Enhance Ecosystem Functions Research Articles

How perceived sensory dimensions of urban green spaces affect cultural ecosystem benefits: A study on Haizhu Wetland Park, China

Research exploring the relationship between human well-being and ecosystem functions by assessing cultural ecosystem benefits (CEBs) is a crucial and emerging field. However, quantifying CEB is challenging due to the lack of a uniform measurement scale. In addition, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence CEBs to enhance ecosystem functions and contribute to human well-being. While physical landscape features have been investigated, there is limited evidence supporting the link between perception-based landscape features and CEBs. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a CEBs measurement scale and investigate the impact of perceived sensory dimensions (PSDs) of urban green spaces (UGSs) on CEBs. We conducted a Public Participation GIS-survey (PPGIS) at Guangzhou National Haizhu Wetland Park. 1473 participants took part in our study and evaluated the CEBs provided by urban green spaces (UGSs). Using SPSS statistics and ArcMap tools, we found that PSDs of UGSs are significantly associated with CEB. Additionally, we confirmed that different levels within a PSD influence the levels of CEBs gained from UGSs. Our results indicate that creating serene, open, and natural UGSs is more effective than incorporating numerous cultural elements. In conclusion, this study introduces PSDs into the framework of CEB, which landscape architects can use to shape the specific environmental characteristics of UGSs and provide the CEBs required to support the well-being of urban populations.

Water Management for Conservation and Ecosystem Function: Modeling the Prioritization of Source Water in a Working Landscape

Conservation in working landscapes is an important aspect of stream restoration. Landowners with agricultural water rights are increasingly adding instream flow as a beneficial use of their allocated water. However, stream restoration projects commonly focus on the quantity of water dedicated to the environment and overlook water quality. For cold-water ecosystems, the preservation of natural thermal regimes is a key to conservation efforts in the face of a changing climate. This study explored the effects of increasing stream flow using alternative water sources (e.g., instream runoff versus offchannel springs) to enhance cold-water stream habitat on a working cattle ranch. Using empirical data to create a steady-state stream flow and water temperature model, we evaluated temperature benefits and management trade-offs for ecological and agricultural water use. The modeled results showed that the source of water and the method used to deliver water to the channel affected the quality and extent of cold-water habitat. Offchannel spring water cooled 7-day average maximum temperatures and 7-day average mean temperatures by as much as 3.7°C and 2.9°C, respectively, but only when potential offchannel aquatic habitat was sacrificed for mainstem habitat. When offchannel, spring-fed habitat was provided, the value of spring water to the main channel decreased. Our findings suggest that source water thermal quality is of paramount importance for enhancing ecosystem function and improving cold-water habitat in working landscapes. In addition, the restoration of a historic spring channel may provide added ecosystem benefits by enhancing aquatic habitat for cold-water species.

Relationship between dominant species, vegetation composition and species attributes in spring and autumn on a riverbank: implications for river management to enhance ecosystem functions

Relationship between dominant species, vegetation composition and species attributes in spring and autumn on a riverbank: implications for river management to enhance ecosystem functions

Examining the diversity, stability and functioning of marine fish communities across a latitudinal gradient

AbstractAimAs anthropogenic stressors on the biosphere intensify, understanding how communities respond to disturbances is critical. Biodiversity is often thought to promote the stability of communities over time and enhance ecosystem functioning. However, results have been inconsistent, and the multifaceted linkages among diversity, stability and functioning under acute disturbances remain poorly understood. We experimentally tested the responses of marine fish communities to disturbance (i.e., acute habitat loss) across a diversity gradient spanning 35 degrees of latitude in the western Atlantic Ocean to assess the diversity–stability relationship and the interplay between diversity, stability, and fish biomass recovery (as a proxy for function) in marine fish communities.LocationWestern Atlantic Ocean [Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida (USA), Belize and Panama].Time period2016–2017.Major taxa studiedSmall, bottom‐dwelling (‘cryptobenthic’) fishes.MethodsWe experimentally tested the response of marine fish communities to disturbance across a diversity gradient on human‐made dock pilings. We holistically sampled cryptobenthic fish communities, then we imposed a severe disturbance by removing all benthic epifauna. We then compared the community stability, defined as the constancy in community composition, on disturbed and undisturbed pilings after one year.ResultsDiversity showed a negative effect on community stability at both the regional (across docks) and local (within docks) scales. Similarly, local diversity was negatively correlated with ecosystem function. These effects are exacerbated by the habitat loss imposed via our experimental treatment.Main conclusionsOur results suggest that habitat loss may re‐shuffle diverse, tropical communities more intensively than species‐poor, temperate communities, which impacts biomass recovery, our proxy of functioning. Contrary to ecological theory, in small‐bodied, benthos‐associated vertebrate communities, biodiversity may neither promote stability nor functioning, suggesting that human disturbances may be particularly impactful in tropical, high‐diversity ecosystems.

