Project Number:
18.01.17.06.02
Project Title:
Ecosystem Services of Grassland in the Mountain Area
Strategic Research Field:
Multifunctional grassland use
Feed of special quality, valuable biodiversity, cultural identity and carbon storage – grasslands in the mountain area provide all these services to society. Despite direct payments by the federal government, however, these services are under threat from advancing structural and climate change.
Our research project aims to develop appropriate management methods to promote these services, based on the understanding of material flows in the soil and interactions between vegetation and grazing animals. The project also investigates measures for adapting to climate change – in particular, irrigation and its effects on the composition of plant populations, soil microorganisms and the carbon balance. It quantifies the contribution of extensively managed livestock breeds to the preservation of biodiversity, and evaluates cost-effective methods for keeping the landscape open, such as mulching and slash-and-burn. It also makes use of vegetation models and remote sensing analyses to assess the longer-term impacts of changed land-use strategies on ecosystem services.
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