Using the power of nature to make ecosystems more resilient

Author: Remi Hoencamp 

Grasslands are threatened by climate change and biodiversity loss. These ecosystems are very important as they store 20% of global carbon. Biodiversity is a stabilizer of natural ecosystems, therefore it is crucial to restore biodiversity in order to minimize the effects of climate change. Future PhD student Mink Verschoor may have a solution. 
 

The importance of biodiversity is already clear for Verschoor. During his master Environmental Biology at Utrecht University he investigated the stabilizing effect of biodiversity. In an experiment at the University Botanic Gardens he compared containers with 1 plant species to containers with 12 species. According to Verschoor: “On the hottest days of the summer the containers with more species were one to one-and-a-half degrees cooler.” This effect can be explained due to some plants casting shade on top of another creating a cooler environment. Such a positive effect that plant species can have on each other is called “facilitation”.
 
Facilitation can be helpful to restore ecosystems, so it is important to know which plants have this effect. “In the PhD project we will focus on identifying key facilitative species,” Verschoor says. “To do so we have a large biodiversity experiment with various common grassland species.” How will they identify those species? Verschoor explains that besides the containers with 1 and 12 plant species they will use also containers with 4 and 8 species. In this way, they hope to find out at what point the facilitation effect occurs and which plant species are responsible. 

Once the key facilitative species have been identified, they can be used to improve ecosystems such as grasslands. Facilitative species create new niches that allow certain plant species to suddenly survive in a specific environment. “Some plants sprout better in the shade, such as the oak tree for example”, Verschoor says. So, adding facilitative species does not only help the plants that are already there, but it will allow new species to grow thereby increasing biodiversity.    

Climate change and biodiversity loss are major problems, but we might be able to harness the power of nature in the form of facilitation to drive restoration of ecosystems. Adding these helpful plants to degraded grasslands or other ecosystems could increase the previously lost biodiversity and make the system more robust and resilient.