Grassland intensification effects cascade to alter multifunctionality of wetlands within metaecosystems

Authors: GUO, YUXI - University Of Florida; BOUGHTON, ELIZABETH - Archbold Biological Station; BOHLMAN, STEPHANIE - University Of Florida; Bernacchi, Carl; BOHLEN, PATRICK - University Of Central Florida; BOUGHTON, RAOUL - Archbold Biological Station; DELUCIA, EVAN - University Of Illinois; FAUTH, JOHN - University Of Central Florida; GOMZEZ-CASANOVAS, NURIA - Texas A&M University; JENKINS, DAVID - University Of Central Florida

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/30/2023
Publication Date: 12/13/2023
Citation: Guo, Y., Boughton, E., Bohlman, S., Bernacchi, C.J., Bohlen, P., Boughton, R., DeLucia, E., Fauth, J., Gomzez-Casanovas, N., Jenkins, D. et al. 2023. Grassland intensification effects cascade to alter multifunctionality of wetlands within metaecosystems. Nature Communications. 14. Article 8267. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44104-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44104-2

Interpretive Summary: Food production is necessary to feed a growing population, but current goals are to ensure that the ecosystems that produce the food as well as the connected ecosystems are safeguarded. Very liitle research, however, has been performed to test whether improving food production can be accomplished with ecosystem safety being considered. This work combines several thousand datapoints for a pasture ecosystem in the subtropical region of the United States to determine whether improving food production has come at the expense of ecosystem health. Our results revealed that high food production promoted high-quality forage and livestock production, but at the expense of water-quality regulation, CH4 mitigation, non-native species invasion resistance, and biodiversity, and further weakened ecosystem service interactions. Such intensification effects on grasslands cascaded to alter the function of natural wetlands within the area. Our results highlight the need for holistic and systematic perspectives to integrate land intensification strategies to achieve sustainable intensification.

Technical Abstract: Securing food production while safeguarding ecosystem stability and resilience remains a grand challenge in the Anthropocene. Sustainable agricultural intensification holds promise in achieving ecosystem multifunctionality beyond food production, yet empirical evidence remains tenuous, especially on consequences for metaecosystems (i.e., spatially coupled ecosystems). Here we synthesized long-term datasets encompassing 32 physical, chemical, and biological indicators, comprising >11,000 field measurements, to understand effects of land intensification on multiple ecosystem services of spatially connected grasslands and wetlands. Our results revealed that intensification promoted high-quality forage and livestock production, but at the expense of water-quality regulation, CH4 mitigation, non-native species invasion resistance, and biodiversity, and further weakened ecosystem service interactions. Such intensification effects on grasslands cascaded to alter multifunctionality of embedded natural wetlands within metaecosystems with similar magnitudes. Our results highlight the need for holistic and systematic perspectives to integrate land intensification strategies to achieve sustainable intensification.