Biodiversity and the provision of multiple ecosystem services in current and future lowland multifunctional landscapes

当前和未来低地多功能景观中的生物多样性和多种生态系统服务的提供

• 批准号: NE/J015296/1
• 负责人: John Jones
• 金额: $ 65.76万
• 依托单位: Queen Mary University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FJ015296%2F1
• 关键词: Biodiversity; provision; multiple; ecosystem; services

Biodiversity underpins many ecosystem services - the benefits that people gain from the natural world, such as clean water, storage of greenhouse gases, crop pollination, and a pleasant and fulfilling environment. Yet the way in which biodiversity affects different services is poorly understood scientifically, especially when considering the real world rather than small-scale studies. Lowland agricultural landscapes are particular 'crunch' points, where food security needs to be balanced with the provision of other ecosystem services against the backdrop of a changing climate. Many of these services are in conflict, such as crop production, climate regulation and cultural services. Already, agricultural landscapes show signs of degradation, with consequences for their biodiversity and the provisioning and resilience of services.The 'Wessex-BESS' project will address the fundamental challenge of the BESS program in linking biodiversity change with the delivery of ecosystem services across landscapes and into the future. We will do this by integrating experiments with large-scale biodiversity and environmental gradients existing in the Wessex Chalk landscape. This contains arable, grassland and riverine ecosystems, and offers a unique opportunity to exploit large-scale 'natural experiments'. Specifically, Salisbury Plain contains large areas of unfragmented semi-natural habitat and shares the topography and deeper chalk soils of surrounding intensive farmland, making comparisons possible. Furthermore, the area contains many ecological restoration programmes that we will use as experimental platforms for large-scale biodiversity manipulations. To allow the broad characterisation of biodiversity-ecosystem service relationships, and a framework for other researchers to exploit, research will encompass: a wide range of ecosystems from terrestrial to freshwater; taxonomic groups from bacteria to birds; multiple biodiversity measures from genetic and species diversity to landscape heterogeneity; and regulating, provisioning and cultural services. Collaboration with other initiatives using this landscape (incl. NERC 'Macronutrients Cycle', Defra 'Demonstration Test Catchments', Natural England 'Nature Improvement Areas') will add scientific value and impact, and partnership with a large number of conservation and land/water management organisations will ensure the research and findings have applied and policy relevance.We have a consortium comprising international leaders in biodiversity and ecosystem service research. Project partners will ensure that scientific outcomes influence best practice and policy. The collaborative approach (with partners involved in ecosystem service provision) represents a cost-effective way to understand the scaling of biodiversity-service relationships. The Wessex Chalk Area is an excellent test bed for possible futures as it faces imminent threats from both climate and land use change (e.g. agricultural intensification), which are already being addressed using large-scale restoration. We will focus on the contrasting services of crop production, climate regulation, water quality, and cultural services.

生物多样性基于许多生态系统服务 - 人们从自然界中获得的好处，例如清洁水，温室气体的储存，作物授粉以及愉悦而充实的环境。然而，生物多样性影响不同服务的方式的科学理解很少，尤其是在考虑现实世界而不是小规模研究时。低地农业景观是特别的“紧缩”点，在不断变化的气候下，粮食安全需要与其他生态系统服务保持平衡。这些服务中的许多人都处于冲突状态，例如作物生产，气候监管和文化服务。农业景观已经显示出降解的迹象，对他们的生物多样性以及服务的供应和弹性产生了影响。“ Wessex-Bess”项目将解决BESS计划在将生物多样性变化与跨景观和未来的生态系统服务联系起来的基本挑战。我们将通过将实验与Wessex粉笔景观中存在的大规模生物多样性和环境梯度集成在一起来做到这一点。其中包含可耕地的草原和河流生态系统，并提供了一个独特的机会来利用大规模的“自然实验”。具体而言，索尔兹伯里平原包含大量未碎片的半天然栖息地，并具有周围密集农田的地形和更深的粉笔土壤，从而使比较成为可能。此外，该地区包含许多生态恢复计划，我们将用作大规模生物多样性操作的实验平台。为了允许生物多样性生物生物系统服务关系的广泛表征，以及其他研究人员利用的框架，研究将包括：从陆地到淡水的广泛生态系统；从细菌到鸟类的分类群体；从遗传和物种多样性到景观异质性的多种生物多样性措施；以及监管，供应和文化服务。使用此景观与其他举措的合作（包括NERC“大量营养素循环”，Defra'演示测试集水集，自然的“自然改善领域”）将增加科学价值和影响，以及与大量的保护和土地/水管理组织的合作关系，并确保研究和发现的应用和政策相关。项目合作伙伴将确保科学成果影响最佳实践和政策。协作方法（与生态系统服务提供的合作伙伴有关）是一种经济高效的方式来了解生物多样性服务关系的规模。 Wessex粉笔区是可能的期货的绝佳测试床，因为它面临着气候和土地利用变化的迫在眉睫的威胁（例如，农业强化），已经使用大规模修复来解决。我们将专注于作物生产，气候调节，水质和文化服务的对比服务。