Session 5.3

Biodiversity and agroforested

habitats

Ecosystem Functions, Goods and Services

de Groot et al 2002

Habitat provision by trees

• Microclimate buffering

Habitat provision by trees

• Microclimate buffering• Nutrient availability• Water availability• Provision of C substrates• Host for pollinators• Host biological control agents

WaNuLCAS

TREE-BGBD

TREE-AGBDPres. #1,#2,#3

Pres. #4,#5,#6

Habitat provision by trees

Tree-soil interactions and the provision of soil-mediated

ecosystem services

Edmundo Barrios, Fred Ayuke, Diana H. Wall, Scott Bates, Noah Fierer, Keith Shepherd

University of Nairobi

GSBIGlobal Soil Biodiversity Initiative

OUTLINE

1. Biodiversity management in agricultural landscapes

2. Land health surveillance framework

3. Challenges and opportunities

AGBDAbove-ground: planned, managed biodiversity

BGBDBelow-ground: unplanned, unmanaged biodiversity

BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Planned and managed aboveground biodiversity

Diversitas 2005

Unplanned, unmanaged belowground biodiversity

?

??

Why bother about Soil Biota when considering Ecosystem

Services?

Influencing plant health (pathogens & pests vs. natural predators & parasites)

Primary driving agents of nutrient cycling (C, N, P, S)

Regulators of dynamics of: soil organic matter carbon sequestration greenhouse gas emissions

Modify soil physical structure and water regimes

Enhance amount & efficiency of nutrient acquisition of plants (Symbiosis)

(Barrios 2007)

SOIL BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION AND THE PROVISION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Barrios et al, 2012

What about trees and soil-based ecosystem services?

Strong linkage between aboveground biodiversity (vegetation/crops) and belowground biodiversity

(soil organisms)

Great potential to strategically utilize land use and management systems to influence

the provision of ecosystem goods and services

AGROFORESTRY Close to half of agricultural land has > 10%Tree cover (Zomer et al 2009)

Agroforestry

Agriculture

RR

References

Soil macrofauna

(indiv m-2)

(indiv m-2)

Earthworms

54.4

17.6

3.1

1,2,3,4,5,6

Beetles

20.9

9.6

2.2

1,2,5

Centipedes

2.7

0.5

5.6

1,2,5

Termites

90.7

81.0

1.1

1,2,5

Ants

23.2

8.6

2.7

1,2,5

Soil mesofauna

(indiv m-2)

(indiv m-2)

Collembola

3890.1

2000.7

1.9

7

Mites

5100.7

1860.1

2.7

7

Soil microfauna

(indiv liter-1)

(indiv liter-1)

Non-parasitic nematodes 2922

1288

2.3

8

Parasitic nematodes

203.7

211.5

1

8

Mean density of different soil biota and calculated response ratios

Some effects of trees are mediated through impact on soil biota – trees increase

abundance

Barrios et al. 2012

Some effects of trees are mediated through impact on soil biota – trees

increase activity

Pruned trees

Free growing trees

Earthworm cast weight

Sample with no earthworm casts

Greater soil biological activity (earthworms) near trees but effect greater for some tree species than others

Pauli et al 2010

TREES AS HOTSPOTS OF BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITYIN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Barrios et al. 2012

AfSIS - A Globally Integrated African Soil Information Service (www.africasoils.net)

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF), Earth Institute at Columbia University, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), International Soil Reference Information Centre (ISRIC)With support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Land Health Surveillance

AfSIS Sentinel Sites

Cluster#4

Cluster#2

Cluster#3

Cluster#1

Cluster#8

Cluster#6

Cluster#7

Cluster#5

Cluster#12

Cluster#10

Cluster#11

Cluster#9

Cluster#16

Cluster#14

Cluster#15

Cluster#13

10 km

10 km

SENTINEL SITE (100 km2)

Subplot #2

Subplot #1

Subplot #3

Subplot #4

Plot 1000 m2

2.5 Km

2.5 Km

CLUSTER (1 km2)

Sub-plots 100 m2

Sampling plot (1000 m2)sub-plots (100 m2)

SOIL BIOTA

LDSF characterization of Woody Cover

T-square method

Tree density, basal area, biovolume and biomass

PLANTS

Tree Density Mapping at Fine Resolution

Map of tree density in an areas with steep climatic gradients in northern Kenya, derived from modeling ground data collected from sentinel sites to Landsat imagery (28.5 m

resolution).

AfSIS Soil Characterization

• High throughput system

• Infrared spectroscopy on all samples

• Reference samples on subsets

Measuring Soil Carbon in Landscapes

1988

2006

Soil samples0-20 cm, 20-50 cmComposited per plot (1000 m2)

Soil macrofauna

Soil DNA analysis (DESS soil)

Soil analysis

25 cm

25 c

m

20

cm

Soil analysis

Soil Biological Properties

One per subplot (100 m2)

Soil DNA analysis (dry soil)

Systematic assessment of Local Ecological Knowledge on tree-soil biota interactions

Soil monoliths

Barrios et al., 2013

Spatial distribution of earthworms across a Sentinel Site Dark circles = presence, light circles = absence

Soil macrofauna distribution

DNA extracted from soil samples

AGCCTTAA…

GCTACCAT…

CGGATCAC…

CTCGATTC…

AGCCTTAA…

GCTACCAT…

CGGATCAC…

CTCGATTC…

AGCCTTAA…

GCTACCAT…

CGGATCAC…

CTCGATTC…

-Pyrosequencing gives ~1500 sequence per sample across many samples (>450,000 seq per run)

- Illumina (MySeq 5 million seqs per run)

-PCR amplification with groupspecific primers for SSU rRNA gene

Pyrosequencing

-Taxonomic Information per sample

-High throughput system

Heat map showing the levels of total % N in soil (left) as well as abundance of DNA sequence types representing Bradyrhizobium (right) at Sentinel Site

Soil total N Bradyrhizobium DNA sequences

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Developing better understanding of AGBD/BGBD interactions

maintain essential ecosystem functions provided by soil biota

in agricultural landscapes.

Recommendations of what types of tree densities, arrangements and species

Identifying, Quantifying and Mapping Host Spots of Biological Activity and

Ecosystem Services

Temporal and spatial dynamics as a result of environmental factors in situ

Predictive knowledge of Ecosystem Service Provision

Developing Local Soil Health Monitoring Systems to evaluate

Ecosystem Service provision performance

Allow rural communities, environmental/agricultural institutions

and local government

Prepare for negotiations related toPayment for Ecosystem Services

Thank you!