Trade-offs and synergies in the ecosystem service demand of urban brownfield stakeholders

Brownfield site redevelopment presents an opportunity to create urban green spaces that provide a wide range of ecosystem services. It is important, therefore, to understand which ecosystem services are demanded by stakeholders and whether there are trade-offs or synergies in this demand. We performed a quantitative survey of ecosystem service demand from brownfield sites that included all major stakeholder groups. Results showed that there was a strong trade-off between demand for services related to property development (e.g. ground strength and low flood risk) and all other services, which were linked to vegetated sites. There was a secondary, but weak, trade-off between demand for services of more ‘natural’ vegetated sites (e.g. with a biodiversity protection role) and those linked to aesthetics and recreation. Stakeholders with a strong preference for biodiversity protection formed a distinct group in their ecosystem service demands. While a ‘development’ vs ‘green space’ trade-off may be unavoidable, the general lack of strong trade-offs in demand for other services indicated that the creation of multifunctional greenspaces from former brownfield sites would be desirable to most stakeholders, as long as these are biophysically possible

Identifying the optimal landscape configuration for landscape multifunctionality

Increased pressure on land resources to provide multiple benefits calls for landscape strategies that optimize the supply of multiple ecosystem services (ES). Previous research into the drivers of landscape multifunctionality have focused on land use composition changes, but the spatial configuration of different land use types also drives ES supply. While the impact of landscape configuration on individual ES is well understood, the net outcome of these influences when considering many ES is not. Here we present the net-balance spatial interactions hypothesis, which posits that the strength and direction of local and surrounding landscape influences on the local supply of an individual ES will drive its optimal landscape configuration. Accordingly, the net balance of these influences across multiple prioritized ES will determine the optimal configuration for landscape multifunctionality. Further, ES that share the same optimal configuration strategy form a bundle that can be managed together. Using data from German grasslands we demonstrate that the net-balance spatial interactions hypothesis is applicable to land-use planning scenarios that aim to maximize multiple ES. It allows general rules to be applied when local, detailed ES data is not available, and can help identify the best option to minimize trade-offs in the face of multiple competing land-use objectives

Towards a harmonization of distributed trait datasets

Trait-based research spans from evolutionary studies of individual-level properties to global patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. An increasing number of trait data is available for many different organism groups, being published as open access data on a variety of file hosting services. Thus, standardization between datasets is generally lacking due to heterogeneous data formats and types. The compilation of these published data into centralised databases remains a difficult and time-consuming task. We reviewed existing trait databases and online services, as well as initiatives for trait data standardization. Together with data providers and users we identified a need for a minimal trait-data terminology that is flexible enough to include traits from all types of organisms but simple enough to be adopted by different research communities. In order to facilitate reproducibility of analyses, the reuse of data and the combination of datasets from multiple sources, we propose a standardized vocabulary for trait data that is compatible with existing ontologies. We tested the vocabulary using trait datasets from several research groups working on different taxa and questions in a large project (the Biodiversity Exploratories, www.biodiversity-exploratories.de). By relying on unambiguous identifiers, the proposed minimal vocabulary for trait data captures the different degrees of resolution and measurement detail for multiple use cases of trait-based research. It further encourages the use of global Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) for taxa and trait definitions, methods and units, thereby following the standards for a semantic web of scientific data. In addition, we developed an R-based tool to convert any trait dataset into the proposed standard format. The R-package facilitates the upload of own data to hosting services but also simplifies the access to published trait data. It also offers direct access to trait datasets that have been published in the public domain or under creative commons licenses. All these products are available through the Github platform (https://github.com/EcologicalTraitData) with the aim of a continuous collaboration and improvement with the research community. KEYWORDS: traits, standardization, ontology, semantic web, tools, distributed data, R package, Biodiversity Exploratorie

A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification

Organismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for >2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a ‘slow-fast’ axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification

Towards an Ecological Trait-data Standard

Trait-based approaches are widespread throughout ecological research, offering great potential for trait data to deliver general and mechanistic conclusions. Accordingly, a wealth of trait data is available for many organism groups, but, due to a lack of standardisation, these data come in heterogeneous formats. We review current initiatives and infrastructures for standardising trait data and discuss the importance of standardisation for trait data hosted in distributed open-access repositories. In order to facilitate the standardisation and harmonisation of distributed trait datasets, we propose a general and simple vocabulary as well as a simple data structure for storing and sharing ecological trait data. Additionally, we provide an R-package that enables the transformation of any tabular dataset into the proposed format. This also allows trait datasets from heterogeneous sources to be harmonised and merged, thus facilitating data compilation for any particular research focus. With these decentralised tools for trait-data harmonisation, we intend to facilitate the exchange and analysis of trait data within ecological research and enable global syntheses of traits across a wide range of taxa and ecosystems

