Are we talking about the same thing? Stakeholder perspectives on grassland management intensity

Abstract

Grassland management crucially influences the delivery of ecosystem services from permanent grasslands. Variability in management practices is often described along a gradient from ‘low intensity’ to ‘high intensity’. These terms are likely to carry different meanings across European regions that differ inenvironmental and socio-economic conditions as well as between different groups of stakeholders. We conducted an online survey among grassland stakeholders asking them to characterise what they consider as ‘low’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘high’-intensity management in terms of cutting frequency, grazing intensity, and nitrogen fertilization. The answers of the 125 respondents revealed high variability in the thresholds between management intensity levels. Professional background (‘agriculture’ vs ‘ecology/ conservation’) explained only a small percentage of the variability. The biogeographical region on which the respondents’ expertise was based also influenced the evaluation of management practices. Our survey exposed the hidden problem of communicating about grassland management across regions and professional backgrounds, and identifies a need for a common terminology when making generalrecommendations for sustainable grassland management