physiological properties to tolerate drought stress. Experimental and modeling investigations of how ecosystems respond to drought and associated stresses are clearly needed in the future research.