Incorporating concepts of biodiversity into modern aquaculture: macroalgal species richness enhances bioremediation efficiency in a lumpfish hatchery

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food producing sectors; however, intensive farming techniques of finfish have raised environmental concerns, especially through the release of excessive nutrients into surrounding waters. Biodiversity has been widely shown to enhance ecosystem functions and services, but there has been limited testing or application of this key ecological relationship in aquaculture. This study tested the applicability of the biodiversity-function relationship to integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), asking whether species richness can enhance the efficiency of macroalgal bioremediation of wastewater from finfish aquaculture. Five macroalgal species (Chondrus crispus, Fucus serratus, Palmaria palmata, Porphyra dioica, and Ulva sp.) were cultivated in mono- and polyculture in water originating from a lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) hatchery. Total seaweed biomass production, specific growth rates (SGR), and the removal of ammonium (NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup>), total oxidised nitrogen (TON), and phosphate (PO<sub>4</sub> <sup>3-</sup>) from the wastewater were measured. Species richness increased total seaweed biomass production by 11% above the average component monoculture, driven by an increase in up to 5% in SGR of fast-growing macroalgal species in polycultures. Macroalgal species richness further enhanced ammonium uptake by 25%, and TON uptake by nearly 10%. Phosphate uptake was not improved by increased species richness. The increased uptake of NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> and TON with increased macroalgal species richness suggests the complementary use of different nitrogen forms (NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> vs. TON) in macroalgal polycultures. The results demonstrate enhanced bioremediation efficiency by increased macroalgal species richness and show the potential of integrating biodiversity- function research to improve aquaculture sustainability.

Leveraging functional traits of cover crops to coordinate crop productivity and soil health

Abstract Plants act as ecosystem engineers playing fundamental roles in steering their surroundings, including soil abiotic and biotic conditions, soil organisms, and the complex soil food web they comprise. Trait‐based approaches have been considered a ‘Holy Grail’ in linking plants to ecosystem functions, but the mechanistic relationship between plant traits and the soil food web as an indicator of soil health remains poorly understood. We examined this relationship for 16 cover crop species differing in leaf and root traits in a field experiment where corn, Zea mays was the main crop. Based on functional traits, the cover crop species were categorized into two ecological strategies at either end of the resource acquisitive‐conservative spectrum. We investigated the effects of cover crop ecological strategies on corn productivity and soil health. We used soil nematodes as an indicator of soil health and analysed soil physico‐chemical properties and microbial community activities. We found that acquisitive cover crops supported higher soil resource availability, bacterial energy channels in the soil food web, and greater corn productivity than conservative cover crops. In contrast, conservative cover crops supported higher abundances of fungivores and omni‐carnivores than acquisitive cover crop, which reflected a more structured and complex soil food web, implying a healthier soil ecosystem. Conservative cover crops also increased corn productivity compared to the no cover crop control treatment. Synthesis and applications. Collectively, this work shows that cover crops with distinct ecological strategies had their own strengths to enhance ecosystem functions: acquisitive and conservative cover crops improved crop productivity and soil health, respectively. These results indicates that farmers and policy makers can make trait‐based choices in selecting cover crop best serving the local needs. This points to a win‐win solution for food production and ecosystem sustainability.

Cost-effective integrated conservation and restoration priorities by trading off multiple ecosystem services

