Drylands are a pulse-reserve driven system that rely on episodic precipitation events to control ecosystem functioning. Driven by water availability, these pulses determine species dynamics, organic matter and nutrient cycling, soil properties, and to varying degrees, human enterprise. The discontinuous nature of a pulse-reserve system keeps many dryland species at their stress tolerance limit, creating a precarious balance for species survivorship. With climate change this balance may be knocked off kilter as future climate predictions suggest greater fluctuations in rainfall within seasons and between years, as well as greater overall climate extremes. While the direction and degree is currently under investigation, these climatic changes will undoubtedly alter pulse patterns in drylands, and may drive ecosystem functioning into novel states. The need to understand these novel systems is undeniable considering arid and semi-arid lands make up 40% of the terrestrial earth’s surface, support 38% of the human population, and may play a larger role than previously thought in global carbon cycling. Therefore, the goal of this Ignite session is to explore how altered pulses may cause species to ecosystem level changes in drylands. We also delve into the human dimensions affected by changing dryland dynamics, as we are both passengers and drivers of climatic fluctuations. For this session, we take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring climate change driven shifts to a pulse-reserve system in an effort to understand the novel future of drylands.