Grazing alters the relationship between alpine meadow biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Biodiversity Research

Background:

• The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) is influenced by environmental disturbances like grazing.
• Understanding how plant and soil biodiversity mediate EMF under grazing pressure is crucial but remains largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of sheep grazing intensity on plant and soil biodiversity and EMF in alpine grasslands.
• To determine the correlation between different biodiversity metrics (species richness, functional richness, phylogenetic diversity) and EMF under varying grazing intensities.

Main Methods:

• An 8-year experiment manipulating sheep grazing intensity in alpine grasslands.
• Measurement of plant species richness, functional richness (FRic), phylogenetic diversity (PD), and soil biological diversity (bacterial, fungal, ciliate).
• Calculation and analysis of multiple ecosystem functions and their correlation with biodiversity metrics and grazing intensity.

Main Results:

• Increased grazing intensity led to significant decreases in both biodiversity and EMF.
• EMF was positively correlated with species richness, functional diversity, and soil bacterial diversity.
• The influence of plant and soil biodiversity on EMF varied depending on grazing intensity thresholds.

Conclusions:

• High grazing intensity directly impacts soil properties and indirectly affects EMF by altering plant and soil biodiversity.
• Loss of biodiversity under grazing disturbance has severe consequences for ecosystem multifunctionality.
• Biodiversity conservation strategies are essential to mitigate the negative effects of land use practices like grazing.