The costs of diversity: higher prices for more diverse grassland seed mixtures

Sergei Schaub,Robert Finger,Nina Buchmann,Valentin H Klaus,Vera Steiner

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac1a9c

Abstract

Globally, we face a dramatic biodiversity loss in agricultural systems as well as severe ecosystem degradation. In grasslands, higher biodiversity in terms of plant diversity was shown to increase the diversity of higher trophic levels and provide benefits for farmers such as higher and more stable yields. However, we lack a systematic overview of costs for more diverse seed mixtures, which are an essential tool in maintaining and increasing plant diversity in grasslands. We here investigated the prices and characteristics of 262 commercially available seed mixtures from six German or Swiss online shops and quantified the relationships between seed mixture prices and plant diversity. The most frequent seed mixtures contained 1–10 species and were designed for rather intensive grassland management. On the contrary, a smaller set of seed mixtures with particularly high plant diversity (>30 species), usually of native ecotypes, were offered for restoration purposes. More diverse seed mixtures were also more expensive. For example, a seed mixture with 10 or 30 species was on average +63% or +387% more expensive, respectively, than a product containing only one species. The relationship between plant diversity and seed mixture prices per ha was related to other seed mixture characteristics, of which plant provenance (i.e. native ecotypes vs. cultivars) was particularly important for the price. Seed mixtures containing only native ecotypes had considerably higher prices per ha (⩾+75%) than those including cultivars. In conclusion, increasing biodiversity in grasslands can be costly. These costs need to be considered when making recommendations to farmers and other stakeholders. Measures to reduce such costs for maintaining and/or increasing plant diversity could promote establishment of grasslands with higher plant diversity, facilitate the restoration of semi-natural grasslands, and contribute to solving the biodiversity crisis in agroecosystems.

Highlights

We face major challenges of ecosystem degradation and decreasing biodiversity, especially in agricultural ecosystems, with negative feedbacks on many ecosystem services (Pe’er et al 2014, Newbold et al 2015, IPBES 2019, Seibold et al 2019, Resch et al 2021)
Including the costs of plant diversity and plant diversity-related public benefits into management considerations is crucial from a private and a societal perspective. Neglecting these aspects can potentially lead to a mismatch between levels of grassland plant diversity recommended to farmers by, for example, extension services, and the actual optimal levels for farmers and other land managers as well as for the public
To analyze seed mixture characteristics and quantify the relationship between prices and seed mixture composition, especially plant diversity, we addressed the following two questions: (1) What are the characteristics of the most commonly offered seed mixtures, including their plant diversity, species combination, and provenance? (2) How does the price of seed mixtures relate to their plant diversity and other price determinants?

Summary

Introduction

We face major challenges of ecosystem degradation and decreasing biodiversity, especially in agricultural ecosystems, with negative feedbacks on many ecosystem services (Pe’er et al 2014, Newbold et al 2015, IPBES 2019, Seibold et al 2019, Resch et al 2021). Plant diversity can increase the diversity of further taxa and other non-production ecosystem services, such as pollination and cultural services (Scherber et al 2010, Isbell et al 2017, Le Clec’h et al 2019, Huber and Finger 2020). Some of those services, such as the cultural services of aesthetics, heritage, and recreation, can create public benefits (Huber and Finger 2020). Including the costs of plant diversity and plant diversity-related public benefits into management considerations is crucial from a private and a societal perspective. We investigated the characteristics of German and Swiss seed mixtures, especially focusing on their plant diversity, and the relationship of plant diversity and market prices of various grassland seed mixtures

Methods

Results

Conclusion