Landscape context explains ecosystem multifunctionality in restored grasslands better than plant diversity

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Restoration Ecology
• Biodiversity Science

Background:

• Biodiversity is linked to ecosystem functioning at local scales.
• Understanding multifunctionality across landscapes and comparing biodiversity effects with environmental factors is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how plant phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic diversity relate to ecosystem multifunctionality in restored grasslands.
• To compare the influence of biodiversity, dominant species, and environmental factors on ecosystem functioning.

Main Methods:

• Assessed plant phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic diversity across 29 restored grassland sites.
• Quantified ecosystem multifunctionality and correlated it with diversity metrics, dominant species abundance, and landscape composition.

Main Results:

• Functional diversity showed a positive association with multifunctionality, outperforming other diversity measures.
• Landscape composition explained substantially more variation in multifunctionality than functional diversity.
• Environmental variables and dominant species (Andropogon gerardii) abundance also significantly impacted ecosystem functioning.

Conclusions:

• Plant diversity, dominant species, and environmental conditions collectively shape grassland ecosystem multifunctionality.
• The choice of biodiversity metric influences the observed biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships.
• Environmental variation plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning, independent of local biodiversity.