An economic assessment of drought effects on three grassland systems in Switzerland

Finger, Robert; Gilgen, Anna Katarina; Prechsl, Ulrich E.; Buchmann, Nina

doi:10.1007/s10113-012-0346-x

Cited by 31 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Indeed, a substantial impairment of biomass yield under drought with increasing productivity and cutting frequency was found in a study that evaluated intensive grassland (Vogel, Scherer-Lorenzen & Weigelt 2012). On the economic side, in Switzerland, for example, the financial loss due to drought events is distinctively higher for intensively managed compared to less intensively or extensively managed grassland (Finger et al 2013). Nevertheless, recent experiments investigating drought effects have been performed mainly on less productive grassland (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the economic side, in Switzerland, for example, the financial loss due to drought events is distinctively higher for intensively managed compared to less intensively or extensively managed grassland (Finger et al . ). Nevertheless, recent experiments investigating drought effects have been performed mainly on less productive grassland (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought

Hofer

Suter

Haughey

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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128

119

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Summary1. Due to climate change, an increasing frequency and severity of drought events are expected to impair grassland productivity, particularly of intensively managed temperate grasslands. 2. To assess drought impacts, a common field experiment to manipulate precipitation was set up at three sites (two Swiss and one Irish) using monocultures and mixtures with two and four key forage species. Species differed in their functional traits: a shallow-rooted nonlegume (Lolium perenne L.), a deep-rooted non-legume (Cichorium intybus L.), a shallowrooted legume (Trifolium repens L.) and a deep-rooted legume (Trifolium pratense L.). A 9-week summer drought was simulated, and soil water status, above-ground biomass yield and plant nitrogen (N) limitation were compared to a rainfed control. 3. Based on soil water measurements, the drought induced severe stress at both Swiss sites and extreme stress at the Irish site. Under severe stress, the legumes were more drought resistant and showed an average change in above-ground biomass (CAB, compared to rainfed control) of only À8% and À24% (for the two Swiss sites), while the non-legumes had an average CAB of À51% and À68%. The lower resistance of non-legumes coincided with an apparent limitation of plant N, which further increased under drought. Under extreme drought (Irish site), growth nearly ceased with an average CAB of À85%. 4. During a 6-week post-drought period with adequate water supply (Swiss sites), formerly drought-stressed species were highly resilient and either attained (legumes) or clearly outperformed (non-legumes) the yield level of the rainfed controls. This outperformance coincided with post-drought reductions in N limitation in formerly drought-stressed species. As a result, aggregated over the drought and the post-drought periods, a negative drought impact was found only for the shallow-rooted L. perenne at one of the severely stressed sites. 5. Significant overyielding by multispecies mixtures was evident under rainfed control conditions (+38% across all three sites, P < 0Á05) and was equally apparent under severe drought (+50%, P < 0Á05). This overyielding was greatest in mixtures with approximately equal species proportions and was sufficiently large that drought-stressed mixtures at least attained the same yield as the average of the rainfed monocultures. Under extreme drought, growth almost ceased in monocultures and mixtures. 6. Synthesis and applications. Yields of selected species of intensively managed temperate grasslands are either resistant to a single severe drought or are highly resilient as soon as soil moisture levels recover after the drought event. However, these forage species seem unable to 2016, 53, 1023-1034 doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12694 cope with an extreme drought event. Combining species in mixtures can compensate for yield reductions caused by severe drought and it offers a practical management tool to adapt forage production to climate change. Journal of Applied Ecology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought

Hofer

Suter

Haughey

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

Self Cite

128

119

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“…The original seed mixture consisted of smooth meadow-grass (Poa pratensis), English ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens), however, up to 20 species were found on the experimental plots (Gilgen et al, 2010). The mean annual precipitation sum at Chamau is 1151 mm and the mean annual temperature is 9.1 • C (Finger et al, 2013). The soil type was classified as a Cambisol (Roth, 2006).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in a temperate grassland

Burri¹,

Sturm²,

Prechsl³

et al. 2013

Preprint

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Along with predicted climate change, increased risks for summer drought are projected for Central Europe. However, large knowledge gaps exist in terms of how drought events influence the short-term ecosystem carbon cycle. Here, we present results from ¹³CO₂ pulse labeling experiments at an intensively managed lowland grassland in Switzerland. We investigated the effect of extreme summer drought on the short-term coupling of freshly assimilated photosynthates in shoots to roots as well as to soil CO₂ efflux.

