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Background &
Objectives
Background
Productive grasslands in many European countries are
often based on pure stands of a productive grass species with high
feeding value, maintained by high levels of nitrogen fertiliser.
Some countries have developed grass-clover mixtures with four to
eight species (e.g. Nyfeler et al 2009, Frankow-Lindberg, 2005,
2009; Frey, 1955; Suter et al., 2004) even under fertile
conditions. Recent ecological research has investigated the
relationship between species diversity and the provision of
ecosystem services. In general, such research has been conducted in
relatively species-rich and nutrient-poor systems, and it seems
that ecological processes may be more effective when species
diversity increases (Tilman et al., 1996) and it is critical to
investigate whether these effects are obtained under more nutrient
rich intensive conditions. In the last ten years interest in
experimental investigation of the effects of diversity on ecosystem
function has quickened. A first generation of studies laid down
preliminary results and methodology but this has been critically
examined and is being replaced by more detailed quantitative
approaches to experimental design and modelling of the results. A
recent summary of the state of the art (Naeem et al, 2009) has
summarised several of these approaches. In this master class we
will review several of these methods and focus on the detail of one
of them in particular, the Diversity-Interaction modelling approach
proposed in Kirwan et al, (2007, 2009).
Objectives
The aim of this Master Class is that participants will
1. Gain an overview of the aims and issues of
biodiversity - ecosystem function experiments
2. Learn the essential elements of the
Diversity-Interaction modelling approach
3. Gain practical experience in applying this
approach to experimental data
4. Participate in discussions on model
interpretation, implications and limits
5. Understand the basics of designing
biodiversity experiments using the simplex approach and appreciate
the strengths and weaknesses of various design strategies.
Literature
Kirwan L., Sebasti M.T., Finn J.A., Collins R.P., Porqueddu C.,
Helgadottir A., Baadshaug O.H., Brophy C., Coran C., Dalmannsdttir
S., Delgado I., Elgersma A., Fothergill M., Frankow-Lindberg B.E.,
Golinski P., Grieu P., Gustavsson A.M., Hglind M., Huguenin-Elie
O., Iliadis C., Jrgensen M., Kadziuliene Z., Karyotis T., Lunnan
T., Malengier M., Maltoni S., Meyer V., Nyfeler D., Nyknen-Kurki
P., Parente J., Smit H.J., Thumm U. and Connolly J. (2007):
Evenness drives consistent diversity effects in an intensive
grassland system across 28 European sites. Journal of Ecology 95,
530-539.
Kirwan L, Connolly J, Finn, JA, Brophy C, Lscher A, Nyfeler D and
Sebasti MT (2009): Diversity-Interaction Modelling - Estimating
Contributions of Species Identities and Interactions to Ecosystem
Function. Ecology 90:2032-2038
Frankow-Lindberg B. (2005): Forage legumes in Sweden. In:
Frankow-Lindberg B. et al. (eds.) Adaptation and Management of
Forage legumes - Strategies for Improved Reliability in Mixed
Swards. Proceedings of the 1st COST 852 workshop held in Ystad,
Sweden 20-22 September 2004, pp. 13-20. Sweden: Uppsala.
B. E. Frankow-Lindberg, C. Brophy, R. P. Collins, J., Connolly
(2009): Biodiversity effects on yield and unsown species invasion
in a temperate forage ecosystem. Annals of Botany.
103:913-921
Frey E. (1955): Neue Standardmischungen fr den Futterbau.
Mitteilungen fr die Schweizerische Landwirtschaft
3(9),129-142.
Shahid Naeem, Daniel E. Bunker, Andy Hector, Michel Loreau, Charles
Perrings (Editors) (2009): Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning, and
Human Wellbeing: An Ecological and Economic Perspective. Oxford
University Press, 384 pp
Nyfeler Daniel, Olivier Huguenin-Elie, Matthias Suter, Emmanuel
Frossard, John Connolly and Andreas Lscher (2009) Strong
mixture effects among four species in fertilized agricultural
grassland led to persistent and consistent transgressive
overyielding J Appl Ecol 46:683-691.
Suter D., Rosenberg E. and Mosimann E. (2004): Standardmischungen
fr den Futterbau: Revison 2005-2008. Agrarforschung 11(9),
1-12.
Tilman D., Wedin D. and Knops J. (1996): Productivity and
sustainability influenced by biodiversity in grassland ecosystems.
Nature 379, 718-720.
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