Conservation and restoration have long been regarded as two separate management avenues to maintain or enhance ecosystem functioning. Despite the commonalities in goals, restoration is generally considered a lower priority than conservation due to its generally greater cost, uncertainties in multiple trajectories and deals with already degraded habitats. However, when resources and opportunities for meeting conservation needs are limited, restoration could be an imperative avenue to provide additional benefits from conservation. The priority of conservation and restoration should be integrated based on an identical framework cost effectively to obtain the maximum ecological benefits with minimal costs. We propose a methodological framework to integrate conservation and restoration based on theories of Systematic Conservation Planning, which could identify best integrated conservation and restoration pattern in a cost-effective way on the basis of the provisions of multiple ecosystem services (i.e., carbon storage, water yield, soil retention and habitat quality). The trade-offs among four ecosystem services are assessed with an each of 10% increment in the target levels of ecosystem services. We demonstrated our approach at a regional scale, in the Dongting Lake Area, China. Our results showed that conservation is prioritized in a higher proportion of the study area when the targets are low. When the target level became higher, restoration gained more importance with growing area. This highlights that restoration pattern is indispensable when target setting become high and the integrated conservation and restoration planning is more cost efficient than that of conservation alone. Improving the carbon storage and soil retention would also contribute greatly to an increase in other ecosystems, but increasing the water yield and habitat quality would not guarantee an improvement for others. Integrated conservation and restoration planning will facilitate refine target achievement of conservation and restoration recommendations, by the trade-offs between conservation and restoration, and among different ecosystem services, our prioritization framework provides a useful insight in implementing the integrated planning, which can improve the efficiency in increasing ecosystem services compared to use either conservation or restoration ways.

Metabolic shifts of oceans: Summoning bacterial interactions

Metabolic scaling can pinpoint monitoring priorities for anomalous communities and inform local eco-engineering restoration enhancing ecosystem function. We discovered an entropic Kleiber’s Law between bacterioplankton phylum total directed interactions and population and community abundane, with an average exponent Φ≃23 in striking accordance with theoretical expectations. The taxa-independent allometric relationship largely varies by habitat (shifting from 2/3 to 3/4 as power-exponent) and is better explained by the community abundance spectrum and its organization than by the envirome defined by environmental interactions. Yet, greater envirome disorganization meant higher environmental impacts causing larger bacteriome disorganization toward random interaction topologies and higher Kleiber’s Law exponents. Habitat-related bacteriome differences revealed that keystone phyla were highly interacting and rare (like Acidobacteria, SBR1093, and ZB3) maintaining weak but salient interactions with both rare (like Spirochaetes and Firmicutes) and dominant phyla. Consistent with their small divergence from main Kleiber’s law and abundance spectrum patterns cosmopolitan phyla, like Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, were dominant but weakly interacting (in magnitude) emphasizing the importance of weak ties in collective dynamics. The most salient interactions were always between phyla with high and low node centrality defined by their total directed interactions and abundance. Envirome network centrality shows temperature and nutrient concentrations (total and dissolved organic phosphorus) as central in estuarine habitats impacted by both global ocean factors and near-shore river effluxes; salinity and suspended particle matter were central in more off-shore habitats. Our results emphasize the importance of a probabilistic assessment of community interactions over individual bacterial abundance analyses when searching for collective patterns informative of ecosystem state and their environmental determinants.

Incubation mound building by the Australian megapode (malleefowl, Leipoa ocellata) creates novel, resource‐rich patches in a semi‐arid woodland

Abstract Desert ecosystems are characterised by a patchy distribution of resources. Nutrient sinks associated with landscape modulators (trees) differ markedly from the resource‐poor interpatch matrix. Fauna can also act as landscape modulators, modifying patch dynamics by redistributing resources via ‘ecosystem engineering’. In semi‐arid woodlands, malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata: Megapodiidae) reconfigure surface characteristics by scavenging leaf litter to construct large incubation mounds. The extent to which this movement of resources creates a novel patch and alters extant patches is largely unknown. Ecosystem engineering effects by megapodes have been little studied, but are potentially great, particularly in drylands, where mammalian engineers are known to enhance ecosystem function and drive restoration. We measured vegetation, ground cover and soil chemistry at malleefowl mounds and four extant microsites (trees and open areas close to, and far from, mounds) and predicted that: (1) malleefowl mounds would represent enriched, yet novel, microsites; (2) the characteristics of tree and open patches close to the mounds would differ from those away from the mounds, because of the diminishing intensity of disturbance; and (3) effects at tree and open patches close to the mound would be shorter term, compared to the more substantial high‐resource patch formation occurring at the mound, but we expected all effects would diminish with time since malleefowl activity. We found that: (1) malleefowl mounds were novel microsites with soil chemistry more similar to tree‐modulated patches, and groundcover and vegetation variables more similar to the open, interpatch matrix; (2) effects extended to tree and open patches near the mound, but most effects were short lived; and (3) some novel mound attributes (e.g. soil pH, phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon) were greater at mounds, irrespective of their age, while less plant cover and richness on young mounds dissipated with age. Synthesis. Mound‐building megapodes can modulate the distribution of locally derived resources and create a novel microsite. Engineering effects can enhance spatial heterogeneity and ecosystem function over broad spatial and temporal scales, and may assist with ecological restoration, particularly in depauperate, arid systems.

