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

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Agricultural Science

Background:

• Land use and management intensity significantly impact ecosystem services (ES) provision.
• Forest/agroforestry systems potentially offer higher C:N/C:O ratios and ES value compared to arable systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between carbon ratios (C:N/C:O) and the provision of 15 ecosystem services across different production systems.
• To evaluate the economic value of non-marketed ES in diverse land use systems.
• To propose C:N/C:O as a proxy for assessing ES, particularly non-marketed services.

Main Methods:

• Field investigations were conducted in three distinct production systems: a beech forest, a combined food and energy (CFE) system, and a wheat monoculture (Cwheat) in Denmark.
• Carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) and carbon-to-oxygen (C:O) ratios were determined for each system.
• The economic valuation of 15 non-marketed ecosystem services was calculated for each system.

Main Results:

• Carbon-nitrogen/carbon-oxygen ratios were highest in the beech forest (194.1/1.68), followed by CFE (94.1/1.57), and Cwheat (59.5/1.45).
• The economic value of non-marketed ES was highest in the 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 for CFE (US$ 3143 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), then Cwheat (US$ 2767 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), and lastly beech forest (US$ 2365 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹).

Conclusions:

• Carbon-nitrogen/carbon-oxygen ratios can serve as a reliable proxy for estimating ecosystem services, especially regulating, supporting, and cultural services.
• Forest and agroforestry systems demonstrate higher potential for non-marketed ES provision compared to monoculture systems.
• Integrating ES valuation into land use decision-making and policy development is crucial for sustainable food and energy production.