Assessing the impact of grassland management on landscape multifunctionality

Neyret, M.; Fischer, M.; Allan, E.; Hoelzel, N.; Klaus, V. H.; Kleinebecker, T.; Krauss, J.; Le Provost, G.; Peter, S.; Schenk, N.; Simons, N. K.; van der Plas, Fons; Binkenstein, J.; Boerschig, C.; Jung, K.; Prati, D.; Schäfer, D.; Schaefer, M.; Schoening, I; Schrumpf, M.; ... (2021). Assessing the impact of grassland management on landscape multifunctionality. Ecosystem services, 52, p. 101366. Elsevier 10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101366

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Land-use intensification has contrasting effects on different ecosystem services, often leading to land-use conflicts. While multiple studies have demonstrated how landscape-scale strategies can minimise the trade-off between agricultural production and biodiversity conservation, little is known about which land-use strategies maximise the landscape-level supply of multiple ecosystem services (landscape multifunctionality), a common goal of stakeholder communities. We combine comprehensive data collected from 150 German grassland sites with a simulation approach to identify landscape compositions, with differing proportions of low-, medium-, and high-intensity grasslands, that minimise trade-offs between the six main grassland ecosystem services prioritised by local stakeholders: biodiversity conservation, aesthetic value, productivity, carbon storage, foraging, and regional identity. Results are made accessible through an online tool that provides information on which compositions best meet any combination of user-defined priorities (https://neyret.shinyapps.io/landscape_composition_for_multifunctiona lity/). Results show that an optimal landscape composition can be identified for any pattern of ecosystem service priorities. However, multifunctionality was similar and low for all landscape compositions in cases where there are strong trade-offs between services (e.g. aesthetic value and fodder production), where many services were prioritised, and where drivers other than land use played an important role. We also found that if moderate service levels are deemed acceptable, then strategies in which both high and low intensity grasslands are present can deliver landscape multifunctionality. The tool presented can aid informed decision-making by predicting the impact of future changes in landscape composition, and by allowing for the relative roles of stakeholder priorities and biophysical trade-offs to be understood by scientists and practitioners alike.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

13 Central Units > Administrative Director's Office > Botanical Garden
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Ecology
10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Community Ecology

UniBE Contributor:

Fischer, Markus, Allan, Eric, Schenk, Noëlle Valérie, van der Plas, Alfons Leendert Derk, Prati, Daniel, Schäfer, Deborah, Manning, Peter

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

2212-0416

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

30 Nov 2021 17:09

Last Modified:

21 Nov 2023 11:44

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101366

Uncontrolled Keywords:

land management; ecosystem services, multifunctionality, grasslandsland use, simulation modelling

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/161292

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/161292

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