Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relative contribution of soil, management and traits to co-variations of multiple ecosystem properties in grasslands

  • Special Topic on Functional Traits
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ecological intensification promotes the better use of ecosystem functioning for agricultural production and as a provider of additional regulation and cultural services. We investigated the mechanisms underpinning potential ecological intensification of livestock production in the Vercors mountains (France). We quantified the variations in seven ecosystem properties associated with key ecosystem services: above-ground biomass production at first harvest, fodder digestibility, plant species richness, soil organic matter content, soil carbon content, total microbial biomass and soil bacteria:fungi ratio across 39 grassland plots representing varying management types and intensity. Our analyses confirmed joint effects of management, traits and soil abiotic parameters on variations in ecosystem properties, with the combination of management and traits being most influential. The variations explained by traits were consistent with the leaf economics spectrum model and its implications for ecosystem functioning. The observed independence between ecosystem properties relevant to production (forage biomass, digestibility and nutrient turnover) on the one hand and soil stocks (organic matter, carbon and microbial stocks) on the other hand suggests that an intensification of fodder production might be compatible with the preservation of the soil capital. We highlight that appropriate choices regarding various practices, such as the first date of grazing or mowing being dependent on soil moisture, have important consequences on a number of ecosystem properties relevant for ecosystem services and may influence biodiversity patterns. Such avenues for ecological intensification should be considered as part of further landscape- and farm-scale analyses of the relationships between farm functioning and ecosystem services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrieu N, Josien E, Duru M (2007) Relationships between diversity of grassland vegetation, field characteristics and land use management practices assessed at the farm level. Agric Ecosyst Environ 120:359–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ansquer P, Al Haj Khaled R, Cruz P, Theau J-P, Therond O, Duru M (2009) Characterizing and predicting plant phenology in species-rich grasslands. Grass Forage Sci 34:57–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbaro L, Corcket E, Dutoit T, Peltier J-P (2000) Réponses fonctionnelles des communautés de pelouses calcicoles aux facteurs agro-écologiques dans les Préalpes françaises. Can J Bot 78:1010–1020

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardgett RD, McAlister E (1999) The measurement of soil fungal: bacterial biomass ratios as an indicator of ecosystem self-regulation in temperate meadow grasslands. Biol Fertil Soils 29:282–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardgett RD, Hobbs PJ, Frostegård Å (1996) Changes in soil fungal: bacterial biomass ratios following reductions in the intensity of management of an upland grassland. Biol Fertil Soils 22:261–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnosky AD, Hadly EA, Bascompte J, Berlow EL, Brown JH, Fortelius M, Getz WM, Harte J, Hastings A, Marquet PA, Martinez ND, Mooers A, Roopnarine P, Vermeij G, Williams JW, Gillespie R, Kitzes J, Marshall C, Matzke N, Mindell DP, Revilla E, Smith AB (2012) Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere. Nature 486:52–58

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett EM, Balvanera P (2007) The future of production systems in a globalized world. Front Ecol Environ 5:191–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett EM, Cramer W, Begossi A, Cundill G, Diaz S, Egoh B, Geijzendorffer IR, Krug CB, Lavorel S, Lazos E, Lebel L, Martín-Lopez B, Meyfroidt P, Mooney HA, Nel JL, Pascual U, Payet K, Pérez-Harguindeguy N, Peterson G, Prieur-Richard A-H, Reyers B, Roebeling P, Seppelt R, Solan M, Tschakert P, Tscharntke T, Turner BL, Verburg PH, Viglizzo EF, White PCL, Woodward G (2015) Linking biodiversity, ecosystem services and to human well-being: three challenges for designing research for sustainability. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 14: 76–85. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2015.03.007

  • Blanchet FG, Legendre P, Borcard D (2008) Forward selection of explanatory variables. Ecology 89:2623–2632

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bligh E, Dyer WJ (1959) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:911–917

