Data from: Effect of management on natural capital stocks underlying ecosystem service provision: a ‘provider group’ approach

Land management practices directly impact on the occurrence and condition
of natural capital stocks, which can be measured using species diversity
and abundance metrics. Species identity and abundance drive ecosystem
service supply, either through effects of local diversity and/or through
the presence of service providing species. However, the influence of
management practices on the provision of ecosystem services is not
adequately understood. We grouped grassland plant species into six groups
according to desirable attributes (palatability and nutritional value to
livestock; medicinal or aromatic compounds; nectar production; pollen
production; nitrogen fixation; and endemic and red listed species), which
we recognise as ecosystem service ‘provider groups’, and tested the
influence of three land management practices (abandonment of mowing,
grazing, and mowing) on diversity and abundance within these groups in
upland temperate grasslands of Transylvania (Romania). All three
management practices favoured at least one provider group, but hay making
in upland grasslands favoured more provider groups than abandonment of
mowing or grazing. The effects of management on diversity and abundance
within several provider groups diverged from the effects on overall
species diversity and abundance. Management, through changes in species
composition, favours certain provider groups, and hence ecosystem
services, over others. The provider group approach is more useful than
overall species diversity metrics for assessing the provision of ecosystem
services from landscapes and can be used to inform the development of
agri-environment schemes and conservation policies aimed at meeting
priorities for ecosystem service provision.