Long-term impacts of agricultural intensification on plant functional diversity, ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and resilience of New Zealand rangelands
Investigator
Etienne Laliberté, School of Forestry, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
E-mail: etiennelaliberte(at)gmail.com
Abstract
Pastures and rangelands are the most extensive land uses on earth, and are expected to undergo rapid intensification to meet the forecasted doubling in global food demand by 2050. This research project explores the long-term impacts of agricultural intensification (fertilisation, irrigation, and grazing intensity) on plant functional diversity, ecosystem functioning (ANPP, BNPP, litter decomposition, and soil respiration) ecosystem services (native biodiversity conservation, forage production, and carbon sequestration), and resilience to future disturbances (plant response diversity) in New Zealand high country rangelands. To do so, we use long-term experimental plots from a rangeland improvement trial which have been over-sown with a mixture of 25 exotic pasture species and then subjected to different levels of agricultural inputs and sheep grazing intensity for over 25 years.
URL
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