Quantification of regulating ecosystem services provided by weeds in annual cropping systems using a systematic map approach

Cian Blaix received a PhD grant from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa in the International PhD Programme on AgrobiodiversityEcosystem services have received increasing attention in life sciences, but only a limited amount of quantitative data are available concerning the ability of weeds to provide these services. Following an expert focus group on this topic, a systematic search for articles displaying evidence of weeds providing regulating ecosystem services was performed, resulting in 129 articlesPostprint (updated version

Structural field margin characteristics affect the functional traits of herbaceous vegetation.

BackgroundField margins are ecologically important to an agroecosystem as they are a source of biodiversity. They can be composed of a diverse flora which may offer resources to a wide range of insects and birds. The vegetation composition of field margins is determined by soil characteristics, management, and landscape structures. However, little is known about the effect of individual field margin components such as ditches, grass strips, shrubs and trees, and the overall margin's complexity, on the vegetation composition and its functional effect and response traits.MethodsThis paper reports on the effects of field margin component typology (ditches, grass strips, shrubs, trees, and vehicle tracks) and complexity (the number of components), on the herbaceous vegetation of field margins. Forty field margins were sampled in 2016 in a 200 ha. organic mixed arable livestock farm.ResultsThe factor which was identified as having the most effect on vegetation composition was adjacent land-use type, which reflected the margins' management regime. However, field margin components were found to affect vegetation response and effect traits. Tree components had less grassweeds than vehicle tracks while more complex field margins also had less grassweeds than simple field margins near cropped fields, most likely due to the lower availability in light and less disturbance from vehicles. Simple grassy margins produced a high proportion of hymenoptera flowers.DiscussionThese results highlight the importance of field margin components in maintaining a high diversity of vegetation typologies differing in effect traits that are relevant for the provisioning of ecosystem services, such as supporting pollen and nectar requirements of beneficial insects, as well as their importance in determining the presence of weed species that could potentially invade the cropped fields

Quantification of regulating ecosystem services provided by weeds in annual cropping systems using a systematic map approach

Cian Blaix received a PhD grant from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa in the International PhD Programme on AgrobiodiversityEcosystem services have received increasing attention in life sciences, but only a limited amount of quantitative data are available concerning the ability of weeds to provide these services. Following an expert focus group on this topic, a systematic search for articles displaying evidence of weeds providing regulating ecosystem services was performed, resulting in 129 article

Pyrenean subalpine grasslands became more species-rich but less typical under cumulative nitrogen deposition and climate change effects

Dispositif de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieu

Augmentation de richesse et changements de composition dans les pelouses subalpines en réponse au cumul de dépôts azotés et au réchauffement

Dispositif de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieu

Augmentation de richesse et changements de composition dans les pelouses subalpines en réponse au cumul de dépôts azotés et au réchauffement

Dispositif de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieu

Relationships between plant community structure and forage quantity and nutritive quality in semi-natural grasslands

International audienc

Forage nutritive value shows synergies with plant diversity in a wide range of semi-natural grassland habitats

International audienceThis paper aims in assessing the relationship between grassland plant diversity and agronomic value, which represents a major challenge to reconcile nature conservation and agricultural use of semi-natural grassland habitats. The effects of plant diversity and functional traits were studied on forage nutritive value and early standing biomass in a wide set of semi-natural temperate grassland habitats. Plant communities were described by their species and functional diversity, community-weighted means (CWM) of plant functional traits, and the relative cover of main plant functional types (graminoids, forbs, and legumes). Species richness was found to be negatively associated with early standing biomass and average mineral content. Community evenness, for both species and plant functional types, was positively correlated with digestibility, crude protein content, and average mineral content but negatively with early standing biomass. Early standing biomass was found to increase with increasing graminoid cover and to decrease with increasing forb cover. Forage nutritive value improved with higher legume cover, higher specific leaf area CWM and lower leaf dry matter content CWM, while these functional community characteristics were not found to impact early standing biomass. Our results highlight that a better forage nutritive value can be obtained with a higher plant species evenness in permanent grassland habitats. Furthermore, in grasslands with an even distribution of plant functional types, forage nutritive value may be improved with no loss in early standing biomass

Relationships between plant community structure and forage quantity and nutritive quality in semi-natural grasslands

International audienc