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bommarco R, Kleijn D, Potts SG (2013) Ecological intensification: harnessing ecosystem services for food security. Trends Ecol Evol 28:230–238

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burkhard B, Kroll F, Nedkov S, Müller F (2012) Mapping ecosystem service supply, demand and budgets. Ecol Ind 21:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez A, Hooper DU, Perrings C, Venail P, Narwani A, Mace GM, Tilman D, Wardle DA, Kinzig AP, Daily GC, Loreau M, Grace JB, Larigauderie A, Srivastava DS, Naeem S (2012) Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature 48:59–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter SR, Moone HA, Agar J, Capistran D, Defries RS, Diaz S, Dietz T, Duraiappah AK, Oteng-Yeboah A, Pereira HM, Perrings C, Reid WV, Sarukhan J, Scholes RJ, Whyte A (2009) Science for managing ecosystem services: beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:1305–1312

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cassman KG (1999) Ecological intensification of cereal production systems: yield potential, soil quality, and precision agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:5952–5959

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cornelissen JHC, Lavorel S, Garnier E, Díaz S, Buchmann N, Gurvich DE, Reich PB, ter Steege H, Morgan HD, van der Heijden MGA, Pausas JG, Poorter H (2003) Handbook of protocols for standardised and easy measurement of plant functional traits worldwide. Aust J Bot 51:335–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crossman ND, Burkhard B, Nedkov S, Willemen L, Petz K, Palomo I, Drakou EG, Martin-Lopez B, McPhearson T, Boyanova K, Alkemade R, Egoh B, Dunbar MB, Maes J (2013) A blueprint for mapping and modelling ecosystem services. Ecosyst Serv 4:4–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz P, De Quadros FLF, Theau J-P, Frizzo A, Jouany C, Duru M, Carvalho PCF (2010) Leaf traits as functional descriptors of the intensity of continuous grazing in native grasslands in the south of Brazil. Rangeland Ecol Manag 63:350–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries FT, Thébault E, Liiri M, Birkhofer K, Tsiafouli MA, Bjørnlund L, Bracht Jørgensen, H, Brady MV, Christensen S, de Ruiter PC, d’Hertefeldt T, Frouz J, Hedlund K, Hemerik L, Hol WHG, Hotes S, Mortimer SR, Setälä H, Sgardelis SP, Uteseny K, van der Putten WH, Wolters V, Bardgett RD (2013) Soil food web properties explain ecosystem services across European land use systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:14296–14301

  • Dobremez L, Chazoule C, Loucougaray G, Pauthenet Y, Nettier B, Lavorel S, Madelrieux S, Doré A, Fleury P (2015) Débats et controverses sur l’intensification fourragère dans le Vercors: quelles pratiques et quelles conceptions en jeu ? Fourrages 221:33–45

  • Doré T, Makowski D, Malézieux E, Munier-Jolain N, Tchamitchian M, Tittonell P (2011) Facing up to the paradigm of ecological intensification in agronomy: revisiting methods, concepts and knowledge. Eur J Agron 34:197–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duru M, Lemaire G, Cruz P (1997) The nitrogen requirement of major agricultural crops. Grasslands. In: Lemaire G (ed) Diagnosis of the nitrogen status in crops. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 59–72

  • Duru M, Cruz P, Theau J-P (2010) A simplified method for characterising agronomic services provided by species-rich grasslands. Crop Pasture Sci 61:420–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley J, DeFries R, Asner GP, Barford C, Bonan GB, Carpenter SR, Chapin FS III, Coe MT, Daily GC, Gibbs HK, Helkowski JH, Holloway T, Howard EA, Kucharik CJ, Monfreda C, Patz JA, Prentice IC, Ramankutty N, Snyder PK (2005) Global consequences of land use. Science 309:570–574

