Grassland Biodiversity

Introduction 2 Grasslands cover 2.38 million hectares or 29.8 % of Scotland’s land area (Countryside Survey data). They also provide most of the forage to support Scotland’s 1.8 million cattle and 6.7 million sheep (2015 Agricultural Census). Their key contribution to agricultural production means there is the potential for conflict between this primary goal and the conservation of biodiversity, and also between production and other ecosystem services. The objectives of both the Land Use Strategy and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy focus on working with nature, responsible stewardship, protecting biodiversity and supporting healthier ecosystems. The outputs of the Strategic Research Programme summarised in this booklet address the need to support these objectives with an understanding of how grasslands are affected by change and how, in turn, their functioning supports the benefits people derive from them. The first two articles, Long-term changes in Scottish grassland plant communities and Identifying drivers of change in coastal grasslands , highlight that both highly intensive management and a removal of grazing can lead to reductions in plant species richness. They also show the sensitivity of semi-natural grasslands to nitrogen deposition and, to a lesser extent, climate change. The next two articles show that even when the object of management is conserving biodiversity there are problems. Upland grassland management for biodiversity shows that trade-offs have to be made between conservation goals for different species, whilst Managing habitat mosaics shows that compromises may have to be made between the conservation goals of adjacent habitats when managed as part of a mosaic. Adapting management for other goals can also enhance biodiversity. Making upland farms more self-sufficient by reseeding to improve productivity can benefit arable weeds that survive for long periods in the seedbank ( Biodiversity benefits of reseeding inbye pastures in the uplands ). Fencing to protect watercourses can benefit a wide range of invertebrate groups, especially if management is aimed at enhancing floral diversity ( Watercourse management and the promotion of biodiversity in intensive agricultural catchments ). Floral diversity is, as How do pollinators utilise different habitats to meet their resource requirements through space and time shows, also important for maintaining healthy populations of pollinators. As there are strong and predictable linkages between plant and invertebrate traits, they can be used to predict the impact of management on groups such as bees and beetles ( Grassland management impacts on invertebrates ). Finally, Grassland management drives trade-offs for biodiversity and ecosystem services shows that management decisions can have far reaching consequences for biodiversity and for the different benefits, such as carbon storage, that we derive from grasslands. In contrast, the analysis described in Diversity confers resilience of production in grasslands demonstrates that diverse systems maybe more able to deliver benefits in the face of environmental variation. I hope you will enjoy reading these articles and please get in touch with the authors if you would like more information or wish to discuss their research. Robin Pakeman robin.pakeman@hutton.ac.uk