Carbon uptake changed but vegetation composition remained stable during transition from grazing to mowing grassland management

• Vegetation composition and diversity did not change for six years after the conversion from grazing to mowing. • Even the detailed fine-scale analyses could not reveal differences. • Carbon uptake differed between grazed vs. mowed sites due to biomass removal intensity. • Returning from mowing to grazing would probably restore C uptake capacity at the mowed site because the vegetation composition remained stable