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gardarin A, Garnier É, Carrère P, Cruz P, Andueza D, Bonis A, Kazakou E (2014) Plant trait-digestibility relationships across management and climate gradients in French permanent grasslands. J Appl Ecol 51:1207–1217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier E, Cortez J, Billès G, Navas M-L, Roumet C, Debussche M, Laurent G, Blanchard A, Aubry D, Bellmann A, Neill C, Toussaint J-P (2004) Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession. Ecology 85:2630–2637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier E, Lavorel S, Ansquer P, Castro H, Cruz P, Dolezal J, Eriksson O, Fortunel C, Freitas H, Golodets C, Grigulis K, Jouany C, Kazakou E, Kigel J, Kleyer M, Lehsten V, Leps J, Meier T, Pakeman R, Papadimitriou M, Papanastasis V, Quested H, Quétier F, Robson TM, Roumet C, Rusch G, Skarpe C, Sternberg M, Theau J-P, Thébault A, Vile D, Zarovali MP (2007) Assessing the effects of land-use change on plant traits, communities and ecosystem functioning in grasslands: a standardized methodology and lessons from an application to 11 European sites. Ann Bot 99(5):967–985

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • GIS Alpes du Nord (2002) Les prairies de fauche et de pâture des Alpes du Nord. Fiches techniques pour le diagnostic et la conduite des prairies. Groupement d’intérêt scientifique des Alpes du Nord, Chambéry

  • Gos P, Lavorel S (2012) Stakeholders’ expectations on ecosystem services affect the assessment of ecosystem services hotspots and their congruence with biodiversity. Int J Biodivers Sci Ecosyst Serv Manag 8:93–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffon M (2009) What will be the future of the pastures and forage crops in the next decades? Fourrages 200:539–546

    Google Scholar 

  • Grigulis K, Lavorel S, Krainer U, Legay N, Baxendale C, Dumon M, Kastl E, Arnoldi C, Bardgett R, Poly F, Pommier T, Schlote M, Tappeiner U, Bahn M, Clément J-C (2013) Relative contributions of plant traits and soil microbial properties to mountain grassland ecosystem services. J Ecol 101:47–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooper DU, Adair EC, Cardinale BJ, Byrnes JEK, Hungate BA, Matulich KL, Gonzalez A, Duffy JE, Gamfeldt L, O’Connor MI (2012) A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change. Nature 486:105–108

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jeannin B, Fleury P, Dorioz J-M (1991) Typologie des prairies d’altitude des Alpes du Nord: méthode et réalisation. Fourrages 128:379–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones DL, Willett VB (2006) Experimental evaluation of methods to quantify dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 38:991–999

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jouany C, Cruz P, Petibon P, Duru M (2004) Diagnosing phosphorus status of natural grassland in the presence of white clover. Eur J Agron 21:273–285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laliberté E, Shipley B (2011) FD: measuring functional diversity from multiple traits, and other tools for functional ecology. R package version 1.0-11.

  • Laliberté E, Tylianakis JM (2012) Cascading effects of long-term land-use changes on plant traits and ecosystem functioning. Ecology 93:145–155

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, Grigulis K (2011) Alpages Sentinelles. Protocole ressource—Bilan des analyses des données. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, Grenoble

  • Lavorel S, Grigulis K (2012) How fundamental plant functional trait relationships scale-up to trade-offs and synergies in ecosystem services. J Ecol 100:128–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, Grigulis K, Lamarque P, Colace MP, Garden D, Girel J, Douzet R, Pellet G (2011) Using plant functional traits to understand the landscape distribution of multiple ecosystem services. J Ecol 99:135–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, Storkey J, Bardgett RD, de Bello F, Berg MP, Le Roux X, Harrington R (2013) A novel framework for linking functional diversity of plants with other trophic levels for the quantification of ecosystem. J Veg Sci 24:942–948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Roux X, Barbault R, Baudry J, Burel F, Doussan I, Garnier E, Herzog F, Lavorel S, Lifran R, Roger-Estrade J, Sarthou J-P, Trommetter M (2009) Agriculture et biodiversité. Valoriser les synergies. Expertise scientifique collective. Quae, Versailles

