Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil, and biodiversity are critical to explain the delivery of fundamental ecosystem services across drylands worldwide. Increasing grazing pressure reduced ecosystem service delivery in warmer and species-poor drylands, whereas positive effects of grazing were observed in colder and species-rich areas. Considering interactions between grazing and local abiotic and biotic factors is key for understanding the fate of dryland ecosystems under climate change and increasing human pressure.

Cocoa production in the Ecuadorian Ama- zon is an important source of income for the local population. There is a wide variety of cocoa production systems, from enriched primary forests to traditional agroforestry systems and monoculture. This study asses- ses the relationship between tree diver- sity, carbon stocks, agricultural productivity and forest use potential under three land use systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon: cocoa-based agroforestry (Cocoa AFS), cocoa monoculture (Monoculture) and pri- mary forest (PF). Understanding and quan- tifying the tradeoffs between different eco- system services related to cocoa production systems can contribute to the conservation of primary forests and help to optimize income for local people. Species richness, beta-diversity, carbon stocks (above- and below-ground biomass, necromass and soil), and cocoa and timber production were determined for each system in 1,600 m2 study plots (n=28). The results show that beta diversity, species richness and carbon stocks were significantly higher in PF and Cocoa AFS, whereas cocoa production was1.5 times higher in the Monoculture than in Cocoa AFS. In both cocoa systems, species richness, beta diversity and total C were negatively correlated with cocoa produc- tivity. Although our results show that co- coa monoculture was more profitable than Cocoa AFS for the farmers, a monetary pay- ment based on carbon credits for avoided deforestation could be a viable strategy to support the implementation of Cocoa AFS, which would help conservation efforts and climate change mitigation while sustaining commercial cocoa production in the area.