A multidisciplinary critical review of ecosystem services studies in Greece: approaches, shortcomings and the pathway to implementation

During the last two decades, ecosystem services (ES) research is used to inform the various steps of decision- and policy- making process, regarding environmental management, spatial planning and natural capital accounting. In the EU, this vast and rapid publication boom was triggered by the enactment of Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, urging Member States to implement Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem and their Services (MAES); few countries pioneered, while others are still lagging behind. In Greece, the implementation of MAES started in 2014 and since then an impressive progress has been made, with Greece now being among the countries with the most rapid progress. However, there are still major knowledge and data gaps on ecosystem services in Greece; know-how on specific methods, tools and practices is still to be developed. This poses obstacles in integrative efforts to identify and/or interpret the various co-variates affecting ecosystems and their services in space and time and hinders the incorporation of the ES generated information into the decision-making process. Making the first steps towards overcoming these hurdles, the present study aims to (i) synthesize the ecosystem services literature relevant to the ES implementation in Greece, (ii) validate and classify each literature source to the relevant ecosystem services categories, (iii) identify shortcomings in terms of ES assessed and data available, and (iv) critically review the variety of approaches to ES assessments that are followed. The outcomes of this study will facilitate the efficient implementation of ecosystem services assessments in Greece

Microbial communities in local and transplanted soils along a latitudinal gradient

Factors shaping community structure of soil microbiota have been intensively studied; however, the pattern in community composition and structure of soil microbiota at large geographical scales and factors regulating its metabolic activity remains poorly understood. Here, we used a field transplantation experiments to investigate the effects of substrate and climatic conditions on basal soil respiration, microbial biomass C and diversity of soil microbiota by comparing local and transplanted soils along a latitudinal gradient. Soil samples collected in April 2008 at donor site (Sokolov, Czech Republic) in Central Europe were gamma-ray sterilized and transplanted to receptor sites in Europe and the USA in May and early June 2008. Soil samples were taken in June 2009 after one year of exposure and immediately prepared for laboratory analysis. Basal soil respiration in local soils increased from 22 to 42 mg CO2-C kg-1 h-1 with latitude while basal soil respiration in transplanted soils decreased with latitude from 32 to 19 mg CO2-C kg-1 h-1. The microbial biomass C in both transplanted and local soils decreased with latitude. Content of fungal and bacterial phospholipid fatty acids increased nearly twice with latitude in local soils. Shannon diversity index of fungal community decreased from 2.5 to 1.2 along the latitudinal gradient in transplanted soils while local soils increased from 0.9 to 2.4 with latitude. Based on our results, microbial activity is driven mainly by changes of the soil substrate along latitudinal and climatic gradients while microbial biomass is driven more by global climatic factors itself. The diversity of soil microbial communities is mostly affected by latitudinal and climatic factors while community structure is mostly shaped by substrate quality

The need for the implementation of an Ecosystem Services assessment in Greece: drafting the national agenda

This paper presents the establishment and the first outcomes of the Hellenic Ecosystem Services Partnership (HESP), a scientific-technical committee aiming at the guidance and coordination of the Ecosystem Services (ES) assessment in Greece. HESP consists of experts from different disciplines (ecology, marine biology, socio-ecological system science) and aims to: i) coordinate ES assessment efforts under a shared framework; ii) promote the ES approach in Greece; iii) support the European implementation of ES at the national level (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem and their Services initiative), and iv) fulfill priority actions regarding the ES implementation and the obligations derived from the National Biodiversity Strategy. In this paper, we present the first drafting of the National Agenda including short- and long-term objectives towards the national implementation of MAES, we outline the HESP Action Plan to 2020, as well as the timeline of the basic steps to be taken, to achieve decision making on the basis of ES maintenance and enhancement. It will also serve as a call for action to encourage more ES assessments at the national level, but also as a primer for the inclusion of protected areas and other areas of special importance for ES assessments at the EU level

Globally invariant metabolism but density-diversity mismatch in springtails.

