Functional traits as indicators of fodder provision over a short time scale in species-rich grasslands

Summary 1. Plant functional diversity and soil microbial community composition are tightly coupled. Changes in these interactions may influence ecosystem functioning. Links between plant functional diversity, soil microbial communities and ecosystem functioning have been demonstrated in experiments using plant monocultures and mixtures, using broad plant and microbial functional groups, but have not been examined in diverse natural plant communities. 2. We quantified the relative effects of plant and microbial functional properties on key ecosystem functions. We measured plant functional diversity, soil microbial community composition and parameters associated with nitrogen (N) cycling and key nutrient cycling processes at three grassland sites in different parts of Europe. Because plant structure and function strongly influence soil microbial communities, we determined relationships between ecosystem properties, plant traits and soil community characteristics following a sequential approach in which plant traits were fitted first, followed by the additional effects of soil micro-organisms. 3. We identified a continuum from standing green biomass and standing litter, linked mostly with plant traits, to potential N mineralization and potential leaching of soil inorganic N, linked mostly with microbial properties. Plant and microbial functional parameters were equally important in explaining % organic matter content in soil. A parallel continuum ran from plant height, linked with above-ground biomass, to plant quality effects captured by the leaf economics spectrum, which were linked with the recycling of carbon (C) and N. 4. More exploitative species (higher specific leaf area, leaf N concentrations and lower leaf dry matter content) and taller swards, along with soil microbial communities dominated by bacteria, with rapid microbial activities, were linked with greater fodder production, but poor C and N retention. Conversely, dominance by conservative species (with opposite traits) and soil microbial communities dominated by fungi, and bacteria with slow activities, were usually linked with low production, but greater soil C storage and N retention. 5. Synthesis -Grassland production, C sequestration and soil N retention are jointly related to plant and microbial functional traits. Managing grasslands for selected, or multiple, ecosystem services will thus require a consideration of the joint effects of plant and soil communities. Further understanding of the mechanisms that link plant and microbial functional traits is essential to achieve this.

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“…; Ansquer et al . ; Schumacher & Roscher ; Lavorel et al . ; Minden & Kleyer ; Laliberté & Tylianakis ; Lienin & Kleyer ).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Relative contributions of plant traits and soil microbial properties to mountain grassland ecosystem services

et al. 2012

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“…Timing of first use can impact significantly forage quality according to the relative abundances of grass functional types (Ansquer et al 2009). O'Donovan et al (2004 as well as Kennedy et al (2006) showed some positive effects of early and late grazing to improve forage quality for livestock.…”

Section: Parcel and Farm Scales: Two Complementary Scales For Ei Of Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Effects of Grassland Management on Forage Production and Environmental Quality to Identify Paths to Ecological Intensification in Mountain Grasslands

Loucougaray

Dobremez

Gos

et al. 2015

Environmental Management

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Ecological intensification in grasslands can be regarded as a process for increasing forage production while maintaining high levels of ecosystem functions and biodiversity. In the mountain Vercors massif, where dairy cattle farming is the main component of agriculture, how to achieve forage autonomy at farm level while sustaining environmental quality for tourism and local dairy products has recently stimulated local debate. As specific management is one of the main drivers of ecosystem functioning, we assessed the response of forage production and environmental quality at grassland scale across a wide range of management practices. We aimed to determine which components of management can be harnessed to better match forage production and environmental quality. We sampled the vegetation of 51 grasslands stratified across 13 grassland types. We assessed each grassland for agronomic and environmental properties, measuring forage production, forage quality, and indices based on the abundance of particular plant species such as timing flexibility, apiarian potential, and aromatic plants. Our results revealed an expected trade-off between forage production and environmental quality, notably by stressing the contrasts between sown and permanent grasslands. However, strong within-type variability in both production and environmental quality as well as in flexibility of timing of use suggests possible ways to improve this trade-off at grassland and farm scales. As achieving forage autonomy relies on increasing both forage production and grassland resilience, our results highlight the critical role of the ratio between sown and permanent grasslands as a major path for ecological intensification in mountain grasslands.

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“…Ansquer et al . () found a negative relationship between digestibility and the proportion of a plant functional type consisting in stress‐tolerant species with high leaf dry matter content, calculated for grasses in 18 grassland plots, while Andueza et al . () found a negative relationship between CWM of leaf dry matter content and digestibility in a comparison of two meadows differing in management intensity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…() and Ansquer et al . () showed that grasslands with a high proportion of grasses with low leaf dry matter content had a higher digestibility than grasslands dominated by grasses with a high leaf dry matter content. A more formal test of the dominance hypothesis requires the analyses of relationships between community‐weighted means of traits (CWM: the product of the mean trait value of a species by its relative abundance in the community, Garnier et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant trait–digestibility relationships across management and climate gradients in permanent grasslands

Gardarin

Garnier

Carrère³

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Ecology

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International audience1. Dry matter digestibility is a critical component of herbage nutritive value, a major service delivered by grasslands. The aim of this study was to test whether the dominance hypothesis applies to assess the impacts of environmental gradients and management regimes on thiscomponent of herbage nutritive value in permanent grasslands. 2. At the plant level, digestibility has been related to a number of functional traits, but whether this can be scaled up to the community level in species-rich grasslands and how such relationships are modulated by environmental conditions and management regimes remainunknown. Our primary objective was to test whether community-weighted means – species trait values weighted by the species abundance – of morphological, phenological and chemical traits could be used to explain variations in digestibility over a large range of climatic contexts,soil resource levels and management regimes. Our second objective was to explain variations in community digestibility within and among nine contrasting sites along large natural and man-induced environmental gradients.3. Over the whole data set, digestibility and most community-weighted means of traits responded to climatic factors and management regimes, but relations were not always significant when each site was considered separately. Community digestibility was significantly related to one or more plant traits within each site and to all of the measured traits when considering all the sites. Leaf dry matter content (LDMC) had the most consistent effects on digestibility, with a strikingly similar negative effect within each site. Potential evapotranspiration was negatively related to digestibility and contributed to explain a large part of the among-site variance. In addition, a low return interval of disturbance and a high disturbance intensity (biomass removal) were both associated with a high digestibility.4. Synthesis and applications. Disturbance regime, plant traits and local climate impacted dry matter digestibility roughly equally in grasslands. The effects of community composition on digestibility and its response to abiotic factors could be successfully captured by community weightedmeans of leaf dry matter content. This functional marker can be used to develop indicators and grassland management rules to support farmers in the refinement of their practices towards specific needs, such as target production outputs

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Functional traits as indicators of fodder provision over a short time scale in species-rich grasslands

Abstract: The PFT composition and the Ni were more reliable than the plant functional traits measured in the field for evaluating herbage growth pattern and digestibility in spring.

Cited by 51 publications

References 51 publications

Relative contributions of plant traits and soil microbial properties to mountain grassland ecosystem services

Relative contributions of plant traits and soil microbial properties to mountain grassland ecosystem services

Assessing the Effects of Grassland Management on Forage Production and Environmental Quality to Identify Paths to Ecological Intensification in Mountain Grasslands

Plant trait–digestibility relationships across management and climate gradients in permanent grasslands

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