The Functional Structure of Tropical Plant Communities and Soil Properties Enhance Ecosystem Functioning and Multifunctionality in Different Ecosystems in Ghana

Plant functional traits are useful in tracking changes in the environment, and play an important role in determining ecosystem functioning. The relationship between plant functional traits and ecosystem functioning remains unclear, although there is growing evidence on this relationship. In this study, we tested whether the functional structure of vegetation has significant effects on the provision of ecosystem services. We analysed plant trait composition (specific leaf area, leaf carbon and nitrogen ratio, isotopic carbon fraction, stem dry matter content, seed mass and plant height), soil parameters (nutrients, pH, bulk density) and proxies of ecosystem services (carbon stock, decomposition rate, invertebrate activity) in twenty-four plots in three tropical ecosystems (active restored and natural forests and an agroforestry system) in Ghana. For each plot, we measured above-ground biomass, decomposition rates of leaves and invertebrate activity as proxies for the provision of ecosystem services to evaluate (i) whether there were differences in functional composition and soil properties and their magnitude between ecosystem types. We further aimed to (ii) determine whether the functional structure and/or soil parameters drove ecosystem functions and multifunctionality in the three ecosystem types. For functional composition, both the leaf economic spectrum and seed mass dimension clearly separated the ecosystem types. The natural forest was more dominated by acquisitive plants than the other two ecosystem types, while the non-natural forests (agroforest and restored forest) showed higher variation in the functional space. The natural forest had higher values of soil properties than the restored forest and the agroforestry system, with the differences between the restored and agroforestry systems driven by bulk density. Levels of ecosystem service proxies and multifunctionality were positively related to the functional richness of forest plots and were mainly explained by the differences in site conditions. Our study demonstrated the effects of functional forest structure on ecosystem services in different forest ecosystems located in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana.

Ecological infrastructure planning of large river basin to promote nature conservation and ecosystem functions

Ecological infrastructure (EI) planning can promote regional nature conservation efficiency and enhance ecosystem functions. Watershed-scale EI research is a research hotspot in landscape ecology. This study proposed a method framework to develop EI planning in large river basins based on the connectivity of ecological processes and the integrity of ecosystems in the whole basin, as well as the typical ecological problems in each sub-basin. The framework included three parts: determining the protective EI i.e. the spatial range of the watershed ecological networks; quantifying and mapping the functional EI i.e. the typical ecosystem functions within each sub-basin; and integrating ecological networks and key ecosystem function area into an EI planning based on their spatial overlap and functional synergy. The method framework was applied in the Yellow River Basin. Results showed that spatial range of ecological networks of the basin accounted for 35.8% of the study area. Key ecosystem function area including ecosystem function important area and ecosystem function improvement area accounted for 35.6%. Spatial overlay analysis of ecological networks and key ecosystem function areas showed that they overlap spatially and have synergistic effects functionally, but core habitats existed less human activities compared to key ecosystem function area. By integrating ecological networks and key ecosystem function areas, EI planning including four spatial types: water system, core habitat area, important area for ecological function maintenance, priority area for ecological function improvement. The corresponding protection and development measures were formulated. In addition, along with the improvement of ecosystem function in the basin, sediment content, sand transport and other indicators in Yellow River has been obviously improved. It indicated that the EI construction in the basin had positive significance for river governance. Results showed that the EI planning method could improve both the spatial accuracy of nature conservation in the watershed and promote the specific ecosystem functions. It is also applicable to river management and watershed territorial spatial planning in other large river basins.

