Assessing the effects of land-use change on plant traits, communities and ecosystem functioning in grasslands: a standardized methodology and lessons from an application to 11 European sites.
OBJECTIVE
A standardized methodology to assess the impacts of land-use changes on vegetation and ecosystem functioning is presented. It assumes that species traits are central to these impacts, and is designed to be applicable in different historical, climatic contexts and local settings. Preliminary results are presented to show its applicability.


METHODS
Eleven sites, representative of various types of land-use changes occurring in marginal agro-ecosystems across Europe and Israel, were selected. Climatic data were obtained at the site level; soil data, disturbance and nutrition indices were described at the plot level within sites. Sixteen traits describing plant stature, leaf characteristics and reproductive phase were recorded on the most abundant species of each treatment. These data were combined with species abundance to calculate trait values weighed by the abundance of species in the communities. The ecosystem properties selected were components of above-ground net primary productivity and decomposition of litter.


RESULTS
The wide variety of land-use systems that characterize marginal landscapes across Europe was reflected by the different disturbance indices, and were also reflected in soil and/or nutrient availability gradients. The trait toolkit allowed us to describe adequately the functional response of vegetation to land-use changes, but we suggest that some traits (vegetative plant height, stem dry matter content) should be omitted in studies involving mainly herbaceous species. Using the example of the relationship between leaf dry matter content and above-ground dead material, we demonstrate how the data collected may be used to analyse direct effects of climate and land use on ecosystem properties vs. indirect effects via changes in plant traits.


CONCLUSIONS
This work shows the applicability of a set of protocols that can be widely applied to assess the impacts of global change drivers on species, communities and ecosystems.
Garnier
Eric
E
CNRS, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, Montpellier Cedex 5, France. eric.garnier@cefe.cnrs.fr
Lavorel
Sandra
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Ansquer
Pauline
P
Castro
Helena
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Cruz
Pablo
P
Dolezal
Jiri
J
Eriksson
Ove
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Fortunel
Claire
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Freitas
Helena
H
Golodets
Carly
C
Grigulis
Karl
K
Jouany
Claire
C
Kazakou
Elena
E
Kigel
Jaime
J
Kleyer
Michael
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Lehsten
Veiko
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Leps
Jan
J
Meier
Tonia
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Pakeman
Robin
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Papadimitriou
Maria
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Papanastasis
Vasilios P
VP
Quested
Helen
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Quétier
Fabien
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Robson
Matt
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Roumet
Catherine
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Rusch
Graciela
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Skarpe
Christina
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Sternberg
Marcelo
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Theau
Jean-Pierre
JP
Thébault
Aurélie
A
Vile
Denis
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Zarovali
Maria P
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D044822:Biodiversity; D002980:Climate; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D010944:Plants; D006109:Poaceae; D012987:Soil
D012987:Soil