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Increasing plant species richness by seeding has marginal effects on ecosystem functioning in agricultural grasslands
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  • Martin Freitag,
  • Norbert Hölzel,
  • Lena Neuenkamp,
  • Fons van der Plas,
  • Peter Manning,
  • Anna Abrahão,
  • Joana Bergmann,
  • Runa Boeddinghaus,
  • Ralph Bolliger,
  • Ute Hamer,
  • Ellen Kandeler,
  • Till Kleinebecker,
  • Klaus-Holger Knorr,
  • Sven Marhan,
  • Margot Neyret,
  • Daniel Prati,
  • Gaëtane Le Provost,
  • Hugo Saiz,
  • Mark van Kleunen,
  • Deborah Schäfer,
  • Valentin Klaus
Martin Freitag
University of Münster

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Norbert Hölzel
University of Münster
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Lena Neuenkamp
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Fons van der Plas
Wageningen University
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Peter Manning
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
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Anna Abrahão
Universität Hohenheim
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Joana Bergmann
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Runa Boeddinghaus
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Ralph Bolliger
University of Bern
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Ellen Kandeler
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Till Kleinebecker
Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management, University of Gießen
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Klaus-Holger Knorr
WWU Münster, ILÖK
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Sven Marhan
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Margot Neyret
Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung
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Daniel Prati
University of Bern
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Gaëtane Le Provost
Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung
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Mark van Kleunen
University of Konstanz
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Deborah Schäfer
Botanical Garden, University of Bern
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Valentin Klaus
Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich
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Abstract

Experimental evidence shows that grassland plant diversity enhances ecosystem functioning. Yet, the transfer of results from controlled biodiversity experiments to naturally assembled ‘real world’ ecosystems remains challenging. Here, we address this issue by experimentally sowing locally absent plant species in 73 agricultural grasslands along a land-use intensity gradient, to test how ecosystem functions related to productivity and nutrient cycling respond to species enrichment. We found that only one of 12 ecosystem functions responded to changes in species richness. In fact, ecosystem functioning was rather driven by environmental conditions and land-use intensity. This suggests that the functionally-relevant niche space is saturated in naturally assembled grasslands, and that competitive, high-functioning species are already present. While nature conservation and cultural ecosystem services certainly benefit from species enrichment, our study indicates that plant species enrichment may deliver only weak increases in ecosystem functioning in both moderately intensive and traditionally managed agricultural grasslands.