HARNESSING ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND PHYSIOLOGIC MECHANISMS IN DIVERSIFYING AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABILITY: EXPERIENCE FROM STUDIES DEPLOYING NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS IN SCOTLAND

<List> <ListItem><ItemContent> ● Diversification enhances nature-based contributions to cropping system functions. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> ● Soil management to improve production and ecosystem function has variable outcomes. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> ● Management of the production-system to use legacy nutrients will reduce inputs. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> ● Intercrops, companion crops and cover crops improve ecological sustainability. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> ● Sustainable interventions within value chains are essential to future-proof agriculture. </ItemContent></ListItem></List> To achieve the triple challenge of food security, reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change, there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural, value-chain practices and decision-making. By diversifying cropping systems at several scales there is potential to decrease reliance on inputs, provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stress, enhance plant, microbe and animal biodiversity, and mitigate against climate change. In this review we highlight the research performed in Scotland over the past 5 years into the impact of the use of ecological principles in agriculture on sustainability, resilience and provision of ecosystem functions. We demonstrate that diversification of the system can enhance ecosystem functions. Soil and plant management interventions, including nature-based solutions, can also enhance soil quality and utilization of legacy nutrients. Additionally, this is facilitated by greater reliance on soil biological processes and trophic interactions. We highlight the example of intercropping with legumes to deliver sustainability through ecological principles and use legumes as an exemplar of the innovation. We conclude that there are many effective interventions that can be made to deliver resilient, sustainable, and diverse agroecosystems for crop and food production, and these may be applicable in any agroecosystem.

Using plant traits to understand the contribution of biodiversity effects to annual crop community productivity.

Increasing biodiversity generally enhances productivity through selection and complementarity effects not only in natural, but also in agricultural, systems. However, the quest to explain why diverse cropping systems are more productive than monocultures remains a central goal in agricultural science. In a mesocosm experiment, we constructed monocultures, two‐ and four‐species mixtures from eight crop species with or without fertilizer and both in temperate Switzerland and dry, Mediterranean Spain. We measured physical factors and plant traits and related these in structural equation models to selection and complementarity effects to explain seed yield differences between monocultures and mixtures. Increased crop diversity increased seed yield in Switzerland. This positive biodiversity effect was driven to almost the same extent by selection and complementarity effects, which increased with plant height and specific leaf area (SLA), respectively. Also, ecological processes driving seed yield increases from monocultures to mixtures differed from those responsible for seed yield increases through the diversification of mixtures from two to four species. Whereas selection effects were mainly driven by one species, complementarity effects were linked to larger leaf area per unit leaf weight. Seed yield increases due to mixture diversification were driven only by complementarity effects and were not mediated through the measured traits, suggesting that ecological processes beyond those measured in this study were responsible for positive diversity effects on yield beyond two‐species mixtures. By understanding the drivers of positive biodiversity–productivity relationships, we can improve our ability to predict species combinations that enhance ecosystem functioning and can promote sustainable agricultural production.

Insights into the evo-devo of plant reproduction using next-generation sequencing approaches.

The development of plant model organisms has traditionally been analyzed using resource-heavy, tailored applications that are not easily transferable to distantly related non-model taxa. Thus, our understanding of plant development has been limited to a subset of traits, and evolutionary studies conducted most effectively either across very wide [e.g. Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa (rice)] or narrow (i.e. population level) phylogenetic distances. As plant biologists seek to capitalize on natural diversity for crop improvement, enhance ecosystem functioning, and better understand plant responses to climate change, high-throughput and broadly applicable forms of existing molecular biology assays are becoming an invaluable resource. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is increasingly becoming a powerful tool in evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) studies, particularly through its application to understanding trait evolution at different levels of gene regulation. Here, I review some of the most common and emerging NGS-based methods, using exemplar studies in reproductive plant evo-devo to illustrate their potential.

Urban green infrastructure features influence the type and chemical composition of soil dissolved organic matter

In urban areas, green infrastructure (GI) has been widely developed utilizing different types of engineered soil to enhance ecosystem functions to interact with soil dissolved organic matter (DOM). However, there remains a lack of urban studies that have examined the link between GI features and soil DOM. This study, which was conducted in a typical heavily industrialized and urbanized area (Ningbo City, East China), aimed to characterize the chemical variation and composition of DOM in the engineered soil of four GI types (enhanced tree tips, ETP; street-side infiltration swales, SSIS; vegetated swales, VS; urban forests, UF). The results showed that soil organic carbon varies among the four GI types with significantly lower content in SSIS and ETP compared to VS and UF. Smaller variation was observed in the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) content, with UF having significantly higher content than ETP. Three humic-like substances and one protein-like substance were derived using the parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model. These fluorescent compositions and their spectral parameters displayed specific distributions among GI features with VS having the highest proportion of humic-like substances (C1) and the lowest proportion of protein-like substances (C4). The distribution of spectral indices indicated terrigenous sources of DOM in these GI engineered soils. Significant positive correlations were found between protein-like substances and the population density and nightlight index, while negative correlations were found between humic-like substances (C1) and these two indices. These results demonstrate significant human disturbance of the chemical composition and characteristics of GI features. Our findings suggest that the overall design and management of GI features have a fundamental influence on soil DOM that is vital for carbon cycling in urban ecosystems.