Summer drought was simulated using rainout shelters during two field seasons (2010 and 2011). Soil CO₂ efflux and its isotopic composition were measured with custom-built chambers coupled to a quantum cascade laser spectrometer (QCLAS-ISO, Aerodyne Research Inc., MA, USA). During the 90 min pulse labeling experiments, we added 99.9 atom % ¹³CO₂ to the grass sward. In addition to the isotopic analysis of soil CO₂ efflux, this label was traced over 31 days into bulk shoots, roots and soil.

Drought reduced the incorporation of recently fixed carbon into shoots and increased carbon allocation below-ground relative to total tracer uptake. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find a change in allocation speed in response to drought, although drought clearly reduced soil CO₂ efflux rates. 19 days after pulse labeling, only about 60% of total tracer uptake was lost via soil CO₂ efflux under drought compared to about 75% under control conditions. Predisposition of grassland by spring drought lead to different responses to summer drought in 2011 compared to 2010, suggesting increased sensitivity of grassland to consecutive drought events as predicted under future climate change

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“…The original seed mixture (applied in 2002) consisted of smooth meadowgrass (Poa pratensis), English ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens), however, up to 20 species were found on the experimental plots . The mean annual precipitation sum at Chamau is 1151 mm and the mean annual temperature is 9.1 • C (Finger et al, 2013). The soil type was classified as a Cambisol (Roth, 2006).…”

Section: Experimental Set-upmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in a temperate grassland

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Along with predicted climate change, increased risks for summer drought are projected for Central Europe. However, large knowledge gaps exist in terms of how drought events influence the short-term ecosystem carbon cycle. Here, we present results from 13 CO 2 pulse labeling experiments at an intensively managed lowland grassland in Switzerland. We investigated the effect of extreme summer drought on the short-term coupling of freshly assimilated photosynthates in shoots to roots as well as to soil CO 2 efflux.Summer drought was simulated using rainout shelters during two field seasons (2010 and 2011). Soil CO 2 efflux and its isotopic composition were measured with custombuilt chambers coupled to a quantum cascade laser spectrometer (QCLAS-ISO, Aerodyne Research Inc., MA, USA). During the 90 min pulse labeling experiments, we added 99.9 atom % 13 CO 2 to the grass sward. In addition to the isotopic analysis of soil CO 2 efflux, this label was traced over 31 days into bulk shoots, roots and soil.Drought reduced the incorporation of recently fixed carbon into the shoots, but increased the relative allocation of fresh assimilates below ground compared to the control grasslands. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find a change of allocation speed in response to drought. Although drought clearly reduced soil CO 2 efflux rates, about 75 % of total tracer uptake in control plots was lost via soil CO 2 efflux during 19 days after pulse labeling, compared to only about 60 % under drought conditions. Thus, the short-term coupling of above-and below-ground processes was reduced in response to summer drought. The occurrence of a natural spring drought in 2011 lead to comparable albeit weaker drought responses increasing the confidence in the generalizability of our findings.

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An economic assessment of drought effects on three grassland systems in Switzerland

Cited by 31 publications

References 37 publications

Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought

Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in a temperate grassland

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in a temperate grassland

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An economic assessment of drought effects on three grassland systems in Switzerland

Cited by 31 publications

References 37 publications

Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought

Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux in a temperate grassland

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux in a temperate grassland

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The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in a temperate grassland

The impact of extreme summer drought on the short-term carbon coupling of photosynthesis to soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux in a temperate grassland