Lena Neuenkamp, Jaak-Albert Metsoja, Martin Zobel and Norbert Hölzel published a new article about “Impact of management on biodiversity-productivity relations in Estonian flooded meadows“ in Plant Ecology.

This paper focussed on the effect of management on species richness-productivity relations in productive floodplain meadows. In particular, they addressed the relative importance of biomass cutting, hay removal and nutrient impoverishment on species richness and growth form structure. They conducted fieldwork in flooded meadows, which were dominated by sedges or forbs, in Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve, central Estonia. The main result of this study was that management—mowing and hay removal—reduced the amount of litter but not aboveground biomass. The effect of nitrogen supply was significant, but explained less variation. Management increased the proportion of sedges in the sedge meadow and of small herbs in the tall forb meadow. They conclude that litter removal is the most important management means to support biodiversity. On highly productive sites, reducing nutrients via hay removal is of secondary importance within a timeframe of 10 years.