Species and functional plant diversity enhance ecosystem functions in the central Monte desert

AbstractQuestionsNiche complementarity has been proposed as the underlying mechanism for optimizing resource use of plants in diverse ecosystems, usually associated with their functional traits and not with the species number per se. Our main questions were: (a) does species diversity optimize the use of resources in arid ecosystems; (b) is there redundancy of species in the use of water and nutrients; and (c) what diversity components most affect ecosystem functions of water regulation and material cycling?LocationCentral Monte desert, Argentina.MethodsWe selected vegetation patches with different species (SD) and functional diversities (FD), where we measured indicators of water regulation and material cycling. At two soil depths, we measured soil nitrate, phosphate, organic matter, chloride, electrical conductivity, and pH. We also determined decomposition, plant water use efficiency (foliar δ13C of C3 plants), and nitrogen use (δ15N). These variables were used as response variables, while total plant cover, species richness, Shannon, Simpson, evenness, and Rao's functional diversity indexes were used as predictors.ResultsAt the soil surface, response variables were better explained by models that included diversity (SD, FD or both) instead of evenness, total plant cover or null model. A diversity effect was not detected in deeper soil layers for most variables, except for electric conductivity, which had a positive effect on FD. Richness explained plant δ13C but had no influence on plant δ15N.ConclusionsDiversity of plant community influences ecosystem processes, as it increases decomposition, soil organic matter, and nutrient availability at the surface, and decreases water losses to the subsoil and plant water use efficiency. Both SD and FD explained one or more ecosystem processes of water regulation and material cycling, suggesting that individual species contribute to ecosystem functioning, with a low redundancy for arid areas.

Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health, Ecosystem Function, and Ecosystem Services

Ruminants including domestic livestock, have been accused of causing damaging impacts on the global environment and human well-being. However, with appropriate management, ruminant livestock can play a significant role in efforts to reverse environmental damages caused by human mismanagement and neglect. Worldwide, at least one billion people living in grazing ecosystems depend on them for their livelihoods, usually through livestock production, and for other ecosystem services that affect human well-being. For long-term rangeland sustainability and ecological resilience, agricultural production policies are urgently needed globally to transform current damaging industrial inorganic input agricultural practices to resource conservation practices that enhance ecosystem function. This is supported by evidence that farmers and ranchers who apply regenerative management practices to restore ecosystem functionality create sustainable, resilient agroecosystems cost-effectively. With enhanced management of grazing resources, domesticated ruminants can be used to produce higher permanent soil cover of litter and plants, which are effective in reducing soil erosion and increasing net biophysical carbon accumulation. Incorporating forages and ruminants into regeneratively managed cropping systems can also elevate soil organic carbon and improve soil ecological function and reduce production costs by eliminating the use of annual tillage, inorganic fertilizers and biocides. Ecosystem services that are enhanced using regenerative land management include soil stabilization and formation, water infiltration, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and availability, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat, which cumulatively result in increased ecosystem and economic stability and resilience. Scientists partnering with farmers and ranchers around the world who have improved their land resource base and excel financially have documented how such land managers produce sound environmental, social, and economic outcomes. Many of these producers have used Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing management as a highly effective approach for managing their grazing lands sustainably. This approach uses short-duration grazing periods, long adaptively varied post-grazing plant recovery periods requiring multiple paddocks per herd to ensure adequate residual biomass, and adjustment of animal numbers as environmental and economic conditions change. Using this approach, farmers and ranchers have achieved superior ecosystem and profitability outcomes. This manuscript summarizes the use of AMP grazing as regenerative tool for grazed and rotationally cropped lands.

