Biodiversity mitigates trade-offs among species functional traits underpinning multiple ecosystem services.

Biodiversity loss and its effects on humanity is of major global concern. While a growing body of literature confirms positive relationships between biodiversity and multiple ecological functions, the links between biodiversity, ecological functions and multiple ecosystem services is yet unclear. Studies of biodiversity-functionality relationships are mainly based on computer simulations or controlled field experiments using only few species. Here, we use a trait-based approach to integrate plant functions into an ecosystem service assessment to address impacts of restoration on species-rich grasslands over time. We found trade-offs among functions and services when analysing contributions from individual species. At the community level, these trade-offs disappeared for almost all services with time since restoration as an effect of increased species diversity and more evenly distributed species. Restoration to enhance biodiversity also in species-rich communities is therefore essential to secure higher functional redundancy towards disturbances and sustainable provision of multiple ecosystem services over time.

Facing the future for grassland restoration - What about the farmers?

In line with the 2010 Aichi Convention for Biological Diversity, the European Union has a goal to restore 15% of degraded ecosystems and their services by the year 2020 (target 2, Europe 2020). This includes restoration of semi-natural grasslands (SNGs). Management of both intact and restored SNGs is dependent on people's willingness to manage them. Due to low profitability, management abandonment still occurs all over Europe, which highlights the need to raise farmers' and landowners' perspectives. In this study, we combined survey data and in-depth interviews with farmers/landowners managing previously restored SNGs, to understand how they perceive the restoration process, the outcome and future management. Survey and interview data were analysed in relation to biodiversity and Agri-environmental payments data from the restored sites. Almost all respondents considered the restoration successful and the re-inventoried restored SNGs also showed an increase in plant diversity. Nevertheless, 10% of the restored SNGs were abandoned again post-restoration and 40% of the respondents were unsure if they would continue the management in the future. Abandoned management may cause a negative trend in terms of decreased biological, cultural and aesthetic values, in the local community, as well as for the society in general. Most respondents explained a strong dependency on Agri-environmental payments, both as a restoration incentive and for post-restoration management. Also non-financial support from authorities in form of feedback and advice was requested, as well as support from the local community and society as a whole. Future management in a longer time perspective was strongly coupled to the farm economy, i.e. received Agri-environmental payments at farm-level and profit from selling agricultural products, and whether the farmers had successors. We conclude that both social and ecological factors, here farm economy, authority support and proper management, must be in place for long-term success of grassland restoration.

Author Correction: Super-regional land-use change and effects on the grassland specialist flora.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Super-regional land-use change and effects on the grassland specialist flora.

Habitat loss through land-use change is the most pressing threat to biodiversity worldwide. European semi-natural grasslands have suffered an ongoing decline since the early twentieth century, but we have limited knowledge of how grassland loss has affected biodiversity across large spatial scales. We quantify land-use change over 50-70 years across a 175,000 km2 super-region in southern Sweden, identifying a widespread loss of open cover and a homogenisation of landscape structure, although these patterns vary considerably depending on the historical composition of the landscape. Analysing species inventories from 46,796 semi-natural grasslands, our results indicate that habitat loss and degradation have resulted in a decline in grassland specialist plant species. Local factors are the best predictors of specialist richness, but the historical landscape predicts present-day richness better than the contemporary landscape. This supports the widespread existence of time-lagged biodiversity responses, indicating that further species losses could occur in the future.

Long Term Positive Effect of Grassland Restoration on Plant Diversity - Success or Not?

Restoration is important for biodiversity conservation worldwide, but surprisingly little is known about its efficiency in a long-term perspective. In this study, we re-examined Swedish semi-natural grasslands 12-20 years after the restoration, by comparing field inventories of vascular plant species diversity made in 2001 with follow-up inventories in 2012. We also analysed restoration effect in relation to six environmental factors and used continuously managed semi-natural grasslands as references of desired state after restoration. We found that total species richness increased over time but not to reference levels, while there were no significant changes in species density or number of grassland specialists. However, the overall species composition in the restored sites, as well as grassland specialist composition, now largely resembled reference conditions. Fertilisation and time between abandonment and restoration were the only environmental variables that affected total species composition change, while site area affected change in grassland specialist composition. Our results show that restoration of semi-natural grasslands can contribute to conservation of semi-natural habitats and their associated biodiversity. Yet, due to the vague restoration goals for these sites, it is difficult to evaluate the restoration success, which emphasise the general need for clear and measurable goals.