    Google Scholar 

  • Legay N (2013) Interrelations entre la diversité fonctionnelle végétale et microbienne et les composantes du cycle de l’azote. PhD thesis. Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble

  • Legay N, Baxendale C, Krainer U, Lavorel S, Grigulis K, Dumont M, Kastl E, Arnoldi C, Bardgett RD, Poly F, Pommier T, Schloter M, Tappeiner U, Bahn M, Clément J-C (2014) The relative importance of above-ground and below-ground plant traits as drivers of microbial properties in grasslands. Ann Bot 114:1011–1021

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P, Borcard D, Peres-Neto PR (2005) Analyzing beta diversity: partitioning the spatial variation of community composition data. Ecol Monogr 75:435–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemaire G, Gastal F (1997) N uptake and distribution in plant canopies. In: Lemaire G (ed) Diagnosis on the nitrogen status in crops. Springer, Heidelberg Berlin New York, pp 3–44

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Levy EB, Madden EA (1933) The point method of pasture analysis. N Z J Agricul 46:179–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Liancourt P, Callaway RM, Michalet R (2005) Stress tolerance and competitive response ability determine the outcome of biotic interactions. Ecology 86:1611–1618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lienin P, Kleyer M (2012) Plant trait responses to the environment and effects on multiple ecosystem properties. Basic Appl Ecol 13:301–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loucougaray G, Dobremez L, Gos P, Pauthenet Y, Nettier B, Lavorel S (2015) Assessing the effects of grassland management on forage production and environmental quality to identify paths to ecological intensification in mountain grasslands. Environ Manag. doi:10.1007/s00267-015-0550-9

  • Maes J, Paracchini ML, Zulian G, Dunbar MB, Alkemade R (2012) Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe. Biol Conserv 155:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martín-López B, Iniesta-Arandia I, García-Llorente M, Palomo I, Casado-Arzuaga I, Garcia Del Amo D, Gómez-Baggethun E, Oteros-Rozas E, Palacios-Agundez I, Willaarts B (2012) Uncovering ecosystem service bundles through social preferences. PLoS One 7(6):e38970

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being. Synthesis. Island Press, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Mouchet M, Lamarque P, Martin Lopez B, Crouzat E, Gos P, Byczek C, Lavorel S (2014) An interdisciplinary methodological guide for quantifying associations between ecosystem services. Glob Environ Change 28:298–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra H, Reyers B, Lavorel S (2013) Impacts of land change on biodiversity: making the link to ecosystem services. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 5:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J, Blanchet G, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MH, Wagner H (2013) vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 2.0-7

  • Osty P (1971) Influence of soil conditions on its moisture at pF3. Ann Agron 2:451–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Prober SM, Thiele KR, Speijers J (2013) Management legacies shape decadal-scale responses of plant diversity to experimental disturbance regimes in fragmented grassy woodlands. J Appl Ecol 50:376–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quétier F, Lavorel S, Thuiller W, Davies I (2007a) Plant-trait-based modeling assessment of ecosystem-service sensitivity to land-use change. Ecol Appl 17:2377–2386

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quétier F, Thébault A, Lavorel S (2007b) Plant traits in a state and transition framework as markers of ecosystem response to land-use change. Ecol Monogr 77:33–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2013) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. Available at: http://www.R-project.org/

