Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/gcb.17418
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Land use modulates resistance of grasslands against future climate and inter-annual climate variability in a large field experiment
Author Korell, L.; Andrzejak, M.; Berger, S.; Durka, W. ORCID logo ; Haider, S.; Hensen, I.; Herion, Y.; Höfner, J. ORCID logo ; Kindermann, L.; Klotz, S.; Knight, T.M.; Linstädter, A.; Madaj, A.-M.; Merbach, I.; Michalski, S.; Plos, C.; Roscher, C.; Schädler, M.; Welk, E.; Auge, H. ORCID logo
Source Titel Global Change Biology
Year 2024
Department BZF; iDiv; PHYDIV; SIE
Volume 30
Issue 7
Page From e17418
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24960669
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fgcb.17418&file=gcb17418-sup-0001-Supplementay_A.docx
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fgcb.17418&file=gcb17418-sup-0002-Supplementay_B.docx
Keywords ANPP, climate change, community dynamics, Global Change Experimental Facility, grazing, land-use intensity, mowing, plant diversity
Abstract Climate and land-use change are key drivers of global change. Full-factorial field experiments in which both drivers are manipulated are essential to understand and predict their potentially interactive effects on the structure and functioning of grassland ecosystems. Here, we present 8 years of data on grassland dynamics from the Global Change Experimental Facility in Central Germany. On large experimental plots, temperature and seasonal patterns of precipitation are manipulated by superimposing regional climate model projections onto background climate variability. Climate manipulation is factorially crossed with agricultural land-use scenarios, including intensively used meadows and extensively used (i.e., low-intensity) meadows and pastures. Inter-annual variation of background climate during our study years was high, including three of the driest years on record for our region. The effects of this temporal variability far exceeded the effects of the experimentally imposed climate change on plant species diversity and productivity, especially in the intensively used grasslands sown with only a few grass cultivars. These changes in productivity and diversity in response to alterations in climate were due to immigrant species replacing the target forage cultivars. This shift from forage cultivars to immigrant species may impose additional economic costs in terms of a decreasing forage value and the need for more frequent management measures. In contrast, the extensively used grasslands showed weaker responses to both experimentally manipulated future climate and inter-annual climate variability, suggesting that these diverse grasslands are more resistant to climate change than intensively used, species-poor grasslands. We therefore conclude that a lower management intensity of agricultural grasslands, associated with a higher plant diversity, can stabilize primary productivity under climate change.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=29290
Korell, L., Andrzejak, M., Berger, S., Durka, W., Haider, S., Hensen, I., Herion, Y., Höfner, J., Kindermann, L., Klotz, S., Knight, T.M., Linstädter, A., Madaj, A.-M., Merbach, I., Michalski, S., Plos, C., Roscher, C., Schädler, M., Welk, E., Auge, H. (2024):
Land use modulates resistance of grasslands against future climate and inter-annual climate variability in a large field experiment
Glob. Change Biol. 30 (7), e17418 10.1111/gcb.17418