Land-use intensity alters networks between biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services

Land-use intensification can increase provisioning ecosystem services, such as food and timber production, but it also drives changes in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity loss, which may ultimately compromise human wellbeing. To understand how changes in land-use intensity affect the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services, we built networks from correlations between the species richness of 16 trophic groups, 10 ecosystem functions, and 15 ecosystem services. We evaluated how the properties of these networks varied across land-use intensity gradients for 150 forests and 150 grasslands. Land-use intensity significantly affected network structure in both habitats. Changes in connectance were larger in forests, while changes in modularity and evenness were more evident in grasslands. Our results show that increasing land-use intensity leads to more homogeneous networks with less integration within modules in both habitats, driven by the belowground compartment in grasslands, while forest responses to land management were more complex. Land-use intensity strongly altered hub identity and module composition in both habitats, showing that the positive correlations of provisioning services with biodiversity and ecosystem functions found at low land-use intensity levels, decline at higher intensity levels. Our approach provides a comprehensive view of the relationships between multiple components of biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem services and how they respond to land use. This can be used to identify overall changes in the ecosystem, to derive mechanistic hypotheses, and it can be readily applied to further global change drivers.

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Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23931-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gaëtane Le Provost ◽

Jan Thiele ◽

Catrin Westphal ◽

Caterina Penone ◽

Eric Allan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Land Use Intensity ◽

Trophic Groups ◽

Multiple Components ◽

Belowground Diversity ◽

Landscape Level

AbstractLand-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. However, understanding how different components of land use drive biodiversity loss requires the investigation of multiple trophic levels across spatial scales. Using data from 150 agricultural grasslands in central Europe, we assess the influence of multiple components of local- and landscape-level land use on more than 4,000 above- and belowground taxa, spanning 20 trophic groups. Plot-level land-use intensity is strongly and negatively associated with aboveground trophic groups, but positively or not associated with belowground trophic groups. Meanwhile, both above- and belowground trophic groups respond to landscape-level land use, but to different drivers: aboveground diversity of grasslands is promoted by diverse surrounding land-cover, while belowground diversity is positively related to a high permanent forest cover in the surrounding landscape. These results highlight a role of landscape-level land use in shaping belowground communities, and suggest that revised agroecosystem management strategies are needed to conserve whole-ecosystem biodiversity.

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A review of regulation ecosystem services and disservices from faunal populations and potential impacts of agriculturalisation on their provision, globally

Nature Conservation ◽

10.3897/natureconservation.30.26989 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 1-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Claudia Gutierrez-Arellano ◽

Mark Mulligan

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Service Provision ◽

Service Use ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

Natural Ecosystem ◽

Structure Degradation ◽

Animal Populations

Land use and cover change (LUCC) is the main cause of natural ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss and can cause a decrease in ecosystem service provision. Animal populations are providers of some key regulation services: pollination, pest and disease control and seed dispersal, the so-called faunal ecosystem services (FES). Here we aim to give an overview on the current and future status of regulation FES in response to change from original habitat to agricultural land globally. FES are much more tightly linked to wildlife populations and biodiversity than are most ecosystem services, whose determinants are largely climatic and related to vegetation structure. Degradation of ecosystems by land use change thus has much more potential to affect FES. In this scoping review, we summarise the main findings showing the importance of animal populations as FES providers and as a source of ecosystem disservices; underlying causes of agriculturalisation impacts on FES and the potential condition of FES under future LUCC in relation to the expected demand for FES globally. Overall, studies support a positive relationship between FES provision and animal species richness and abundance. Agriculturalisation has negative effects on FES providers due to landscape homogenisation, habitat fragmentation and loss, microclimatic changes and development of population imbalance, causing species and population losses of key fauna, reducing services whilst enhancing disservices. Since evidence suggests an increase in FES demand worldwide is required to support increased farming, it is imperative to improve the understanding of agriculturalisation on FES supply and distribution. Spatial conservation prioritisation must factor in faunal ecosystem functions as the most biodiversity-relevant of all ecosystem services and that which most closely links sites of service provision of conservation value with nearby sites of service use to provide ecosystem services of agricultural and economic value.

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Protecting nature is necessary but not sufficient for conserving ecosystem services: A comprehensive assessment along a gradient of land-use intensity in Spain

Ecosystem Services ◽

10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.11.006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 ◽

pp. 43-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

F. Santos-Martín ◽

P. Zorrilla-Miras ◽

I. Palomo ◽

C. Montes ◽

J. Benayas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Comprehensive Assessment ◽

Land Use Intensity

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Land‐use intensity indirectly affects ecosystem services mainly through plant functional identity in a temperate forest

Functional Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2435.13064 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 1390-1399 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Verónica Chillo ◽

Diego P. Vázquez ◽

Mariano M. Amoroso ◽

Elena M. Bennett

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Temperate Forest ◽

Land Use Intensity ◽

Functional Identity

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Functional diversity overrides community-weighted mean traits in linking land-use intensity to hydrological ecosystem services

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.160 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 682 ◽

pp. 583-590 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Zhi Wen ◽

Hua Zheng ◽

Jeffrey R. Smith ◽

He Zhao ◽

Lei Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Land Use Intensity ◽

Weighted Mean ◽

Community Weighted Mean

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Ecological traits affect the response of tropical forest bird species to land-use intensity

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2012.2131 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 280 (1750) ◽

pp. 20122131 ◽

Cited By ~ 167

Author(s):

Tim Newbold ◽

Jörn P. W. Scharlemann ◽

Stuart H. M. Butchart ◽

Çağan H. Şekercioğlu ◽

Rob Alkemade ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Bird Species ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Species Traits ◽

Land Use Intensity ◽

Ecological Traits ◽

Human Land Use ◽

Average Probability ◽

Land Use Intensity Gradient

Land-use change is one of the main drivers of current and likely future biodiversity loss. Therefore, understanding how species are affected by it is crucial to guide conservation decisions. Species respond differently to land-use change, possibly related to their traits. Using pan-tropical data on bird occurrence and abundance across a human land-use intensity gradient, we tested the effects of seven traits on observed responses. A likelihood-based approach allowed us to quantify uncertainty in modelled responses, essential for applying the model to project future change. Compared with undisturbed habitats, the average probability of occurrence of bird species was 7.8 per cent and 31.4 per cent lower, and abundance declined by 3.7 per cent and 19.2 per cent in habitats with low and high human land-use intensity, respectively. Five of the seven traits tested affected the observed responses significantly: long-lived, large, non-migratory, primarily frugivorous or insectivorous forest specialists were both less likely to occur and less abundant in more intensively used habitats than short-lived, small, migratory, non-frugivorous/insectivorous habitat generalists. The finding that species responses to land use depend on their traits is important for understanding ecosystem functioning, because species' traits determine their contribution to ecosystem processes. Furthermore, the loss of species with particular traits might have implications for the delivery of ecosystem services.

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