Plant diversity effects on forage quality, yield and revenues of semi-natural grasslands

Schaub, Sergei; Finger, Robert; Leiber, Florian; Probst, Stefan; Kreuzer, Michael; Weigelt, Alexandra; Buchmann, Nina; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael (2020). Plant diversity effects on forage quality, yield and revenues of semi-natural grasslands Nature Communications, 11(768), pp. 1-11. 10.1038/s41467-020-14541-4

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In agricultural settings, plant diversity is often associated with low biomass yield and forage quality, while biodiversity experiments typically find the opposite. We address this controversy by assessing, over 1 year, plant diversity effects on biomass yield, forage quality (i.e. nutritive values), quality-adjusted yield (biomass yield × forage quality), and revenues across different management intensities (extensive to intensive) on subplots of a large-scale grassland biodiversity experiment. Plant diversity substantially increased quality-adjusted yield and revenues. These findings hold for a wide range of management intensities, i.e., fertilization levels and cutting frequencies, in semi-natural grasslands. Plant diversity was an important production factor independent of management intensity, as it enhanced quality-adjusted yield and revenues similarly to increasing fertilization and cutting frequency. Consequently, maintaining and reestablishing plant diversity could be a way to sustainably manage temperate grasslands.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Resource-efficient agricultural production systems School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture
Name:	Schaub, Sergei; Finger, Robert; Leiber, Florian; Probst, Stefan0000-0003-4703-8789; Kreuzer, Michael; Weigelt, Alexandra; Buchmann, Nina and Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SB Plant culture S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
ISSN:	2041-1723
Language:	English
Submitter:	Stefan Probst
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2020 08:21
Last Modified:	18 Dec 2020 13:29
Publisher DOI:	10.1038/s41467-020-14541-4
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.11181
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/11181