Soil life supports the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Springtails (Collembola) are among the most abundant soil arthropods regulating soil fertility and flow of energy through above- and belowground food webs. However, the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, and how these relate to energy fluxes remains unknown. Here, using a global dataset representing 2470 sites, we estimate the total soil springtail biomass at 27.5 megatons carbon, which is threefold higher than wild terrestrial vertebrates, and record peak densities up to 2 million individuals per square meter in the tundra. Despite a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, springtail energy use (community metabolism) remains similar across the latitudinal gradient, owing to the changes in temperature with latitude. Neither springtail density nor community metabolism is predicted by local species richness, which is high in the tropics, but comparably high in some temperate forests and even tundra. Changes in springtail activity may emerge from latitudinal gradients in temperature, predation and resource limitation in soil communities. Contrasting relationships of biomass, diversity and activity of springtail communities with temperature suggest that climate warming will alter fundamental soil biodiversity metrics in different directions, potentially restructuring terrestrial food webs and affecting soil functioning

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.</p

Soil biodiversity in organic and conventional agro-ecosystems

The study objects of the present PhD Thesis are organic and conventional agro-ecosystems, where soil biodiversity is investigated by studying nematode and coleopteran biocommunities (in general also macro-arthropod communities). As agro-ecosystems, crop production systems (cultivated fields) as well as formations of natural vegetation (hedgerows) are taken into consideration. The following general points in question are investigated in the present PhD Thesis: > Which are the differences between conventional and organic management systems? > Do the organic cultivation systems differ from the more ‘natural’ agroecosystems of hedgerows? > Is the management history of biological and chemical disturbances and the duration of organic management reflected in the soil of the cultivated systems? > Are the impacts of long term disturbances due to the management regime, different from the short term ones due to seasonal agricultural practices? > Do cultivation systems with a different management history (different history in biological and chemical disturbances) respond differently to a similar disturbance mainly of mechanical nature? The investigation of the points in question is accomplished in four chapters, whose content is summarized in the following paragraphs. It is noted that the agroecosystems under investigation (cultivated fields and hedgerows) are from the region Krya Brysi, Giannitsa and were under similar microclimatic conditions and of similar soil properties. The cultivated systems, organic (under conversion and certified) and conventional, where of the same perennial crop, namely Asparagus officinalis, and differed regarding fertilization and weed control. ## In the first chapter biocommunities of nematodes are studied in terms of trophic and generic structure, life strategy and diversity, in soils under asparagus cultivation managed conventionally and organically. Natural hedgerows bordering both types of cultivations are also studied as reference systems. The decomposer feeding group (bacterivores and fungivores), accounts for 80% of the total nematode abundance under organic cultivation, while under conventional for 45%. The dominant trophic group under the latter is that of phytoparasites, which is responsible for the higher Plant Parasitic Index (PPI). The low generic diversity and the strong dominance pattern under conventional cultivation indicate a stressed soil environment. In the organically managed system, diversity is almost as high as in natural hedgerows, with nematode numbers evenly distributed among genera. However, in hedgerows intermediate abundances of bacterial, fungal and plant feeders are recorded, and the Maturity Index (MI) and Plant Parasitic Index (PPI) are higher than those of the organically managed system, indicating that organic farming results to a more vigorous, pre-mature and probably more productive soil rather than to a more ‘natural’ one.Αντικείμενο μελέτης της παρούσας διατριβής αποτελούν τα οργανικά, καθώς και τα συμβατικά αγρο-οικοσυστήματα, στα οποία ερευνάται η εδαφική βιοποικιλότητα και συγκεκριμένα οι βιοκοινότητες των νηματωδών και των κολεοπτέρων (εν γένει και των μακρο-αρθροπόδων). Στα οργανικά και τα συμβατικά αγρο-οικοσυστήματα περιλαμβάνονται τα συστήματα παραγωγής γεωργικών προϊόντων (καλλιεργούμενες επιφάνειες) και οι σχηματισμοί φυσικής βλάστησης στα όρια τους (φυτοφράχτες). Τα βασικά ερωτήματα που ερευνώνται στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή, με τη χρήση των παραπάνω εδαφικών βιοκοινοτήτων ως βιοδεικτών, είναι τα ακόλουθα: > Ποιες είναι οι διαφορές ανάμεσα στο συμβατικό και το οργανικό σύστημα διαχείρισης; > Τα οργανικά συστήματα καλλιέργειας διαφέρουν από τα περισσότερο «φυσικά» αγρο-οικοσυστήματα, αυτά των φυτοφραχτών; > Αποτυπώνεται στα εδάφη των καλλιεργούμενων συστημάτων το ιστορικό διαχείρισης των βιολογικών και χημικών διαταραχών και η διάρκεια οργανικής διαχείρισης; > Διακρίνονται οι επιδράσεις των μακροπρόθεσμων διαταραχών, που οφείλονται στο σύστημα διαχείρισης, από τις επιδράσεις των βραχυπρόθεσμων, που οφείλονται σε εποχικές καλλιεργητικές πρακτικές; > Τα καλλιεργούμενα συστήματα με διαφορετικό ιστορικό διαχείρισης (διαφορετικό ιστορικό χημικών και βιολογικών διαταραχών) ανταποκρίνονται με διαφορετικό ή με ίδιο τρόπο σε μία όμοια διαταραχή μηχανικής κυρίως φύσης; Η διατριβή διαρθρώνεται σε τέσσερα κεφάλαια, το περιεχόμενο των οποίων παρουσιάζεται εν συντομία στις παραγράφους που ακολουθούν. Σημειώνεται ότι τα υπό μελέτη αγρο-οικοσυστήματα (καλλιέργειες και φυτοφράχτες) βρίσκονται στην περιοχή της Κρύας Βρύσης-Γιαννιτσών, προέρχονταν από παρόμοιες μικροκλιματικές συνθήκες και είχαν όμοια ενδογενή εδαφικά χαρακτηριστικά. Τα συστήματα παραγωγής, οργανικά (πιστοποιημένα και μεταβατικού σταδίου) ή συμβατικά, είχαν το ίδιο καλλιεργούμενο είδος, το πολυετές Asparagus officinalis (σπαράγγι), αλλά διέφεραν μεταξύ τους ως προς τον τρόπο λίπανσης και καταπολέμησης ζιζανίων. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο διερευνώνται οι βιοκοινότητες εδαφικών νηματωδών, σε οργανικές και συμβατικές καλλιέργειες σπαραγγιού. Φυσικοί φυτοφράχτες, στα όρια των δύο παραπάνω κατηγοριών καλλιέργειας, χρησιμοποιούνται ως συστήματα αναφοράς. Οι βιοκοινότητες των νηματωδών μελετώνται ως προς τη δομή και τη σύνθεσή τους σε επίπεδο τροφικών ομάδων και γενών, στρατηγικών ζωής και ποικιλότητας. Η ομάδα των καταναλωτών των αποικοδομητών (βακτηριοφάγοι και μυκητοφάγοι) αποτελεί το 80% της βιοκοινότητας των νηματωδών στο οργανικό σύστημα καλλιέργειας, ενώ στο συμβατικό μόλις το 45%. Στο τελευταίο η κυρίαρχη τροφική ομάδα είναι αυτή των φυτοπαρασιτικών νηματωδών, γεγονός το οποίο οδηγεί στις υψηλότερες τιμές του δείκτη φυτοπαρασιτισμού (PPI). Η χαμηλή ποικιλότητα στο επίπεδο των γενών και τα πρότυπα ισχυρής κυριαρχίας που παρατηρούνται στο συμβατικό σύστημα καλλιέργειας, υποδηλώνουν ένα διαταραγμένο και υποβαθμισμένο εδαφικό περιβάλλον