Rhizobacterial species richness improves sorghum growth and soil nutrient synergism in a nutrient-poor greenhouse soil

Although microbes influence plant growth, little is known about the impact of microbial diversity on plant fitness trade-offs, intraspecific-interactions, and soil nutrient dynamics in the context of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) research. The BEF theory states that higher species richness can enhance ecosystem functioning. Thus, we hypothesize that rhizobacterial species richness will alter sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) growth, soil nutrient dynamics and interactions (antagonism or synergism) in a nutrient-poor greenhouse soil. Using six rhizobacterial species in a BEF experiment, we tested the impact of a species richness gradient (0, 1, 3, 5 or 6 species per community) on plant growth, nutrient assimilation, and soil nutrient dynamics via seed-inoculation. Our experiment included, one un-inoculated control, six rhizobacterial monoculture (Pseudomonas poae, Pseudomonas sp., Bacillus pumilus., Pantoea agglomerance., Microbacterium sp., and Serratia marcescens), and their nine mixture treatments in triplicate (48). Rhizobacterial species richness enhanced per pot above- or below-ground dry mass. However, the per plant growth and plant nutrient assimilation declined, most likely, due to microbial-driven competitive interactions among sorghum plants. But nevertheless, some rhizobacterial monoculture and mixture treatments improved per plant (shoot and root) growth and nutrient assimilation as well. Soil nutrient contents were mostly lower at higher plant-associated rhizobacterial diversity; among these, the soil Zn contents decreased significantly across the rhizobacterial diversity gradient. Rhizobacterial diversity promoted synergistic interactions among soil nutrients and improved root–soil interactions. Overall, our results suggest that a higher rhizobacterial diversity may enhance soil–plant interactions and total productivity under resource limited conditions.

Ecosystem services from old-fields: Effects of site preparation and harvesting on restoration and productivity of traditional food plants

Highly disturbed landscapes, including fallowed or abandoned farmland, are known to experience losses in native plant diversity that negatively impact the ecological functions and services provided by an ecosystem. The restoration of native species to the post-agricultural landscape using principles derived from indigenous knowledge could reverse this damage. This study examines the effects of three site preparation treatments (prescribed burning, tilling, and mowing) and biomass harvesting on the establishment and productivity of four native, edible, culturally-significant forbs (Apios americana Medik., Helianthus annuus L., Helianthus tuberosus L., and Oenothera biennis L.) restored to a fallow farm field. Species' responses to site preparation treatments varied over three years of observations, with plants grown from tubers establishing populations more successfully after burning or mowing and plants grown from seed establishing better after tillage. Harvesting of biomass after the first growing season reduced the number of individual plants observed for all restored species across all site preparation treatments but demonstrated the potential for production of traditional food resources in a low-management, multi-purpose agroecosystem. H. tuberosus showed particular promise for this purpose, producing an average of 881, 1397, and 1848 kg ha−1 of dry edible biomass on tilled, burned, and mowed plots, respectively. Burning was also found to enhance concentrations of organic matter, calcium, and magnesium in the soil, and many indicators of soil quality varied seasonally. These results indicate that with low-energy input management strategies, native wild edibles could be reintroduced into old-field systems to provide provisioning and cultural ecosystem services while maintaining or enhancing ecosystem function.

Recovery of subtropical coastal intertidal system prokaryotes from a destruction event and the role of extracellular polymeric substances in the presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals

Intertidal sediments constitute the micro-environment for the co-existence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and biofilms consisting of the microbial community and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). However, the interactions and the resulting eco-function of this community are complex and poorly characterized, especially after a destruction event. This study evaluates the re-construction of biofilms in terms of the abundance of prokaryotic cells and related EPS characterization in two destroyed sedimentary matrices from subtropical environments simulated by sterilization in the presence of EDCs and investigates the role of EPS. The results show that benthic prokaryotes recover from the deposition of active prokaryotes in natural seawater and form biofilms after sterilization. Sterilization triggers the release of polysaccharides and protein from lysed native microbial cells and bound EPS in sedimentary organic matter, thus increasing their concentrations. The increased portion of EPS also acts as a persistent stress on re-colonizing prokaryotes and leads to the overproduction of sedimentary EPS. Due to the protective role mediated by EPS, the effect of EDCs on biofilm composition in sterilized sediment is not significant. The sedimentary matrix is the most important determinant of the composition of the biofilm and the occurrence of EDCs. At the end of an 84-day experiment, the abundance of prokaryotic cells and the concentrations of polysaccharides and protein in mangrove sediment are 1.6–1.8 times higher than those in sandflat sediment, regardless of EDCs. Sandflat sediment exhibits higher concentrations of nonylphenol and bisphenol A but a lower concentration of 17α-ethinylestradiol than mangrove sediment. This study enhances our understanding of the role of sedimentary biofilms and the fate of EDCs in intertidal systems and highlights the benefit of a destructive event in enhancing ecosystem function, particularly tolerance to EDC adversity due to EPS production.