Permanent grassland classifications predict agronomic and environmental characteristics well, but not ecological characteristics

Abstract

Permanent grasslands produce highly diverse ecosystem goods and services, which need to be easily assessed by decision makers. Naturalists and agronomists classify grasslands in different ways to predict ecological, agronomic and environmental characteristics of the grasslands. However, few studies have compared the prediction abilities of these different classifications using the same botanical relevés, and none has explored the utility of combining classifications. In this study, we attributed a grassland class from each of three classifications (phytosociological, agronomic and functional) to 250 permanent grasslands in north-eastern France to predict 16 characteristics: nine ecological, three agronomic and four environmental. We used statistical model selection to identify the classification or combination of classifications that best predicted each characteristic. Our results showed great prediction ability of agronomic classification, which created the best models for predicting agronomic (yield) and environmental (management, elevation) characteristics. We also identified a strong prediction ability of combining two or all three classifications to predict seven other grassland characteristics. However, grassland classifications did not predict most of the ecological characteristics well. We can assume that phytosociological classification, despite its mainstream use, predicts grassland characteristics less well than agronomic classification. We recommend combining grassland classifications to improve rapid prediction abilities. This study provides new knowledge useful for developing grassland classifications which meet the needs of agronomists and naturalists.

A set of ecosystem service indicators for European grasslands based on botanical surveys

“…When grassland types are more precisely distinguished (Villoslada et al, 2018), the difficulty is to choose the appropriate category of grassland. Categories are diverse and based on phytosociology, agronomy, or functional approaches, but they are rarely unified (Mesbahi et al, 2019).…”

Quantifying the Ecosystem Services of Soda Saline-Alkali Grasslands in Western Jilin Province, NE China

“…Given the extent of ecosystem degradation resulting from environmental changes and human activity [1,2], restoration efforts have increasingly focused on biodiversity and ecosystem services [3,4]. Grassland, which is widely distributed around the globe, is an important terrestrial ecosystem due to a wide range of ecosystem services such as climate regulation, wind prevention and sand fixation, water conservation, biodiversity protection, and carbon sequestration [5][6][7][8][9]. Grassland is also an important ecosystem and natural resource in China, covering an area of approximately 4 million km 2 , which accounts for more than 40% of the country's land area and represents a major contributor to net ecosystem productivity [10].…”

The Distribution of Metallic Elements among Humus Substances in Soil from Volcanic Rocks

“…Globally, permanent grasslands (PGR) are a significant terrestrial ecosystem covering 26% of the world's land area and 28% of the total agricultural area [30]. PGRs provide various ecosystem services (e.g., forage production and mitigation of global warming through carbon storage) [31][32][33][34].…”