Socio-economic analyses show that climate change is already influencing grassland management and farmers' yields. In particular, changes in the political framework require farmers to act quickly (e.g. fertilizer regulations). In addition, a survey shows that the 2018 drought has also greatly increased the perception of climate change in society and that the mixture of forest and grassland as well as biodiversity are important aspects for tourism.
Climate change simulated by soil transplants (+2°C) increased grassland productivity under intensive management. However, this positive effect was reversed under drought stress, especially in 2018 and 2023, or at higher temperatures (+3°C). The increased productivity due to a moderate rise in temperature was accompanied by reduced species diversity. In contrast, extensive management under climate change conditions did not lead to an increase in yield, but to greater resilience to drought. Organic N fertilizer applied to cut meadows initially fertilizes the soil, so that the plants are mainly nourished by mineralization of the soil humus. Together with high fertilizer N losses (primarily NH3 and N2), this promotes a net loss of soil N and C stocks, especially under intensive management and climate change. On intensively farmed sites, this can be explained by a reduced diversity and functional diversity of the microbiome, while more nitrate is used for microbial denitrification (with gaseous N losses). Alternative fertilization methods (e.g. solid manure, slurry dilution, near-soil application) and less cutting are effective measures to reduce nutrient losses.
In contrast to fertilized cut meadows, the extensive re-grazing of a revitalized project pasture shows a significant increase in C storage with low NO3 production and consistently high species diversity. Re-grazing of abandoned mountain pastures is therefore recommended to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of milk production. The findings of the field studies were used to develop a process-based model for the evaluation of grassland functions. For regional model applications, remote sensing data (cutting frequency) and an agent-based model (distribution of manure) were used to derive location-specific information of grassland management. The simulations confirm yield declines under drought, which lead to increased nitrogen losses (e.g. N2O and NO3 -) if fertilization practices remain the same. Soils with higher humus content, on the other hand, show greater resilience to drought. Together with stakeholders, the model was used to develop the user-friendly web-based grassland assessment system (dss.susalps.de/), which enables practitioners to assess the impact of management and climate on grassland functions.