Relationship between C:N/C:O stoichiometry and ecosystem services in managed production systems

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 20;10(4):e0123869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123869. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Land use and management intensity can influence provision of ecosystem services (ES). We argue that forest/agroforestry production systems are characterized by relatively higher C:O/C:N and ES value compared to arable production systems. Field investigations on C:N/C:O and 15 ES were determined in three diverse production systems: wheat monoculture (Cwheat), a combined food and energy system (CFE) and a beech forest in Denmark. The C:N/C:O ratios were 194.1/1.68, 94.1/1.57 and 59.5/1.45 for beech forest, CFE and Cwheat, respectively. The economic value of the non-marketed ES was also highest in beech forest (US$ 1089 ha(-1) yr(-1)) followed by CFE (US$ 800 ha(-1) yr(-1)) and Cwheat (US$ 339 ha(-1) yr(-1)). The combined economic value was highest in the CFE (US$ 3143 ha(-1) yr(-1)) as compared to the Cwheat (US$ 2767 ha(-1) yr(-1)) and beech forest (US$ 2365 ha(-1) yr(-1)). We argue that C:N/C:O can be used as a proxy of ES, particularly for the non-marketed ES, such as regulating, supporting and cultural services. These ES play a vital role in the sustainable production of food and energy. Therefore, they should be considered in decision making and developing appropriate policy responses for land use management.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carbon / metabolism*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources* / economics
  • Denmark
  • Ecosystem*
  • Fagus / metabolism
  • Forests
  • Nitrogen / metabolism*
  • Oxygen / metabolism*
  • Soil

Substances

  • Soil
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen
  • Oxygen

Grants and funding

This work was supported by European Commission FP7 (FP7-KBBE-2011-5) programme: SmartSOIL project (Soil Management Aimed at Reducing Threats to SOILs under climate change) (Project number: 289694), smartsoil.eu. The funding is received by John R. Porter and Bhim B. Ghaley to carry out research in the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.