Land management practices directly impact the occurrence and condition of natural capital stocks, which can be measured using species diversity and abundance metrics. Species identity and abundance drive ecosystem service supply, either through effects of local diversity and/or through the presence of service-providing species. However, the influence of management practices on the provision of ecosystem services is not adequately understood. We grouped grassland plant species into six groups according to desirable attributes (palatability and nutritional value to livestock; medicinal or aromatic compounds; nectar production; pollen production; nitrogen fixation; and endemic and red-listed species), which we recognize as ecosystem service ‘provider groups’, and tested the influence of three land management practices (abandonment of mowing, grazing, and mowing) on diversity and abundance within these groups in upland temperate grasslands of Transylvania (Romania). All three management practices favored at least one provider group, but haymaking in upland grasslands favored more provider groups than the abandonment of mowing or grazing. The effects of management on diversity and abundance within several provider groups diverged from the effects on overall species diversity and abundance. Management, through changes in species composition, favors certain provider groups, and hence ecosystem services, over others. The provider group approach is more useful than overall species diversity metrics for assessing the provision of ecosystem services from landscapes and can be used to inform the development of agri-environment schemes and conservation policies aimed at meeting priorities for ecosystem service provision.
Effect of management on natural capital stocks underlying ecosystem service provision: A ‘provider group’ approach
Year: 2017
