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Programme of Work on Below-Ground Biodiversity and related Ecosystem Services. Jeroen Huising Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF), Nairobi International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia.
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Programme of Work on Below-Ground Biodiversity and related Ecosystem Services Jeroen Huising Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF), Nairobi International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia
A multi-disciplinary approach to research in soil related ecosystem services Soil ecology Environmental economics Resource economics Soil science Soil Biodiversity Ecosystem functions Soil processes Ecosystem services for human welfare Soil Organisms Sociology soil biology - microbiology Political sciences Afr. Regional Workshop on Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiversity
Assessment 1: Large percentage of species of soil organisms is unknown Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB (Source: Barrios et al, in press)
Assessment 2:Organisms, functional groups and ecosystem process Examples of diverse biota within functional groups are listed for a few ecosystem processes that are similar in soils and sediments Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB (Source: Wall (ed.), 2004)
Micro-symbionts mycorrhizal Fungi N-fixing Bacteria KEY FUNCTIONAL GROUPS OF SOIL BIOTA Legume Maize Decomposers e.g. cellulose degraders Macrofauna (Ecosystem Engineers) • Earthworms • Termites C&N transformers e.g.methanogens & nitrifiers Microregulators Nematodes Pests and Diseases e.g. fungi, invertebrates Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB Source Swift (2002)
Assessment 3: Ecosystem services • Ecosystem services provided by • soil and sediment biota • Regulating biogeochemical cycles • Retention and delivery of nutrients to plants and algae • Generation and renewal of soil and sediment structure • Bioremediation • Provision of clean drinking water • Modification of the hydrological cycle (e.g. erosion control) • Translocation of nutrient, particles and gases • Regulation of atmospheric trace gasses • Modification of anthropogenically driven global change • Regulation of animal and plant populations • Contribution to plant production for food, fuel and fiber • Contribution to landscape heterogeneity and stability • Vital component of habitats important for recreation and natural history MEA Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Assessment 4: Importance of processes for provision of goods and services (SCOPE/SSBEF/GLIDE) Provision of goods and services in a temperate grassland ecosystem (Source Wall (Ed.), 2004 Afr. Regional Workshop on Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiversity
Assessment 5: Vulnerability of ecosystem goods and services (SCOPE) Arable tilled ecosystems provided by the soil biota to three agents of global change; invasive species, climate change and land-use change Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Results from Indonesia confirm loss of BGBD with increasing land use intensity (termites) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Decrease in earthworm biomass with increasing land use intensity (Indonesia) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Economic valuation of BGBD Economic benefits derived from biological nitrogen fixation using promiscuous soybean cultivars in Sub-Sahara Africa Total benefit in 2004: 180 million US dollars (Chianu et al. unpubl. data) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Assessment: Guiding Principles • Definition of Below-Ground BioDiversity as component of AgroBiodiversity • Documentation and mapping of existing below-ground biodiversity and soil biological resources (degradation of soil biological resources) • Identifying threats to BGBD and trends in loss of BGBD (monitoring) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiversity
Climatic variability Macro- and meso-climate Cycles and random trends Droughts, floods Biophysical Diversity Soils, productivity Plants, biota Water, Microclimate Organisational Diversity Household characteristics Resource endowments Farm organisation Management diversity Local knowledge Adaptation and innovation New technology Agro BioDiversity Use and management of species Production, conservation Macro-economy Government services Subsidies, aid, taxation Livelihoods Poverty and food security Sustainability Demography Population, Migration Gender, age Management (adaptive) 1: People Land management and Environmental Change (PLEC) AGRODIVERSITY Mainly temporal variations Mainly spatial variations Natural Environment Modified environment Related development issues Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB (Source: Stocking 2005)
Management (adaptive) 2Hierarchical management of soil biota Scale levels and gradients At which scale levels do gradients in BGBD and land use intensity occur and where to intervene. • Preservation of key land uses (e.g. forest patches, landscape elements like hedges); Land use mosaics (conservation biology) • Farm gradients & diversity at farm level. Allocation of resource at the farm (maintaining and improving productivity at farm level; rehabilitating degraded lands?) • Plot level diversity (Integrated pest management) HIERARCHICAL MANAGEMENT OF SOIL BIOTA 1. CROPPING SYSTEM LEVEL Choice of plants Genetic manipulation Design in space and time Micro-symbionts & Rhizosphere 2. SOIL MANAGEMENT LEVEL Organic matter inputs (RQ) Mineral Fertilisers & Amendments Tillage, Irrigation 3. KEYSTONE BIOTA LEVEL Macrofauna Biological control agents Chemical manipulation (Swift, 1998) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Management (adaptive) 3:limited opportunities to manage BGBD directly The influence of biotic and abiotic factors on species diversity Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Management (adaptive) 4: Mngt. of biodiversity at plot and landscape scales Hypothesised relationship between diversity and the efficiency of function of ecosystem services at the patch-ecosystem (i.e. plot) scale (Curves 1 and 2) and the scale of the landscape (Curves 3 and 4) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB From Swift et al. (2004)
Management (adaptive) 3: negotiation of trade-offs ASB – matrix trade-off Source: Tom Tomich et al. (2005) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Management and indicators: stable food webs Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB
Management (adaptive): Guiding principles • Entry points for interventions; tools and techniques • Indicators of performance across scales • Geographical and socio-economic context (mechanisms) • Pathways for intensification of land use/management (use of fertilizers, organic inputs, conservation measures) • Platform for negotiating trade-offs • Capacity building: • Scientific (viz. taxonomy, soil ecology; technological development) • Technical (adoption, implementation and adaptation of technologies) • Skills (management, organisation and negotiation) • Political (policy development; decentralisation, empowerment) Afr. Regional Workshop on Sust. Use of AB