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Putting a price tag on biodiversity
The economic value of species richness for carbon storage Bradley J. Cardinale Professor, School of Natural Resources & Environment Director, Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research
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Pool Residence time Terrestrial plants Months to Decades Sediment surface Decades to Centuries Deep sediments Epochs Aquatic plankton Weeks Water column Decades Ocean/Lake bottom Millennia
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How many species, and what kinds, are need to maximize the sequestration and burial of carbon?
CO2 CO2 Sequestration ~ NPP Sequestration ~ NPP Herbivory Herbivory Detritus Detritus Decomposition Decomposition Burial Burial
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Species diversity has measurable economic value in C-markets.
Hypotheses Ecosystems that have a greater variety of plant species sequester and bury more C. Species diversity has measurable economic value in C-markets. Grasslands are one of the 5 dominant biomes on Earth. They are almost globally distributed, and cover about 40% of the land surface of the planet.
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Step 1. Quantify how grassland plant species richness impacts C sequestration (NPP)
E141: BioCON Reich et al., Nature (2001) E120: Biodiversity II Tilman et al., Science (2001) 𝐶= 𝑎𝑆 (𝑏+𝑆) C = Carbon sequestration, MT C ha-1 S = Species richness a, b = fitted constants Cardinale et al., Nature (2006)
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Step 2. Quantify decomposition and C burial rates
Empirical estimates of k 𝐶 𝑡 = 𝐶 0 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡 +𝐼 (1− 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡 )/𝑘 Detrital mass C0 = soil C (MT C ha-1), initial Ct = soil C (MT C ha-2) at t = 50 yrs k = decomposition rate (yr-1) I = annual input of C to soil (MT C ha-1 yr-1) Modeled estimates of k Time, t
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Step 3. Calculate the present value of the future storage of MT of C
𝑉= 𝑡=1 50 𝑃 𝑚 𝑡 𝑒 −𝑟𝑡 P = social cost of carbon, $41 to $400 per MT C (2010 USD) mt = marginal carbon accumulation for year t (MT C ha-1 yr-1) t = year over 50-year period r = real discount rate = 4%
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Marginal C sequestration (MT C ha-1 sp-1)
Increasing plant diversity increased C sequestration Marginal C storage > 0 across all levels of richness Greatest storage at low richness Marginal C sequestration (MT C ha-1 sp-1) Species richness
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Cumulative C storage (MT C ha-1 sp-1)
Plant diversity increased 50-yr C storage Marginal C storage > 0 for all levels richness Greatest impacts at early, low diversity Cumulative C storage (MT C ha-1 sp-1) Time (years)
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Marginal value ($ species-1 ha-1)
Plant diversity has measurable value on the C-market Marginal values > 0 across all levels of richness Greatest marginal values at low diversity Marginal value ($ species-1 ha-1) Species richness
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Plant diversity has major economic value across range limits
Ranges in U.S. span 8,400 to 9.6 million ha @ median (61,400 ha) marginal value = 1 to $7 million Plant diversity has major economic value in conservation programs CRP landowners receive federal payment for restoration 12.34 million ha converted to grasslands Increased C uptake 6.5 teragrams C year-1 Marginal value of restoring plant diversity $722 million - $2.35 billion
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CO2 Sequestration ~ NPP Herbivory Detritus Decomposition Burial
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Generalize to world’s grasslands
Next steps … Generalize to world’s grasslands Area: 6% Biomass: 4% NPP: 12%
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Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests
Next steps … Paquette & Messier, Glob Change Biol (2010) Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests Area: 10% Biomass: 90% NPP: 43% Barbier et al., in prep
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Area: 72% Biomass: 2% NPP: 35%
Next steps … Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests New studies with plankton Area: 72% Biomass: 2% NPP: 35%
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Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests
Next steps … Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests New studies with plankton Fritschie et al., Ecology (2014) Narwani et al., PLoS One (2016) Narwani et al., J Ecology (2017)
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How many species, and what kinds, are need to maximize the sequestration and burial of carbon?
CO2 CO2 Sequestration ~ NPP Sequestration ~ NPP Herbivory Herbivory Detritus Detritus Decomposition Decomposition Burial Burial
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Acknowledgements Colleagues Funding
Heidi Albers, Oregon State University Amy Ando, University of Illinois–Urbana–Champaign Edward Barbier, University of Wyoming David Finnoff, University of Wyoming Richard Horan, Michigan State University Bethany Hoye, University of Colorado Deborah Letourneau, UC–Santa Cruz Anita Narwani, University of Michigan Alain Paquette, Universite du Quebec a Montreal Peter Reich, University of Minnesota Funding
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Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests
Next steps … Species richness Biomass (m3 L-1) Lakes (natural), C = a*S0.52 Ocean (natural), C = a*S0.35 Lakes (experimental), C = a*S0.23 Oceans (experimental), C = a*S0.20 Generalize to world’s grasslands Repeat for forests New studies with plankton Zimmerman & Cardinale, Oikos 2014 Qui & Cardinale, in prep
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Cebrian, Am Nat (1999)
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Step 1. Quantify how grassland plant species richness impacts C sequestration.
Reich et al., Nature (2001) Tilman et al., Science (2001)
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