title: 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.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, Montpellier Cedex 5, France. eric.garnier@cefe.cnrs.fr
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garnier
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lavorel
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ansquer
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dolezal
authors.forename: Ove
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fortunel
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Carly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Golodets
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grigulis
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jouany
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kazakou
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kigel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kleyer
authors.forename: Veiko
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lehsten
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leps
authors.forename: Tonia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pakeman
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: Vasilios P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Papanastasis
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Quested
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Quétier
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roumet
authors.forename: Graciela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rusch
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Skarpe
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sternberg
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Theau
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thébault
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vile
authors.forename: Maria P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Zarovali
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002980:Climate; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D010944:Plants; D006109:Poaceae; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil