BioGeoChem

Indeed, while biodiversity is recognized as playing a key role in ecological processes, and through cascading effects on ecosystem services, studies examining the relationships between diversity and ecosystem functioning have focused on the functional diversity of a single trophic level (plants / invertebrates / microbes).
 

We propose to take multi-trophic interactions into account in order to produce significant progress in this field by considering the following main questions :

• What are the roles of the different components of biodiversity (plant functional diversity, soil microbial communities, herbivores) and their interactions with the nitrogen, carbon and water cycles ?
• How will the nutrient cycle in turn impact these different components of biodiversity ?

By collaborating with earth system modellers, we will improve the integration of plant functional diversity into field models by incorporating continuous variables of functional traits along climate gradient and land use. This will allow quantitative and qualitative estimates of ecosystem services such as the distribution of carbon and other greenhouse gases, primary productivity, soil mineralization and soil carbon sequestration.

Our objective is to identify how the status and cycle of nutrients can contribute to the resilience of these systems through aerial and underground diversity.