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Diversity-productivity relationships vary in response to increasing land-use intensity

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Abstract

Background and aims

Theoretical and experimental evidence, predominantly from temperate grasslands, demonstrates strong support for a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This relationship is likely to be affected by land use drivers that remove vegetation, and/or disturb the soil surface. Our study aimed to examine the links between land use intensity and plant richness, and potential effects on productivity and function.

Methods

We examined the impact of mowing, grazing, and mowing plus grazing, on the relationship between plant diversity, and two measures of function; aboveground biomass and soil carbon. Our focus was on Eurasian grasslands, which support a high diversity of plant species, millions of people and their livelihoods, and where livestock grazing and mowing are predominant land uses. We used structural equation modelling to examine the effects of these land use drivers at 371 sites across 100,000 km2 of northern China.

Results

Mown sites supported a greater number of plant species than sites that were either grazed, or grazed and mown. Increasing plant richness was associated with greater aboveground biomass and soil carbon when sites were either mown or grazed, but these relationships disappeared when the two land use drivers were combined. Relationships among plant diversity and two measures of function were maintained when we accounted for the spatial differences between sites.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate that additional land use pressure imposed when mowing and grazing are applied together can decouple the positive associations between plant richness and functions. An understanding of these potential effects is important if we are to adopt strategies, such as destocking or reduced mowing, to maintain diverse grassland ecosystems, and their services and functions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0500908) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41971061). M.D-B. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 702057 (CLIMIFUN) and by a Large Research Grant from the British Ecological Society (Grant Agreement No. LRA17\1193, MUSGONET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China

    Yuanjun Zhu, Dan Shan, Xiaohui Yang & Yanshu Liu

  2. Departamento de Ecología and Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio “Ramón Margalef ”, Universidad de Alicante, Carretera de San Vicente del Raspeig s/n, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain

    Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo

  3. Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia

    David J. Eldridge

Authors
  1. Yuanjun Zhu
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  2. Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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  3. Dan Shan
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  4. Xiaohui Yang
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  5. Yanshu Liu
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  6. David J. Eldridge
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Contributions

X. Yang, Y. Liu and D.J. Eldridge designed the research; Y. Zhu and D.J. Eldridge performed the research; Y. Zhu and D. Shan contributed data; Y. Zhu and D.J. Eldridge analyzed the data; Y. Zhu, D.J. Eldridge and M. Delgado-Baquerizo wrote the paper; all authors contributed to editing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaohui Yang or Yanshu Liu.

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Zhu, Y., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Shan, D. et al. Diversity-productivity relationships vary in response to increasing land-use intensity. Plant Soil 450, 511–520 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04516-1

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