Land-use intensity effects on the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship in semi-natural grasslands at management-relevant spatial scales

Abstract Context There is a limited understanding of how land-use intensity influences the relationship between plant diversity and the ecosystem function of aboveground biomass production in semi-natural grasslands at the field and farm scale. However, these spatial scales are critical to be addressed since management practices are applied at larger spatial scales than biophysical characteristics are measured. Objectives We aim to (1) examine the direct and indirect effects of land-use intensity on the spatial variability of biomass production, focusing on the role of plant species richness and its spatial variability at the field scale. We further aim to (2) compare the strength of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship across spatial scales under different land-use intensities. Methods Going beyond the plot scale, we investigate the field and farm scale in two German regions for the years 2020 and 2021. Statistical analyses are based on prediction maps for species richness, biomass and land-use intensity, upscaled using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, as well as on spectral dissimilarity (Rao’s Q) to account for environmental heterogeneity. Results High land-use intensity directly reduced species richness and its spatial variability, which acted as mediators, however, not as buffers for the spatial variability of biomass production at the field scale. Both tested BEF relationships slightly strengthened with spatial scale, irrespective of the effect of land-use intensity. Conclusions Our study provides new insights into how land-use intensity shapes the BEF relationship at spatial scales relevant for management, addressing spatial mismatches in complex social-ecological systems.