SUPER-G partners from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) made a special summary of their activities in 2021 within the framework of the project activities:
“Our SUPER-G permanent grassland site where we measure the ecosystem exchange of three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) experienced an indeed turbulent year: Lots of snow in the beginning of 2021 (Figure 1), flooding due to intense rainfalls in summer, exchange of the N2O instrument, and a renewal of the grassland sward (Figure 2, Figure 3) in August, an event that happens about every 8-10 years at our site. Despite these challenging conditions, the continuous measurements were running smoothly and the N2O instrument could be presented to students at an excursion in June by SUPER-G member Iris Feigenwinter. Furthermore, an info board was set up in July to inform passers-by about the measurements by ETH Zurich.
In August, a manuscript by Schaub et al. (2021) was published that investigated the costs of commercially available grassland seed mixtures in relation to the species-richness of the mixture, with contributions from the two SUPER-G members Valentin Klaus and Nina Buchmann. It turned out that the most frequently sold mixtures were rather species-poor (<10 species), and that high-diversity mixtures were the most expensive. The latter is mostly because theses mixtures contain locally adapted genotypes of each species, which increases production costs.
In October, Nina Buchmann gave a talk to the CEC, the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, at Lund University. She presented results on, Permanent grasslands: Linking land use & environment with biodiversity & ecosystem services”. This was the first talk in a seminar series to the CEC.
Overall, the SUPER-G year 2021 was full of activities, with measurements, outreach, and science! More to come this year, stay tuned!”
Reference: Schaub S, Finger R, Buchmann N, Steiner V, Klaus VH (2021): The costs of diversity: higher prices for more diverse grassland seed mixtures. Environmental Research Letters 16: 094011. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac1a9c
Infrared gas analyzer (measuring CO2 and H2O vapor concentrations; to the left) and ultrasonic anemometer (measuring 3D wind speed and wind direction; to the right) under the influence of rime in February. Photo credits: Markus Staudinger
Eddy covariance station in intensively managed grassland at Chamau (Switzerland), caught during sward renewal (with tillage and reseeding) in August. Photo credits: Markus Staudinger
Grassland at Chamau in October, one and a half months after the sward renewal. Photo credits: Simiao Wang
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