Greater biodiversity in grasslands leads to higher levels of ecosystem services

The more teeming, crawls and flies the better for the people who benefit from the diverse, free services provided by nature. This is the result of a study, were also scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have been involved. A species-rich ecosystem with many individuals from all levels of the food chain provides therefore the most extensive ecosystem services, the team reports in the journal "Nature". The diversity of the rather unpopular insects and inconspicuous soil organisms is of particular importance. The results underscore the need to preserve species-rich ecosystems for human well-being. Read more in the press release of the University of Bern: http://www.unibe.ch/news/media_news/media_relations_e/media_releases/2016_e/media_releases_2016/greater_biodiversity_in_grasslands_leads_to_higher_levels_of_ecosystem_services/index_eng.htmlPublication details: Soliveres et al.: Biodiversity at multiple trophic levels is needed for ecosystem multifunctionality. Nature, 17. August 2016, doi: 10.1038/nature19092. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature19092