Assessing the efFEct of global change driVERs on multifunctionality in global drylands

FEVER

Nicolas Gross CR1 INRA

Agreenskills outgoing fellow

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Who Am I?

Nicolas GrossResearcher at the INRA (SPE) since 2010AGRIPOP team (USC INRA-CNRS)

Main research interest

CEBC

Semiarid Ecology and Global Change LabLed by Dr. Fernando T. Maestre UJRC

Biodiversity

Global Change driversClimate change

Land use changeInvasion

…

Global change

Productivity

Pollination Biological control

Forage qualityWeed regulation

C N P cycling

Patrimonial value

Soil Fertility

EcosystemMultifunctionality

Water storage

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Mutlifunctionality in global drylands

• 41% of the global terrestrial surface

• 38% of the world’s human population

• Extremely diverse (hotspot of diversity)

• Highly sensitive to global changes

Desertification

• 20 % drylands under severe ecosystem degradation

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Mutlifunctionality in global drylands

Ecos

yste

m

Mut

lifun

ction

ality

Environnemental change

Valencia et al. 2015

Hypothesis:Biodiversity is key to predict ecosystem response to global change

Non-linear response & catastrophic shift

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Mutlifunctionality in global drylands

How functional diversity in global drylands mediates the impact of multiple GC drivers on ecosystem mutlifunctionality

≥ 10 communities ≥ 5 communities < 5 communitiesSampling effort ≥ 10 communities ≥ 5 communities < 5 communitiesSampling effort

• Climate and soil• Soil microbe diversity• Plant diversity• Mutlifunctionality data

+

230 sites worldwide 23 countries New data acquisition

ERC BIODESDERT (starting date 2016)Led by Fernando T. Maestre

Biodiversity data (including species, phylogenetic and functional diversity)

Climate & Grazing gradients

Remote sensing

On site measurments

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Mutlifunctionality in global drylands

How functional diversity in global drylands mediates the impact of multiple GC drivers on ecosystem multifunctionality

• TASK 1: Quantifying the impact of GC drivers on functional diversity in global drylands

Develop and test a comprehensive framework to link biodiversity with ecosystem functioning at a spatial scale that has never been

reached before (i.e. global)

• TASK 2: Evaluating the impact of biotic interactions (competition & facilitation) on the functional structure of global drylands

• TASK 3: Quantifying the effect of functional diversity on ecosystem functioning

• TASK 4: Developing a novel predictive framework to predict biodiversity & ecosystem response to GC

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Mutlifunctionality in global drylands

Thanks!

Maestre labFernandoMiguel 1Miguel 2AngelaEnriqueBeaVickyYoannNico…

nicolas.gross@cebc.cnrs.fr

Questions

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015

Height

Spec

ific

leaf

are

a

Root lengthA simple definition:

REPONSE TRAIT: Morphological or physiological attribute which as a function for an individual/species to persist in its own environment (Lavorel et al. 1997 TREE)

EFFECT TRAIT: At the community scale, they determine community effect on ecosystem function (Gross et al. 2008 New Phytol.)

Agreenskills Annual Meeting Barcelona 2015Mutlifunctionality in global drylands:

A focus on functional diversity

80 100 120 140 160 180 200 2200

5

10

15

20

25

30

Abundance

Traits values