  • Raudsepp-Hearne C, Peterson GD, Tengö M, Bennett EM, Holland T, Benessaiah K, MacDonald GK, Pfeifer L (2010) Untangling the environmentalist’s paradox: why is human well-being increasing as ecosystem services degrade? Bioscience 60:576–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudmann-Maurer K, Weyand A, Fischer M, Stöcklin J (2008) The role of landuse and natural determinants for grassland vegetation composition in the Swiss Alps. Basic Appl Ecol 9:494–503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seppelt R, Dormann CF, Eppink FV, Lautenbach S, Schmidt S (2011) A quantitative review of ecosystem se:rvice studies: approaches, shortcomings and the road ahead. J Appl Ecol 48:630–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seppelt R, Fath B, Burkhard B, Fisher JL, Grêt-Regamey A, Lautenbach S, Pert P, Hotes S, Spangenberg J, Verburg PH, Van Oudenhoven APE (2012) Form follows function? Proposing a blueprint for ecosystem service assessments based on reviews and case studies. Ecol Ind 21:145–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinfeld H, Gerber P, Wassenaar TD, Castel V, De Haan C (2006) Livestock’s long shadow: environmental issues and options. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Geneva

  • Tasser E, Tappeiner U (2002) Impact of land use changes on mountain vegetation. Appl Veg Sci 5:173–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward J (1963) Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. J Am Stat Assoc 58:236–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White DC, Davis WM, Nickels JS, King JD, Bobbie RJ (1979) Determination of the sedimentary m-icrobial biomass by extractible lipid phosphate. Oecologia 40:51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright IJ, Reich PB, Westoby M, Ackerly DD, Baruch Z, Bongers F, Cavender-Bares J, Chapin FSIII, Cornelissen JHC, Diemer M, Flexas J, Garnier E, Groom PK, Gulias J, Hikosaka K, Lamont BB, Lee T, Lee W, Lusk C, Midgley JJ, Navas ML, Niinemets Ü, Oleksyn J, Osada N, Poorter H, Poot P, Prior L, Pyankov VI, Roumet C, Thomas SC, Tjoelker MG, Veneklaas E, Villar R (2004) The worldwide leaf economics spectrum. Nature 428:821–827

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Ricketts TH, Kremen C, Carney K, Swinton SM (2007) Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture. Ecol Econ 64:253–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by project MOUVE (ANR-2010-STRA-005-01). We thank Laurent Dobremez, Baptiste Nettier and Yves Pauthenet for help with the study design and with the use of the grassland typology for field selection, and Jean-Christophe Clément for input into soil measurement protocols and interpretation. We thank Claude Bernard-Brunet, Nathan Daumergue, Lucie Dezombes, Gilles Favier, Stéphanie Gaucherand, Karl Grigulis, Alain Bédécarrats, Coline Byczek and Emilie Crouzat for help in the field and in the laboratory. We are grateful to farmers from the Autrans and Méaudre municipalities for their interest in the study and for letting us use their fields.

Author contribution statement

SL conceived and supervised the study; SL, GL and PG designed the field campaign; MPC coordinated the field campaign and data management; all authors participated the field work. CA was responsible for lab analyses of soil and plant material; PG and SL analysed the data and led the writing of the manuscript, with contributions from GL and SG.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS—Université Grenoble Alpes, CS 40700, 38058, Grenoble Cedex 9, France

    Pierre Gos, Marie-Pascale Colace, Cindy Arnoldi, Lucie Girard, Sarah Delorme & Sandra Lavorel

  2. IRSTEA, UR Mountain Ecosystems, 2 rue de la Papeterie, BP 76, 38402, Saint Martin d’Hères Cedex, France

    Grégory Loucougaray, Stéphanie Gaucherand & Daphné Dumazel

Authors
  1. Pierre Gos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Grégory Loucougaray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marie-Pascale Colace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cindy Arnoldi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stéphanie Gaucherand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Daphné Dumazel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Lucie Girard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Sarah Delorme
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Sandra Lavorel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Lavorel.

Additional information

Communicated by Fernando Valladares.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 19 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gos, P., Loucougaray, G., Colace, MP. et al. Relative contribution of soil, management and traits to co-variations of multiple ecosystem properties in grasslands. Oecologia 180, 1001–1013 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3551-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3551-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation