Productivity and vegetation structure of three differently managed temperate grasslands

Zeeman, Matthias; Shupe, Heather; Baeßler, Cornelia; Ruehr, Nadine K.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2018.10.003

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…This upper limit intentionally exceeds the actual management practices and allows us to analyze what can happen if fertilization loads are increased. We computed the corresponding single application amount of manure based on C : N ratio of manure equal to 8.9, which is reported for the sites of DE-Fen, DE-RbW, and DE-Gwg (Fu et al, 2017) and is also similar to values suggested in literature (Sommerfeldt et al, 1988;Nyamangara et al, 1999) or slightly lower (Zhu, 2007;Kumar et al, 2010). The input of P and K is assumed to be proportional to the N input based on assigned N : P and N : K values, guaranteeing non P-or K-limited conditions to the system.…”

Section: Numerical Fertilization Experiments and Climate Change Scenariomentioning

confidence: 54%

“…3 ) concentrations in the water leached at the bottom of the lysimeter. The ScaleX campaign of 2015 (Wolf et al, 2017;Zeeman et al, 2019) provided additional data concerning harvested biomass and its carbon and N content.…”

Section: Study Sites and Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(b) LAI in CH-Oe1 is compared with observations from Chang et al (2013). (c-e) Biomass data for the sites in Germany (DE-Fen, DE-RbW, and DE-Gwg) were provided by the ScaleX campaign 2015 (Zeeman et al, 2019). (f) LAI data in AT-Neu were digitalized from Wohlfahrt et al (2008b).…”

Section: Numerical Fertilization Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of fertilization on grassland productivity and water quality across the European Alps under current and warming climate: insights from a mechanistic model

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Alpine grasslands sustain local economy by providing fodder for livestock. Intensive fertilization is common to enhance their yields, thus creating negative externalities on water quality that are difficult to evaluate without reliable estimates of nutrient fluxes. We apply a mechanistic ecosystem model, seamlessly integrating land-surface energy balance, soil hydrology, vegetation dynamics, and soil biogeochemistry, aiming at assessing the grassland response to fertilization. We simulate the major water, carbon, nutrient, and energy fluxes of nine grassland plots across the broad European Alpine region. We provide an interdisciplinary model evaluation by confirming its performance against observed variables from different datasets. Subsequently, we apply the model to test the influence of fertilization practices on grassland yields and nitrate (NO3-) losses through leaching under both current and modified climate scenarios. Despite the generally low NO3- concentration in groundwater recharge, the variability across sites is remarkable, which is mostly (but not exclusively) dictated by elevation. In high-Alpine sites, short growing seasons lead to less efficient nitrogen (N) uptake for biomass production. This combined with lower evapotranspiration rates results in higher amounts of drainage and NO3- leaching to groundwater. Scenarios with increased temperature lead to a longer growing season characterized by higher biomass production and, consequently, to a reduction of water leakage and N leaching. While the intersite variability is maintained, climate change impacts are stronger on sites at higher elevations. The local soil hydrology has a crucial role in driving the NO3- use efficiency. The commonly applied fixed threshold limit on fertilizer N input is suboptimal. We suggest that major hydrological and soil property differences across sites should be considered in the delineation of best practices or regulations for management. Using distributed maps informed with key soil and climatic attributes or systematically implementing integrated ecosystem models as shown here can contribute to achieving more sustainable practices.

