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Eric Blanchart

Bio: Eric Blanchart is an academic researcher from Institut de recherche pour le développement. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soil organic matter & Soil biology. The author has an hindex of 45, co-authored 141 publications receiving 5555 citations. Previous affiliations of Eric Blanchart include École Normale Supérieure & SupAgro.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a general model is presented in which the dynamics of decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems are determined by a set of hierarchically organized factors which regulate microbial activity at decreasing scales of time and space.
Abstract: A general model is presented in which the dynamics of decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems are determined by a set of hierarchically organized factors which regulate microbial activity at decreasing scales of time and space in the following order: climate - clay mineralogy + nutrient status of soil - quality of decomposing resources - effect of macroorganisms (i.e., roots and invertebrates). At the lower scale of determination, biological systems of regulation based on mutualistic relationships between macro- and microorganisms ultimately determine the rates and pathways of decomposition. Four such systems are defined, i.e., the litter and surface roots system, the rhizosphere, the drilosphere and the termitosphere in which the regulating macroorganisms are respectively litter arthropods and surface roots, live subterranean roots, endogeic earthworms, and termites. In the humid tropics, this general model is often altered because climatic and edaphic constraints are in many cases not important and because high temperature and moisture conditions greatly enhance the activity of mutualistic biological systems of regulation which exert a much stronger control on litter and soil organic matter dynamics. This general hypothesis is considered in the light of available information from tropical rain forests and humid savannas. Theoretical and practical implications regarding the biodiversity issue and management practices are further discussed. It is concluded that biodiversity is probably determined, at least partly, by soil biological processes as a consequence of enhanced mutualistic interactions, which enlarge the resource base available to plants. It is also concluded that any effort to restore or rehabilitate degraded soils in the humid tropics is promised to fail unless optimum levels of root and invertebrate activities are promoted and the resulting regulation effects operate in the four abovedescribed biological systems of regulation. Research required to substantiate and adequately test the present set of concepts and hypotheses are expressed.

506 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of endogeic species in intensifying agroecosystems is likely to be more important for soil function, especially because they act as ecosystem engineers and through their mutualistic interactions with microflora, selective ingestion of soil particles, high rates of ingestion and production of casts, galleries, burrows and chambers can affect nutrient and organic matter dynamics and other pedological processes.

233 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new theoretical framework based on ecological stoichiometry stressing the role of C:N:P ratios in soil, microbial and plant biomass as important parameters driving bacterivore-effects on soil N and P availability for plants, immobilization of N andP in the bacterial biomass, and plant responses in nutrition and growth is proposed.
Abstract: Bacterivores, mostly represented by protists and nematodes, are a key component of soil biodiversity involved in soil fertility and plant productivity. In the current context of global change and soil biodiversity erosion, it becomes urgent to suitably recognize and quantify their ecological importance in ecosystem functioning. Using meta-analysis tools, we aimed at providing a quantitative synthesis of the ecological importance of soil bacterivores on ecosystem functions. We also intended to produce an overview of the ecological factors that are expected to drive the magnitude of bacterivore effects on ecosystem functions. Bacterivores in soil contributed significantly to numerous key ecosystem functions. We propose a new theoretical framework based on ecological stoichiometry stressing the role of C:N:P ratios in soil, microbial and plant biomass as important parameters driving bacterivore-effects on soil N and P availability for plants, immobilization of N and P in the bacterial biomass, and plant responses in nutrition and growth.

