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Drylands are regarded as highly sensitive to climatic change. The putative positive relationship between average annual rainfall and runoff, assumed for areas between 100 and 300 mm ignores the fact that climatic change in drylands is not limited to climatic factors alone, but is often accompanied by a parallel change in surface properties. Data on rainfall, runoff and soil moisture regime were collected at five monitoring sites in a sandy area, along a rainfall gradient from 86 to 160 mm. Despite the uniform sandy substratum the frequency and magnitude of runoff declined with increasing annual rainfall. Under wetter conditions a thick topsoil biological crust develops. This crust is able to absorb and retain large rain amounts, limiting the depth to which water can penetrate, and therefore water availability for the perennial vegetation. In the drier area, the thin crust can absorb only limited rain amounts, resulting in surface runoff and deeper water infiltration at run-on areas. Our findings demonstrate the important role played by different types of biological soil crusts along the rainfall gradient considered, and question the generally held belief that higher rainfall necessarily leads to deeper water infiltration in sandy arid areas; and higher water availability for the perennial vegetation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.