Maria-Teresa Sebastià

Diversity–interaction modeling: estimating contributions of species identities and interactions to ecosystem function

We develop a modeling framework that estimates the effects of species identity and diversity on ecosystem function and permits prediction of the diversity-function relationship across different types of community composition. Rather than just measure an overall effect of diversity, we separately estimate the contributions of different species interactions. This is especially important when both positive and negative interactions occur or where there are patterns in the interactions. Based on different biological assumptions, we can test for different patterns of interaction that correspond to the roles of evenness, functional groups, and functional redundancy. These more parsimonious descriptions can be especially useful in identifying general diversity-function relationships in communities with large numbers of species. We provide an example of the application of the modeling framework. These models describe community-level performance and thus do not require separate measurement of the performance of individual species. This flexible modeling approach can be tailored to test many hypotheses in biodiversity research and can suggest the interaction mechanisms that may be acting.

Grazing as a factor structuring grasslands in the Pyrenees

ABSTRACT Questions: What are the relative roles of abiotic and grazing management factors on plant community distribution in landscapes? How are livestock type and stocking rate related to changes in vegetation structure and composition? Location: Sub-alpine grasslands in the central and eastern Pyrenees. Methods: Multivariate analysis and variance partitioning methods were used to evaluate the relative roles of environmental factors in structuring vegetation composition and diversity patterns in three surveys on differently managed grasslands. Results: Vegetation composition within a region was affected by environmental factors hierarchically, changing first according to abiotic factors and then to grazing management. At landscape scales, abiotic factors explained two-fold more variation in vegetation composition than grazing factors. Within landscape units, cattle grazing increased vegetation heterogeneity at landscape and patch scales, while sheep grazing favoured the presence of a specific set of species with high conservation value. Species composition was highly responsive to management variables compared to diversity components. Conclusions: The combination of sheep and cattle grazing at various stocking rates is an effective tool to preserve the diversity of plant species and communities within a region with a long tradition of livestock management, through the scaling up of effects by local processes occurring in patches at smaller scales. Nomenclature: Tutin et al. (1964–1980); Bolòs et al. (1993).

Soil nutrient fluxes and vegetation changes on molehills

. The hypothesis that mole burrowing activity alters soil nutrient fluxes and that, as a response to the new conditions, a specialized guild of species develops on the molehills, was tested in an area located in the southwestern Spanish Pyrenees, on a spectrum of montane grassland communities that varies from xeric to temporally waterlogged. Evidence for an association between disturbance and nutrient availability was reported for nitrogen. Mole-disturbed soils had elevated amounts of inorganic nitrogen compared to soils in surrounding pastures. At the first stages of mound revegetation, changes in nitrate flushes and in species competitive relationships following disturbance appeared to facilitate the establishment of ruderal and non-mycorrhizal species. The diversity of the whole grassland was enhanced by the existence of these sets of species, abundant on mounds and rarer in the pasture. However, the difference was mainly quantitative, as exclusive colonizers of molehills were not found.

Strong shifts in plant diversity and vegetation composition in grassland shortly after climatic change

Abstract Questions: Is plant diversity in mesic grassland ecosystems vulnerable in the short-term to extreme climate change events? How rapidly can responses in vegetation composition occur in perennial grasslands? Are the expected compositional changes related to rare species losses or to shifts in the relative abundance of the dominants? Location: Subalpine mesic grasslands on limestone in the Pyrenees. Methods: Transplanting turves from the upland, with cold-temperate climate, to a lowland location, with continental Mediterranean climate. Results: Transplanting led to decreased biodiversity and strong shifts in vegetation composition. Results from both permutation tests and traditional multivariate analysis suggested different trajectories of vegetation depending on the initial species pool. Vegetation showed a tendency to converge in composition in the lowland over time, independently of initial differences. Estimated changes in relative biomass of the five most abundant species between the upland and the lowland ranged from −89 to +96 %. The ensemble of all other species was reduced by 80%. The most dominant species in the upland, Festuca nigrescens, reduced its abundance in the lowland, shifting from having mainly positive to mainly negative associations with other species. Conclusions: Mesic grassland ecosystems in the Pyrenees showed strong shifts in plant diversity and composition after a short period of warming and drought, as a consequence of acute vulnerability of some dominant grasses, losses of rare species, and aggregate and trigger effects of originally uncommon forb species. Nomenclature: Tutin et al. (1964–1980); Bolòs et al. (1993).

Benefits of sward diversity for agricultural grasslands

Abstract A pan-European experiment carried out at 28 sites across Europe showed strong benefits of sward diversity in agricultural grasslands. We systematically varied the relative abundance of four agronomic plant species (sown species evenness), and found that 4-species mixtures yielded more forage than could be expected on the basis of the monoculture yields. Mixtures generally yielded more than even the best performing monoculture (transgressive overyielding). Mixtures strongly reduced the incidence of unsown species in the sward. These diversity effects were consistent over the wide range of environmental conditions and persisted over three harvest years and in highly fertilized conditions. These results indicate a strong potential for agronomic mixtures to contribute to more sustainable agricultural systems. Agronomic diversity can improve forage yield and reduce weed invasion in intensively managed grasslands, and may also enhance the provision of other ecosystem services.

