Land-use intensity and biodiversity effects on infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity of grassland soils in southern Germany

Leimer, Sophia; Berner, Doreen; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Fischer, Markus; Kandeler, Ellen; Kuka, Katrin; Marhan, Sven; Prati, Daniel; Schäfer, Deborah; Schoning, Ingo; Solly, Emily F.; Wolters, Volkmar; Wilcke, Wolfgang (2021). Land-use intensity and biodiversity effects on infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity of grassland soils in southern Germany. Ecohydrology, 14(6) Wiley 10.1002/eco.2301

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Evidence from experimental and established grasslands indicates that plant biodiversity can modify the water cycle. One suspected mechanism behind this is a higher infiltration capacity (nu(B)) and hydraulic conductivity (K) of the soil on species-rich grasslands. However, in established and agriculturally managed grasslands, biodiversity effects cannot be studied independent of land-use effects. Therefore, we investigated in established grassland systems how land-use intensity and associated biodiversity of plants and soil animals affect nu(B) and K at and close to saturation. On 50 grassland plots along a land-use intensity gradient in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schwabische Alb, Germany, we measured nu(B) with a hood infiltrometer at several matrix potentials and calculated the saturated and unsaturated K. We statistically analysed the relationship between nu(B) or K and land-use information (e.g., fertilising intensity), abiotic (e.g., soil texture) and biotic data (e.g., plant species richness, earthworm abundance). Land-use intensity decreased and plant species richness increased nu(B) and K, while the direction of the effects of soil animals was inconsistent. The effect of land-use intensity on nu(B) and K was mainly attributable to its negative effect on plant species richness. Our results demonstrate that plant species richness was a better predictor of nu(B) and K at and close to saturation than land-use intensity or soil physical properties in the established grassland systems of the Schwabische Alb.

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