228 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Helen Phillips1, Carlos A. Guerra2, Marie Luise Carolina Bartz3, Maria J. I. Briones4, George G. Brown5, Thomas W. Crowther6, Olga Ferlian1, Konstantin B. Gongalsky7, Johan van den Hoogen6, Julia Krebs1, Alberto Orgiazzi, Devin Routh6, Benjamin Schwarz8, Elizabeth M. Bach, Joanne M. Bennett2, Ulrich Brose9, Thibaud Decaëns, Birgitta König-Ries9, Michel Loreau, Jérôme Mathieu, Christian Mulder10, Wim H. van der Putten11, Kelly S. Ramirez, Matthias C. Rillig12, David J. Russell13, Michiel Rutgers, Madhav P. Thakur, Franciska T. de Vries, Diana H. Wall14, David A. Wardle, Miwa Arai15, Fredrick O. Ayuke16, Geoff H. Baker17, Robin Beauséjour, José Camilo Bedano18, Klaus Birkhofer19, Eric Blanchart, Bernd Blossey20, Thomas Bolger21, Robert L. Bradley, Mac A. Callaham22, Yvan Capowiez, Mark E. Caulfield11, Amy Choi23, Felicity Crotty24, Andrea Dávalos20, Andrea Dávalos25, Darío J. Díaz Cosín, Anahí Domínguez18, Andrés Esteban Duhour26, Nick van Eekeren, Christoph Emmerling27, Liliana B. Falco26, Rosa Fernández, Steven J. Fonte14, Carlos Fragoso, André L.C. Franco, Martine Fugère, Abegail T Fusilero28, Shaieste Gholami29, Michael J. Gundale, Mónica Gutiérrez López, Davorka K. Hackenberger30, Luis M. Hernández, Takuo Hishi31, Andrew R. Holdsworth32, Martin Holmstrup33, Kristine N. Hopfensperger34, Esperanza Huerta Lwanga11, Veikko Huhta, Tunsisa T. Hurisso14, Tunsisa T. Hurisso35, Basil V. Iannone, Madalina Iordache36, Monika Joschko, Nobuhiro Kaneko37, Radoslava Kanianska38, Aidan M. Keith39, Courtland Kelly14, Maria Kernecker, Jonatan Klaminder, Armand W. Koné40, Yahya Kooch41, Sanna T. Kukkonen, H. Lalthanzara42, Daniel R. Lammel12, Daniel R. Lammel43, Iurii M. Lebedev7, Yiqing Li44, Juan B. Jesús Lidón, Noa Kekuewa Lincoln45, Scott R. Loss46, Raphaël Marichal, Radim Matula, Jan Hendrik Moos47, Gerardo Moreno48, Alejandro Morón-Ríos, Bart Muys49, Johan Neirynck50, Lindsey Norgrove, Marta Novo, Visa Nuutinen51, Victoria Nuzzo, Mujeeb Rahman P, Johan Pansu17, Shishir Paudel46, Guénola Pérès, Lorenzo Pérez-Camacho52, Raúl Piñeiro, Jean-François Ponge, Muhammad Rashid53, Muhammad Rashid54, Salvador Rebollo52, Javier Rodeiro-Iglesias4, Miguel Á. Rodríguez52, Alexander M. Roth55, Guillaume Xavier Rousseau56, Anna Rożen57, Ehsan Sayad29, Loes van Schaik58, Bryant C. Scharenbroch59, Michael Schirrmann60, Olaf Schmidt21, Boris Schröder61, Julia Seeber62, Maxim Shashkov63, Maxim Shashkov64, Jaswinder Singh65, Sandy M. Smith23, Michael Steinwandter, José Antonio Talavera66, Dolores Trigo, Jiro Tsukamoto67, Anne W. de Valença, Steven J. Vanek14, Iñigo Virto68, Adrian A. Wackett55, Matthew W. Warren, Nathaniel H. Wehr, Joann K. Whalen69, Michael B. Wironen70, Volkmar Wolters71, Irina V. Zenkova, Weixin Zhang72, Erin K. Cameron73, Nico Eisenhauer1 
Leipzig University1, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg2, Universidade Positivo3, University of Vigo4, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária5, ETH Zurich6, Moscow State University7, University of Freiburg8, University of Jena9, University of Catania10, Wageningen University and Research Centre11, Free University of Berlin12, Senckenberg Museum13, Colorado State University14, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization15, University of Nairobi16, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation17, National Scientific and Technical Research Council18, Brandenburg University of Technology19, Cornell University20, University College Dublin21, United States Forest Service22, University of Toronto23, Aberystwyth University24, State University of New York at Cortland25, National University of Luján26, University of Trier27, University of the Philippines Mindanao28, Razi University29, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek30, Kyushu University31, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency32, Aarhus University33, Northern Kentucky University34, Lincoln University (Missouri)35, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad36, Fukushima University37, Matej Bel University38, Lancaster University39, Université d'Abobo-Adjamé40, Tarbiat Modares University41, Pachhunga University College42, University of São Paulo43, University of Hawaii at Hilo44, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources45, Oklahoma State University–Stillwater46, Forest Research Institute47, University of Extremadura48, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven49, Research Institute for Nature and Forest50, Natural Resources Institute Finland51, University of Alcalá52, King Abdulaziz University53, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology54, University of Minnesota55, Federal University of Maranhão56, Jagiellonian University57, Technical University of Berlin58, University of Wisconsin-Madison59, Leibniz Association60, Braunschweig University of Technology61, University of Innsbruck62, Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics63, Russian Academy of Sciences64, Khalsa College, Amritsar65, University of La Laguna66, Kōchi University67, Universidad Pública de Navarra68, McGill University69, The Nature Conservancy70, University of Giessen71, Henan University72, University of Saint Mary73
25 Oct 2019-Science
TL;DR: It was found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms, which suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.
Abstract: Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.