Heathland dynamics in biotically disturbed areas: on the role of some features enhancing heath success

Abstract It is well accepted that intense anthropogenic activities threaten European heathland communities. The negative impact of high intensities of livestock grazing on heath survival has been demonstrated in many studies, however, it does not seem a straightforward consequence in some cases: in the southern Pyrenees, the existence of large heathland patches in intensively grazed areas suggests that other factors interact and affect heath success. In order to gain insight into the factors affecting heath success, this paper analyses the pattern of occurrence of ericaceous shrubs—particularly Erica vagans—and their effects on soils when compared to herbaceous vegetation, under a complex biotic disturbance regime. Survey plots were established in grassland and heathland communities disturbed by both livestock and by burrowing animals on soils with different levels of basic resources. Relative cover of the species on and off molehills was studied. In heathland plots, ericaceous shrubs were more common on old molehills than off them. This pattern was strongest in the poorest soils. Below established heath shrubs, independently of the initial properties of the soils, some basic resources were more available than in intershrub areas. In grazed ecosystems, where continuous trampling and removal of biomass occurs, the heath canopy provides a site for accumulation of litter and insects, which contribute to the build up of a resource-rich layer. We conclude that successful establishment on ubiquitous molehills and suitable, localised changes in the soil under shrubs are some of the factors that explain the success of ericaceous shrubs in complex biotically disturbed areas.

Silvopastoral Systems in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula: A Multifunctional Perspective

This paper aims to analyse the present situation of silvopastoral systems in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula and to foresee the role that silvopastoralism might play in the future. In the region, silvopasture form part of an extensive livestock farming system which integrates agriculture, livestock production and forestry, mostly in family-based farms. Forest grazing is the most important silvopastoral system in the study area where the mountainous topography and the dominant Mediterranean climate influence the grazing strategies. Despite the low contribution of silvopastoralism to the total Gross Domestic Product of the Catalan region, extensive livestock systems play an important social and economic role in the structure of rural areas. Moreover, this role is expected to increase in the future due to the implementation of new agrienvironment measures in the framework of the latest European financial program (2007–2013). The present paper discusses the role of silvopastoralism as an economically viable tool to prevent wildfires and conserve biodiversity in these systems.

Complex vegetation responses to soil disturbances in mountain grassland

We studied vegetation responses to disturbances originated by ants and voles in subalpine grasslands in the Eastern Pyrenees. We compared the effects of these small-scale disturbances with those of a large-scale disturbance caused by ploughing. We wanted to know if these soil disturbances promoted species richness through the existence of a specific guild of plants colonizing these areas, and if this guild was the same for all soil disturbances, independently of their extent. In general, grassland vegetation seemed to recover relatively quickly from soil-displacement disturbances, and the effects could be scaled up in time and space in terms of species richness and composition. Vole mound composition was similar to that in the surrounding grassland, suggesting that mounds were rapidly colonized by the neighbouring vegetation. Vegetation composition differed between the grassland and the ant mounds. Grasses and erect dicots coped well with repeated disturbance, while rosette-forming species and sedges were very sensitive to it. Landscape processes could be important to understanding recolonization. Species from xeric grasslands were found in mesic grasslands when disturbed by ploughing and on the tops of active ant mounds. Furrows in mesic grasslands recovered well, but decades after disturbance showed long persistence of some xeric species and increased species richness compared to terraces, while xeric grasslands showed decreased richness. This suggests that, because of those disturbances, within-habitat diversity was increased, although landscape diversity was not. However, specific disturbances showed idiosyncratic effects, which could enhance the species richness globally. In ant-affected areas, the grassland itself showed the highest plant species richness, partially associated to the presence of some species with elaiosomes not, or only rarely, found in adjacent grasslands without ant mounds. Therefore, soil disturbances occurring at different spatial scales contributed to complexity in vegetation patterns in addition to abiotic factors and grazing.

Functional Trait Changes, Productivity Shifts and Vegetation Stability in Mountain Grasslands during a Short-Term Warming

Plant functional traits underlie vegetation responses to environmental changes such as global warming, and consequently influence ecosystem processes. While most of the existing studies focus on the effect of warming only on species diversity and productivity, we further investigated (i) how the structure of community plant functional traits in temperate grasslands respond to experimental warming, and (ii) whether species and functional diversity contribute to a greater stability of grasslands, in terms of vegetation composition and productivity. Intact vegetation turves were extracted from temperate subalpine grassland (highland) in the Eastern Pyrenees and transplanted into a warm continental, experimental site in Lleida, in Western Catalonia (lowland). The impacts of simulated warming on plant production and diversity, functional trait structure, and vegetation compositional stability were assessed. We observed an increase in biomass and a reduction in species and functional diversity under short-term warming. The functional structure of the grassland communities changed significantly, in terms of functional diversity and community-weighted means (CWM) for several traits. Acquisitive and fast-growing species with higher SLA, early flowering, erect growth habit, and rhizomatous strategy became dominant in the lowland. Productivity was significantly positively related to species, and to a lower extent, functional diversity, but productivity and stability after warming were more dependent on trait composition (CWM) than on diversity. The turves with more acquisitive species before warming changed less in composition after warming. Results suggest that (i) the short-term warming can lead to the dominance of acquisitive fast growing species over conservative species, thus reducing species richness, and (ii) the functional traits structure in grassland communities had a greater influence on the productivity and stability of the community under short-term warming, compared to diversity effects. In summary, short-term climate warming can greatly alter vegetation functional structure and its relation to productivity.

Maximizing the information obtained from chamber-based greenhouse gas exchange measurements in remote areas

Graphical abstract