Combatting global grassland degradation

Grasslands are under severe threat from ongoing degradation, undermining their capacity to support biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. Yet, grasslands are largely ignored in sustainable development agendas. In this Perspective, we examine the current state of global grasslands and explore the extent and dominant drivers of their degradation. Socio-ecological solutions are needed to combat degradation and promote restoration. Important strategies include: increasing recognition of grasslands in global policy; developing standardized indicators of degradation; using scientific innovation for effective restoration at regional and landscape scales; and enhancing knowledge transfer and data sharing on restoration experiences. Stakeholder needs can be balanced through standardized assessment and shared understanding of the potential ecosystem service trade-offs in degraded and restored grasslands. The integration of these actions into sustainability policy will aid in halting degradation and enhancing restoration success, and protect the socio-economic, cultural and ecological benefits that grasslands provide

Above- and belowground biodiversity jointly tighten the P cycle in agricultural grasslands

Experiments showed that biodiversity increases grassland productivity and nutrient exploitation, potentially reducing fertiliser needs. Enhancing biodiversity could improve P-use efficiency of grasslands, which is beneficial given that rock-derived P fertilisers are expected to become scarce in the future. Here, we show in a biodiversity experiment that more diverse plant communities were able to exploit P resources more completely than less diverse ones. In the agricultural grasslands that we studied, management effects either overruled or modified the driving role of plant diversity observed in the biodiversity experiment. Nevertheless, we show that greater above- (plants) and belowground (mycorrhizal fungi) biodiversity contributed to tightening the P cycle in agricultural grasslands, as reduced management intensity and the associated increased biodiversity fostered the exploitation of P resources. Our results demonstrate that promoting a high above- and belowground biodiversity has ecological (biodiversity protection) and economical (fertiliser savings) benefits. Such win-win situations for farmers and biodiversity are crucial to convince farmers of the benefits of biodiversity and thus counteract global biodiversity loss

Effets des changements d’utilisation des terres sur la biodiversité fonctionnelle des prairies en paysage agricole

Understanding how grassland biodiversity responds to land use intensification is crucial for both biodiversity conservation and the management of key ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. My PhD aims at (i) identifying and generalising the effects of land use intensification operating at different spatial and temporal scales across multiple taxonomic groups and trophic levels (plants, herbivores, pollinators, predators and top-predators); (ii) investigating the underlying mechanisms of biodiversity response, and particularly the role of trophic interactions. We used multiple functional traits related to resource acquisition, the size of the organisms and their mobility. We tested how multitrophic functional trait diversity responded to landscape history, composition and heterogeneity. Considering multiple taxonomic groups simultaneously, our study brings out a clear response of overall biodiversity to land use intensification. We found that legacy effects of land use intensification operating at the landscape scale are major drivers of present-day multitrophic functional trait diversity in agricultural landscapes. By considering a core set of organismal traits reflecting similar functions across trophic levels, our approach reveals multiple dimensions by which land use intensification filters out biodiversity over time and allows us to generalise its effect across multiple trophic levels and trait-spectrum. Finally, trait-based approach allowed us to assess the importance of trophic interactions and their contribution in shaping animal communities in agricultural landscapes.Comprendre comment la biodiversité des prairies répond aux changements d’utilisation des terres constitue un enjeu majeur pour la conservation de la biodiversité et le maintien des services écosystémiques dans les paysages agricoles. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons cherché (i) à analyser la réponse simultanée d’un ensemble de taxons appartenant à différents niveaux trophiques (plantes, herbivores, pollinisateurs, prédateurs) aux changements d’utilisation des terres agissant à différentes échelles spatiales et temporelles; (ii) à approcher les mécanismes impliqués dans cette réponse et notamment le rôle des interactions trophiques. Notre approche est basée sur l’utilisation de multiples traits fonctionnels liés à l’acquisition des ressources, la taille et la mobilité des organismes. Nous avons testé la réponse de ces traits à l’histoire des paysages, leur configuration et leur composition. Nous montrons qu’il existe une réponse générale de la diversité fonctionnelle multitrophique aux changements d’utilisation des terres. Nous mettons en évidence l’importance des effets historiques du changement d’utilisation des terres à l’échelle des paysages agricoles menaçant le maintien de communautés fonctionnellement diversifiées dans ces paysages. En considérant un set de traits mutliples, notre travail a permis d’approcher certains mécanismes par lesquels les changements d’utilisation des terres présents et passés impactent différentes facettes de la biodiversité. Enfin, l’utilisation des traits fonctionnels a permis d’appréhender l’importance des interactions trophiques et leur implication dans la structuration des communautés animales dans les milieux agricoles

How local plant community and landscape context affect the morphological space of wild bee communities in grasslands?

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Land use legacy on functional trait diversity across trophic levels

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