On the 29th of October at 9:15, Elisabeth Prangel will defend her doctoral thesis "The impacts of land-use change and ecological restoration on biodiversity and ecosystem service supply in semi-natural grasslands" for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Botany and Mycology).
Supervisor:
Professor Aveliina Helm, University of Tartu (Estonia)
Opponent:
Dr. Alistair G. Auffret, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden)
Summary:
Ecosystem services are benefits that nature provides, from food and wood production to clean air, pollination and carbon storage. The majority of these services depend directly on biodiversity. Higher biodiversity helps ecosystems withstand disturbances and keep supplying multiple ecosystem services simultaneously – a quality known as ecosystem multifunctionality.
Semi-natural grasslands are among the most species-rich habitats in Europe, shaped for centuries by low-intensity grazing and mowing. However, recent land-use changes such as agricultural intensification, grassland abandonment, and afforestation have led to the loss of many semi-natural grasslands. These land-use changes reduce biodiversity, disrupt ecological processes, and impact ecosystem service supply.
My doctoral research explored how land-use changes and ecological restoration influence biodiversity, ecosystem services, and ecosystem multifunctionality in grassland ecosystems. The results show that traditionally managed semi-natural grasslands are biodiversity hotspots, and able to provide multiple services at once – including habitat for wildlife, stable carbon storage, pollination, natural pest control, forage, and recreation. By contrast, abandonment, afforestation and intensification of grasslands cause losses in both diversity and ecosystem service supply.
Evidence from the alvar grassland restoration project (LIFE to Alvars) shows that abandoned or afforested alvars still have a high recovery potential. Re-establishing low-intensity management boosted biodiversity across multiple species groups, and improved ecosystem multifunctionality. However, while recovery was rapid in some species, others showed no reaction or were negatively impacted by external stresses such as drought, highlighting the need for long-term monitoring.
