Relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions are at the centre of current ecological research and of high importance for ecosystem management and conservation. In this four-year study, we assessed the impact of different management strategies on plant biodiversity, community structure and ecosystem services in a temperate meadow system. At the start of the experiment, one-time actions (seed-bank activation, sowing of wildflower seeds) to enhance biodiversity were implemented and the impact of these actions was monitored over the sampling period.
Results/Conclusions
Seed-bank activation and wildflower sowing increased species richness on a plot level by more than 60% in the first year after their implementation. In the second year, the magnitude of this effect was substantially reduced, but species richness in treatments remained significantly greater than in control plots throughout the whole four-year sampling period. In contrast, genetic diversity was not influenced by treatments and rather driven by the emergence of a root-parasitizing vascular plant (Rhinantus minor), which consistently increased in abundance throughout the experiment. Community composition and beta diversity were affected by treatments effects and additionally showed systematic trends over time. The magnitude of this treatment effect, however, decreased substantially during the study period.
Nectar provision (all years) and community plant biomass (only in year four) were quantified as key ecosystem functions. In a structural equation model, we demonstrate that nectar provision was positively influenced by evenness and genetic diversity. Genetic diversity, however, had a strong and negative impact on plant community biomass, highlighting potential trade-offs between key ecosystem functions in grassland meadows.