TY - JOUR

T1 - Digging into the roots

T2 - understanding direct and indirect drivers of ecosystem service trade-offs in coastal grasslands via plant functional traits

AU - Cebrián-Piqueras, Miguel A.

AU - Trinogga, Juliane

AU - Trenkamp, Anastasia

AU - Minden, Vanessa

AU - Maier, Martin

AU - Mantilla-Contreras, Jasmin

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Michael Kleyer for comments on earlier versions of this paper. We want thank the administration of the Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer and the County of Aurich that allowed fieldwork in protected areas. We also thank the farmers for allowing us to access their properties and for the interviews, Cord Peppler-Lisbach for help with species’ identification and statistical support, Sarah Witte for the analysis of a subset of soil samples, and the technicians and students for their help in the laboratory. This project was part of the collaborative research project “Sustainable coastal land management: Trade-offs in ecosystem services” (COMTESS), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01LL0911). Manuscript language services were provided by www.stels-ol.de. Funding Information: We thank Michael Kleyer for comments on earlier versions of this paper. We want thank the administration of the Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer and the County of Aurich that allowed fieldwork in protected areas. We also thank the farmers for allowing us to access their properties and for the interviews, Cord Peppler-Lisbach for help with species’ identification and statistical support, Sarah Witte for the analysis of a subset of soil samples, and the technicians and students for their help in the laboratory. This project was part of the collaborative research project “Sustainable coastal land management: Trade-offs in ecosystem services” (COMTESS), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01LL0911). Manuscript language services were provided by www.stels-ol.de . Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2021/4/1

Y1 - 2021/4/1

N2 - Recent empirical and theoretical approaches have called for an understanding of the processes underpinning ecosystem service provision. Environmental gradients have shown effects on key plant functional traits that subsequently explain ecosystem properties of several systems. However, little is known concerning how associations between plant functional traits, including both below- and aboveground plant components, predict ecosystem properties and independently measured final ecosystem services. Here, we modeled (1) the responses of the leaf and plant economics spectrum, Plant size axis, and root growth to environmental gradients and (2) how associations between plant functional traits explain trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem properties and final services. Forty-four plots were studied in a coastal marsh landscape of the German North Sea Coast. We used a partial least square structural equation model approach to test the hypothesized model. We found (1) a negative covariation between plant traits pertaining to a size axis and traits explaining both plant growth (roots and stems) and the leaf economics spectrum; (2) this trade-off responded significantly to the land use gradient and nutrient availability, which were both strongly driven by the groundwater gradient; (3) this trade-off explained an initial major trade-off between carbon stocks, at one extreme of the axis, and both the habitat value to conserve endangered plants and forage production for meat and dairy products at the other extreme. However, a secondary trade-off between nature conservation value and forage production, explained by a trade-off between leaf economics spectrum and plant growth in response to the land use intensity gradient, was also found.

AB - Recent empirical and theoretical approaches have called for an understanding of the processes underpinning ecosystem service provision. Environmental gradients have shown effects on key plant functional traits that subsequently explain ecosystem properties of several systems. However, little is known concerning how associations between plant functional traits, including both below- and aboveground plant components, predict ecosystem properties and independently measured final ecosystem services. Here, we modeled (1) the responses of the leaf and plant economics spectrum, Plant size axis, and root growth to environmental gradients and (2) how associations between plant functional traits explain trade-offs and synergies between multiple ecosystem properties and final services. Forty-four plots were studied in a coastal marsh landscape of the German North Sea Coast. We used a partial least square structural equation model approach to test the hypothesized model. We found (1) a negative covariation between plant traits pertaining to a size axis and traits explaining both plant growth (roots and stems) and the leaf economics spectrum; (2) this trade-off responded significantly to the land use gradient and nutrient availability, which were both strongly driven by the groundwater gradient; (3) this trade-off explained an initial major trade-off between carbon stocks, at one extreme of the axis, and both the habitat value to conserve endangered plants and forage production for meat and dairy products at the other extreme. However, a secondary trade-off between nature conservation value and forage production, explained by a trade-off between leaf economics spectrum and plant growth in response to the land use intensity gradient, was also found.

KW - Biodiversity effects

KW - Functional ecology

KW - Grassland communities

KW - Land use intensification

KW - Leaf economics spectrum

KW - Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)

KW - Plant-soil interactions

KW - Root traits

KW - Trait-based approach

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105798585&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/3d007da4-3a1a-3183-b356-785937c4b1ab/

U2 - 10.1007/s10661-020-08817-x

DO - 10.1007/s10661-020-08817-x

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 33988759

AN - SCOPUS:85105798585

VL - 193

JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

SN - 0167-6369

IS - SUPPL 1

M1 - 271

ER -