Land management in forest and grasslands: how much can we intensify?

María Felipe-Lucia, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), and German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig. Courtesy of María Felipe-Lucia - High land-use intensity reduces the beneficial effects of biodiversity on ecosystem services. This is the main result of a study conducted by an international team with participation of the University of Bern. The study assessed, for the first time, the effects of land management on the links between biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services. It identified thresholds of management intensity, where these relationships change dramatically, which species groups were most important in driving services, and the ecosystem services that are at risk when management is intensified. Ecosystem services are crucial for human well-being and they depend on a well-functioning ecosystem and complex interactions among many organisms. However, human activities are resulting in biodiversity loss and changes to ecosystems, which threatens the supply of key services.