Soil Amendments with Spearmint, Peppermint and Rosemary Enhance the Community of Free-Living Nematodes and Improve Soil Quality, While Having Strikingly Different Effects on Plant Growth

Sustainable farming practices aim to replace agrochemicals with plant-based alternatives to increase productivity and soil quality. To evaluate the potential use of aromatic plants as soil amendments in tomato seedbeds, in a greenhouse experiment, we used spearmint, peppermint, and rosemary, separately, as soil amendments, in pots sown with tomato, and studied their effect on seedling growth, soil nutrients, and the soil nematode community in terms of trophic and functional structure, metabolic footprint, and genera composition. Non-amended soil was used in the control pots. We further explored the dynamics of the plant&ndash;soil&ndash;nematode interactions by using aromatic plants at different stages of decomposition (0, 28, and 56 days). Incorporating aromatic plants into the soil led to the proliferation of free-living nematodes, especially of the opportunistic kind, resulting in vigorous and enriched soil. This was more pronounced in the case of the spearmint and peppermint, which also increased the tomato growth. The high soil nutritional status and enhanced plant growth were most prominent when the aromatic plants were left for 28 days to decompose in the soil before sowing. Compared with the mint plants, the rosemary had similar, yet less intense, effects on the soil community, but completely inhibited the growth of the tomato seedlings. Therefore, it is not recommended for use as a soil amendment in tomato seedbeds

