Project: Ecosystem service provision from coupled plant and microbial functional diversity in managed grasslands

Extensively managed or restored grasslands (hereafter semi-natural) are key elements of European landscapes and provide multiple services central in supporting local livelihoods. In a context of environmental change and search for better sustainability, European agriculture is increasingly required to provide multiple ecosystem services ranging from economically viable production levels to carbon storage and water quality preservation. However, basic understanding of the ecological opportunities and constraints underlying this multifunctionality is still missing. The VITAL project aimed at testing the hypothesis that the delivery of multiple ecosystem services in semi-natural grasslands, including their vulnerability to climate and social change, largely relies on plant and soil microbial diversity and their coupled impacts on carbon and nitrogen cycles.

Acronym	VITAL
Website	visit project website
Network	BIODIVERSA
Call	Biodiversity: Linking Scientific Advancement to Policy and Practice

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
	French National Institute for Agricultural Research / Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 - Laboratory of Microbial Ecology of Lyon	Partner	France
	French National Institute for Agricultural Research / University of Caen - Institute of Fundamental and Applied Biology	Partner	France
	German Research Center for Environmental Health	Partner	Germany
	Joint Research Unit National Center for Scientific Research / University Grenoble Alpes - Laboratory of Alpine Ecology	Coordinator	France
	Lancaster University - Lancaster Environment Centre	Partner	United Kingdom
	University of Barcelona - Department of Vegetal Biology	Partner	Spain
	University of Innsbruck - Institute of Ecology	Partner	Austria