Mountain grasslands under global change

Grasslands are an important component of mountain landscapes. They are a common ecosystem type above the treeline. In many mountain regions, subalpine and montane grasslands were created by humans to support livestock and thus human livelihood, making them important social-ecological systems which provide a broad range of ecosystem services. Over the recent decades mountain grasslands have been exposed to significant changes in land use and climate. Land-use changes have involved intensification, conversions from hay meadows to pastures and, most frequently, complete abandonment of grasslands. Climate warming has been particularly pronounced in many mountain regions, and in the coming decades is expected to favour the occurrence of severe droughts.

Individually and collectively, these global changes may affect mountain grasslands on multiple levels and scales. They may lead to changes in the vegetation, above-belowground interactions and biogeochemical cycles, with downstream consequences for productivity, nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions and water yield. In this session we will explore the mechanisms underlying grassland responses to global changes and identify consequences for grassland functioning.