Permanent grasslands in Europe : Land use change and intensification decrease their multifunctionality

Acknowledgments We acknowledge the financial support of this work by European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement 774124, project SUPER-G (Developing Sustainable Permanent Grassland Systems and Policies).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Delivery of ecosystem services from permanent grasslands in Europe: a systematic review

Permanent grasslands cover 34% of the European Union’s agricultural area and are vital for the delivery of essential ecosystem services. Over recent decades, permanent grasslands have suffered a significant decline and land use change continues to threaten their area. We performed a systematic review on the multifunctionality of permanent grasslands in Europe, examining the effects of land use change and management practices on 18 ecosystem service indicators. Based on the evidence in 696 out of 70,456 screened papers, we found that both land use change and intensification decreased multifunctionality. A lower management intensity was associated with benefits for biodiversity, climate regulation and water purification, but had a negative effect on the provision of high-quality animal feed. Increasing the number of species in the sward enhanced multifunctionality of permanent grassland without significant trade-offs such as losses in production. We suggest that a combined approach of protection and management extensification will help secure multiple benefits from permanent grasslands