223 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare experiences with conservation agriculture from the tropical Cerrado region of Brazil and from temperate conditions of Europe, focusing on agronomic performances, environmental impacts and economical results.
Abstract: Nowadays, in a context of climate change, economical uncertainties and social pressure to mitigate agriculture externalities, farmers have to adopt new cropping systems to achieve a sustainable and cost-effective grain production. Conservation agriculture consists of a range of cropping systems based on a combination of three main principles: (1) soil tillage reduction, (2) soil protection by organic residues and (3) diversification in crop rotation. Conservation agriculture has been promoted as a way to reduce production costs, soil erosion and soil fertility degradation under both tropical and temperate conditions. Conservation agriculture-based cropping systems have diffused widely under Brazilian large-scale farms’ conditions and more recently in Europe in the context of medium-size mechanized farms. Their diffusion, however, is still limited under small-scale non-mechanized farms’ conditions of tropical countries. To assess the advantages and limits of such new cropping systems, this article compares experiences with conservation agriculture from the tropical Cerrado region of Brazil and from temperate conditions of Europe. It focusses on agronomic performances, environmental impacts and economical results. Conservation agriculture systems appear to be interesting options to achieve sustainable and intensive crop production under different agroecological environments because they use efficiently available resources and maintain soil fertility. However, this mostly results from the permanent presence of an organic mulch on the soil surface and the incorporation of cover crops in the rotations. Such modifications require a significant reorganization of the production process at farm level, and when facing technical or socioeconomic constraints, most farmers usually opt for applying only partially the three main principles of conservation agriculture. Investigating more fully the consequences of such partial implementation of conservation agriculture principles on its actual efficiency and assessing the most efficient participatory approaches needed to adapt conservation agriculture principles to local conditions and farming systems are top priorities for future research.

211 citations


Cited by
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01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The work of the IPCC Working Group III 5th Assessment report as mentioned in this paper is a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change, which has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.
Abstract: The talk with present the key results of the IPCC Working Group III 5th assessment report. Concluding four years of intense scientific collaboration by hundreds of authors from around the world, the report responds to the request of the world's governments for a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change. The report has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.

3,224 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Tisdall and Oades [J. Soil Sci. 62 (1982) 141] coined the aggregate hierarchy concept describing a spatial scale dependence of mechanisms involved in micro- and macroaggregate formation.
Abstract: Since the 1900s, the link between soil biotic activity, soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition and stabilization, and soil aggregate dynamics has been recognized and intensively been studied. By 1950, many studies had, mostly qualitatively, investigated the influence of the five major factors (i.e. soil fauna, microorganisms, roots, inorganics and physical processes) on this link. After 1950, four theoretical mile-stones related to this subject were realized. The first one was when Emerson [Nature 183 (1959) 538] proposed a model of a soil crumb consisting of domains of oriented clay and quartz particles. Next, Edwards and Bremner [J. Soil Sci. 18 (1967) 64] formulated a theory in which the solid-phase reaction between clay minerals, polyvalent cations and SOM is the main process leading to microaggregate formation. Based on this concept, Tisdall and Oades [J. Soil Sci. 62 (1982) 141] coined the aggregate hierarchy concept describing a spatial scale dependence of mechanisms involved in micro- and macroaggregate formation. Oades [Plant Soil 76 (1984) 319] suggested a small, but very important, modification to the aggregate hierarchy concept by theorizing the formation of microaggregates within macroaggregates. Recent research on aggregate formation and SOM stabilization extensively corroborate this modification and use it as the base for furthering the understanding of SOM dynamics. The major outcomes of adopting this modification are: (1) microaggregates, rather than macroaggregates protect SOM in the long term; and (2) macroaggregate turnover is a crucial process influencing the stabilization of SOM. Reviewing the progress made over the last 50 years in this area of research reveals that still very few studies are quantitative and/or consider interactive effects between the five factors. The quantification of these relationships is clearly needed to improve our ability to predict changes in soil ecosystems due to management and global change. This quantification can greatly benefit from viewing aggregates as dynamic rather than static entities and relating aggregate measurements with 2D and 3D quantitative spatial information.

