Plant diversity effects on forage quality, yield and revenues of semi-natural grasslands.

ABSTRACT: In agricultural settings, plant diversity is often associated with low biomass yield and forage quality, while biodiversity experiments typically find the opposite. We address this controversy by assessing, over 1 year, plant diversity effects on biomass yield, forage quality (i.e. nutritive values), quality-adjusted yield (biomass yield × forage quality), and revenues across different management intensities (extensive to intensive) on subplots of a large-scale grassland biodiversity experiment. Plant diversity substantially increased quality-adjusted yield and revenues. These findings hold for a wide range of management intensities, i.e., fertilization levels and cutting frequencies, in semi-natural grasslands. Plant diversity was an important production factor independent of management i

SUBMITTER: Schaub S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7005841 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature