I investigate the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services to understand how socio-ecological systems deliver key ecological functions (pollination, pest regulation, nutrient cycling).
My current work focuses on identifying landscape configurations and farming practices that promote biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. I also develop multi-taxa, multi-service indicators to support transitions towards sustainable agroecosystems.
Biodiversity and ecosystem services bundles
Biodiversity has been increasingly valued through its translation into ecosystem services this two paste decades, the latter being further considered as interesting tools for biodiversity conservation. Although efforts have been made to better understand the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services and biodiversity, such analyses further reduce biodiversity to a state of specific wealth or other simplified indicators that do not fully cover the concept of complex (multifaceted) biodiversity. In this sense, as part of the TRUSTEE project (collaborations: Pr F. Jiguet, MNHN Paris; Dr. M Tichit, AgroParisTech; Dr. L Brotons, Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia, Spain; Dr. A Aunins, University of Latvia, Lithuania), we sought to investigate the relationship between ecological communities and ecosystem services diversity. I aimed particularly at exploring the spatial congruence between common bird communities (using a set of integrative multiple-species indicators) and ES diversity, and testing whether or not the patterns found were scale dependent. One of the objectives of this project was also to determine whether the functional traits of the species can be used as proxies for different types of services. This work has been conducted thanks to the thousands of voluntary birders who provided tremendous long-term monitoring data through citizen science programs across Europe (Pan-European Bird Monitoring Scheme).
At a country-level, France, we found low spatial congruence between ES and both diversity and community metrics [1]. At a continental-level, Europe, I highlighted spatial congruence patterns between some ecological diversity indices and ES groups. Interestingly, I was also able to show that indicators based on a limited set of functional features (and therefore easier to interpret), but nevertheless covering a broad gradient of ecological diversity (e.g. trophic index), were more likely to reveal a significant relationship with multi-functional ecosystem indices [2].
I further extended this work on butterfly communities across Europe, using the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, in collaboration with R. Schmucki (among others). Final results to be published soon (hopefully)...
Morelli, F., F. Jiguet, R. Sabatier, C. Dross, K. Princé, P. Tryjanowski, M. Tichit. 2017. Spatial covariance between ecosystem services and biodiversity pattern at a national scale (France). Ecological Indicators, 82, 574-586.
Princé, K., R. Schmucki, M. Tichit, L. Brotons, A. Aunins, F. Jiguet. Exploring the relationship between ecological communities and ecosystem services diversity in Europe: are common bird and butterfly functional traits good proxies? in prep