3,134 citations

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: The issues of nutrient-limited plant growth and nutrient uptake, with special emphasis on the importance of the uptake of nutrients in organic form—both by mycorrhizal and by non-mycorrhIZal plants—and the influence of symbiotic nitrogen fixation are treated.
Abstract: Publisher Summary In this chapter, the advances that have been made in understanding the ecology of the mineral nutrition of wild plants from terrestrial ecosystems have been reviewed. This chapter is organized along three lines. First, the issues of nutrient-limited plant growth and nutrient uptake, with special emphasis on the importance of the uptake of nutrients in organic form—both by mycorrhizal and by non-mycorrhizal plants—and the importance of symbiotic nitrogen fixation is treated. In addition, the influence of allocation patterns on mineral nutrient uptake is described. Next, a few of the nutritional aspects of leaf functioning and how nutrients are used for biomass production by the plant are explored. That is done by studying the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) of plants and the various components of NUE. Finally, the feedback of plant species to soil nutrient availability by reviewing patterns in litter decomposition and nutrient mineralization is investigated. The chapter concludes with a synthesis of the various aspects of the mineral nutrition of wild plants. The chapter ends with a conceptual description of plant strategies with respect to mineral nutrition.

2,552 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the mechanisms that are currently, but often contradictorily or inconsistently, considered to contribute to organic matter (OM) protection against decomposition in temperate soils is presented.
Abstract: Summary Mechanisms for C stabilization in soils have received much interest recently due to their relevance in the global C cycle. Here we review the mechanisms that are currently, but often contradictorily or inconsistently, considered to contribute to organic matter (OM) protection against decomposition in temperate soils: (i) selective preservation due to recalcitrance of OM, including plant litter, rhizodeposits, microbial products, humic polymers, and charred OM; (ii) spatial inaccessibility of OM against decomposer organisms due to occlusion, intercalation, hydrophobicity and encapsulation; and (iii) stabilization by interaction with mineral surfaces (Fe-, Al-, Mn-oxides, phyllosilicates) and metal ions. Our goal is to assess the relevance of these mechanisms to the formation of soil OM during different stages of decomposition and under different soil conditions. The view that OM stabilization is dominated by the selective preservation of recalcitrant organic components that accumulate in proportion to their chemical properties can no longer be accepted. In contrast, our analysis of mechanisms shows that: (i) the soil biotic community is able to disintegrate any OM of natural origin; (ii) molecular recalcitrance of OM is relative, rather than absolute; (iii) recalcitrance is only important during early decomposition and in active surface soils; while (iv) during late decomposition and in the subsoil, the relevance of spatial inaccessibility and organo-mineral interactions for SOM stabilization increases. We conclude that major difficulties in the understanding and prediction of SOM dynamics originate from the simultaneous operation of several mechanisms. We discuss knowledge gaps and promising directions of future research.

2,332 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the economic potential of agricultural practices, such as water and rice management, set-aside, land use change and agroforestry, livestock management and manure management, is estimated.
Abstract: Agricultural lands occupy 37% of the earth's land surface. Agriculture accounts for 52 and 84% of global anthropogenic methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Agricultural soils may also act as a sink or source for CO2, but the net flux is small. Many agricultural practices can potentially mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the most prominent of which are improved cropland and grazing land management and restoration of degraded lands and cultivated organic soils. Lower, but still significant mitigation potential is provided by water and rice management, set-aside, land use change and agroforestry, livestock management and manure management. The global technical mitigation potential from agriculture (excluding fossil fuel offsets from biomass) by 2030, considering all gases, is estimated to be approximately 5500–6000 Mt CO2-eq. yr−1, with economic potentials of approximately 1500–1600, 2500–2700 and 4000–4300 Mt CO2-eq. yr−1 at carbon prices of up to 20, up to 50 and up to 100 US$ t CO2-eq.−1, respectively. In addition, GHG emissions could be reduced by substitution of fossil fuels for energy production by agricultural feedstocks (e.g. crop residues, dung and dedicated energy crops). The economic mitigation potential of biomass energy from agriculture is estimated to be 640, 2240 and 16 000 Mt CO2-eq. yr−1 at 0–20, 0–50 and 0–100 US$ t CO2-eq.−1, respectively.

2,002 citations