Human Activities in Natura 2000 Sites: A Highly Diversified Conservation Network

The Natura 2000 network was established across the European Union’s (EU) Member States with the aim to conserve biodiversity, while ensuring the sustainability of human activities. However, to what kind and to what extent Natura 2000 sites are subject to human activities and how this varies across Member States remains unspecified. Here, we analyzed 111,269 human activity records from 14,727 protected sites in 20 Member States. The frequency of occurrence of activities differs among countries, with more than 86 % of all sites being subjected to agriculture or forestry. Activities like hunting, fishing, urbanization, transportation, and tourism are more frequently recorded in south European sites than in northern or eastern ones. The observed variations indicate that Natura 2000 networks are highly heterogeneous among EU Member States. Our analysis highlights the importance of agriculture in European landscapes and indicates possible targets for policy interventions at national, European, or “sub-European” level. The strong human presence in the Natura 2000 network throughout Member States, shows that conservation initiatives could succeed only by combining social and ecological sustainability and by ensuring the integration of policies affecting biodiversity.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

<i>Solanum elaeagnifolium</i> (Solanaceae) Invading One in Five Natura 2000 Protected Areas of Greece and One in Four Habitat Types: What Is Next?

Invasive alien plants have severe impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services worldwide. To assess the invasion of Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. (a major alien invasive plant; Solanaceae) in Greek protected areas (PAs), we conducted an extensive drive-by survey across the country crossing half of the Greek Natura 2000 sites. The occurrence data were then linked in GIS with (i) the boundaries of the Natura 2000 sites, (ii) the mapped habitat types in the invaded sites, and (iii) the Corine land cover, from which we calculated the ecosystem services. The results showed that approximately 24% of the investigated PAs were invaded by S.elaeagnifolium to varying degrees of extension and density of the populations. A variety of 29 different habitat types of Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC (including a priority habitat and seven habitat types of national importance) were found to be invaded (one in four habitat types present in Greece). In the invaded Natura 2000 sites, we recorded human activities/threats that were mostly related to agricultural activities of high intensity, while the potential in ecosystem service provision was relatively low for the category of regulating services in the invaded sites. Our study provides the first nationwide report of the distribution of S. elaeagnifolium in Natura 2000 sites of Greece, providing baseline maps and information for future monitoring. Our results highlight the need of an effective management strategy across the Natura 2000 network to effectively protect the local biodiversity, which should include management measures for invasive species, mitigating habitat fragmentation, and soil degradation, as well as the adaptation of eco-enhancing management strategies for the provision of multiple ecosystem services in agriculture

Optimizing the Delivery of Multiple Ecosystem Goods and Services in Agricultural Systems

Agricultural land is subjected to a variety of societal pressures, as demands for food, animal feed, and biomass production increase, with an added requirement to simultaneously maintain natural areas and mitigate climatic and environmental impacts. The biotic elements of agricultural systems interact with the abiotic environment to generate a number of ecosystem functions that offer services benefiting humans across many scales of time and space. The intensification of agriculture generally reduces biodiversity including that within soil, and impacts negatively upon a number of regulating and supporting ecosystem services. There is a global need toward achieving sustainable agricultural systems, as also highlighted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. There is hence a need for management regimes that enhance both agricultural production and the associated provision of multiple ecosystem services. The articles of this Research Topic enhance our knowledge of how management practices applied to agricultural systems affect the delivery of multiple ecosystem services and how trade-offs between provisioning, regulating, and supporting services can be handled both above- and below-ground. They also show the diversity of topics that need to be considered within the framework of ecosystem services delivered by agricultural systems, from knowledge on basic concepts and newly-proposed frameworks, to a focus on specific ecosystem types such as grasslands and high nature-value farmlands, pollinator habitats, and soil habitats. This diversity of topics indicates the need for broader-scope research, integrated with targeted scientific research to promote sustainable agricultural practices and to ensure food security