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Section: Numerical Fertilization Experiments and Climate Change Scenariomentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Study Sites and Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of fertilization on grassland productivity and water quality across the European Alps under current and warming climate: insights from a mechanistic model

et al. 2021

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“…A multi-layer snow module is mainly developed based on the Community Land Model (CLM; Oleson et al, 2010) and SNTHERM (Jordan, 1991), while the model is unique in including the gravitational and capillary liquid water flows in the unsaturated snow layer based on van Genuchten's concept of water flow in the unsaturated zone (see Hirashima et al, 2010). In the soil module, freeze-thaw processes in soil based on the freezing-point depression equation (Zhang et al, 2007) are considered in heat conduction and liquid water flow equations.…”

Section: Solvegmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wintertime grassland dynamics may influence belowground biomass under climate change: a model analysis

et al. 2020

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Abstract. Rising temperatures and changes in snow cover, as can be expected under a warmer global climate, may have large impacts on mountain grassland productivity limited by cold and long winters. Here, we combined two existing models, the multi-layer atmosphere-SOiL-VEGetation model (SOLVEG) and the BASic GRAssland model (BASGRA), which accounts for snow, freeze–thaw events, grass growth, and soil carbon balance. The model was applied to simulate the responses of managed grasslands to anomalously warm winter conditions. The grass growth module considered key ecological processes under a cold environment, such as leaf formation, elongation and death, tillering, carbon allocation, and cold acclimation, in terms of photosynthetic activity. Input parameters were derived for two pre-Alpine grassland sites in Germany, for which the model was run using 3 years of data that included a winter with an exceptionally small amount of snow. The model reproduced the temporal variability of observed daily mean heat fluxes, soil temperatures, and snow depth throughout the study period. High physiological activity levels during the extremely warm winter led to a simulated CO2 uptake of 100 gC m−2, which was mainly allocated into the belowground biomass and only to a minor extent used for additional plant growth during early spring. If these temporary dynamics are representative of long-term changes, this process, which is so far largely unaccounted for in scenario analysis using global terrestrial biosphere models, may lead to carbon accumulation in the soil and/or carbon loss from the soil as a response to global warming.

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“…The model is applied to two sites of managed grassland named the Graswang ( Bavarian Alpine Foreland, which is an area in the south of Germany and north of the Alps (Mauder et al, 2013;Zeeman et al, 2017;Zeeman et al, 2019). The grasses are harvested several times during the growing season defined as the period from April to October.…”

Section: Study Sites and Observational Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Wintertime carbon uptake of managed temperate grassland ecosystems may influence grassland dynamics

Katata

Mauder

Zeeman

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. Rising temperatures and changes in snow cover, as can be expected under a global warmer climate, may have large impacts on mountain grassland productivity limited by cold and long winters. Here, we elaborated a multi-layer atmosphere-soil-vegetation model to account for snow, freeze-thaw events, grass growth, and soil microbiology. The model was applied to simulate the responses of managed grasslands to anomalously warm winter conditions. The grass growth module represented key ecological processes under a cold environment, such as leaf formation, elongation and death, tillering, carbon allocation, and cold acclimation, in terms of photosynthetic activity. Input parameters were derived for the pre-alpine grassland sites in Germany, for which the model was run using three years of data that included a winter with an exceptionally limited amount of snow cover. The model reproduced the temporal variability of observed daily mean heat fluxes, soil temperatures and snow depth throughout the simulation period. High physiological activity levels during the extremely warm winter led to a simulated CO2 uptake of 100&#8201;gC&#8201;m&#8722;2, which was mainly allocated into the below-ground biomass and only to a minor extend used for additional plant growth during early spring. If this temporary dynamics is representative of the long-term changes, this process, which is so far largely unaccounted for in scenario analysis using global terrestrial biosphere models, may lead to carbon accumulation in the soil and/or carbon loss from the soil as a response to global warming.

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Productivity and vegetation structure of three differently managed temperate grasslands

Cited by 11 publications

References 58 publications

Impacts of fertilization on grassland productivity and water quality across the European Alps under current and warming climate: insights from a mechanistic model

Impacts of fertilization on grassland productivity and water quality across the European Alps under current and warming climate: insights from a mechanistic model

Wintertime grassland dynamics may influence belowground biomass under climate change: a model analysis

Wintertime carbon uptake of managed temperate grassland ecosystems may influence grassland dynamics

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