Calls for social-ecological restoration have emerged to help transcend traditional ecological boundaries by including plural values as well as transdisciplinary processes. Inspired by the IPBES values typology, we used questionnaires to assess four multi-layered perspectives characterizing local actors in two transdisciplinary grassland restoration projects in Germany: Broad values, specific values, knowledge, and visions for restoration outcomes. Varimax rotated principal component analysis yielded 16 factors across these dimensions. A subsequent hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three clusters based on these factors compatible with the Life Framework of Values: restoration for… (1) living with nature, (2) living in nature, and (3) living from nature. The three clusters demonstrate the diversity of values-based perspectives among participants of the real-world laboratories. These perspectives capture the multi-layered values underpinning engagement in restoration. Accounting for these perspectives without jeopardizing one perspective over the others provides a basis for more inclusive restoration efforts.

Abstract As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins, grassland restoration projects are being scaled up globally. However, a new generation of opportunities and challenges requires a new generation of scientific guidance, particularly for grassland ecosystems that need of restoration. Our meta‐analysis indicated that grassland restoration significantly enhances biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. However, biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality both increased in only half of the restoration observations, indicating that the effectiveness of global grassland restoration needs to be improved. Restoration methods and time were identified as important predictors of the effectiveness of grassland restoration. To address this, we conducted a multi‐objective optimization to assess when, where and how to better implement grassland restoration projects globally. This optimization aimed to provide targeted strategies for different grassland types and regions, considering the varying characteristics and needs of each biome. Our results revealed specific optimal restoration strategies for different biomes: 4 years after seeding in desert and semi‐desert biomes, continued grazing management for 10 years in polar and alpine biomes, and 26 years after soil inoculation in savanna and grassland biomes. Our findings offer clear guidance for enhancing the effectiveness of grassland restoration efforts across diverse ecosystems. Policy implications : Grassland restoration is crucial for global biodiversity conservation and ecosystem function maintenance. Our work provides scientific insights into the key factors influencing restoration effectiveness and specific optimal strategies for different biomes. This understanding is vital for formulating public policies that promote large‐scale, effective grassland restoration, thereby maximizing biodiversity gains and improving ecosystem multifunctionality.

Ongoing ecosystem degradation and loss demand restoration efforts worldwide. In Central Europe, semi‐natural grasslands are in focus, and better understanding of restoration success and its drivers is needed. For practical projects, systematic screening remains lacking. We compared plant species composition of 41 recipient sites 3–18 years after restoration via plant material transfer with composition of their donor sites. Further, we analyzed establishment of habitat‐typical and endangered species. Spanning a gradient of moisture conditions, sites were located in Germany and Luxembourg. Soil characteristics, biomass productivity, and restoration setup (e.g. previous site state, age) were investigated as potential drivers of success. In dry grasslands, success was highest, likely due to the creation of raw soils at several sites before plant material application. While raw soils generally favored the establishment of endangered species, the resulting low‐productive and dry conditions sometimes posed challenges for mesic grassland restoration. In mesic grasslands, elevated soil pH of some recipient sites further contributed to divergence in species composition compared to donor sites. In alluvial grasslands, high nutrient and productivity levels of recipient sites impeded restoration success. Wet grasslands were successfully restored when soil moisture was sufficient. Across grassland types, species richness decreased with time since restoration, yet the number and cover of habitat‐typical and endangered species remained stable. Introducing typical species in addition to plant material transfer supported restoration. We advocate for large‐scale, systematic investigations of practical grassland restoration projects combined with well‐defined monitoring guidelines across different regions to address this complex challenge in the coming decades.

Roles of the soil microbiome in sustaining grassland ecosystem health on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Shrub removal is a commonly applied method to restore and preserve biodiverse open ecosystems. In order to maintain the optimal conservation state after clearing, costly intensive post‐treatments and repeated shrub removal are often employed. Our hypothesis is that if the target vegetation is not self‐sustainable, grassland restorations demand intensive post‐treatments. Multiple potential natural vegetation (MPNV) estimates are indicative of the relative self‐sustainability of various vegetation types. Therefore, MPNV estimations have the potential to predict the required post‐treatment intensity. In the present study, our aim was to determine whether grassland and forest self‐sustainability assessed using MPNV models could help in predicting the post‐treatment intensity required to maintain grasslands restored by shrub removal. We collected data from grassland restoration projects in Hungary that employed shrub removal and that differed in the types and frequency of their post‐treatments. We tested how grassland and forest self‐sustainability estimated by MPNV models and project area size affected required post‐treatment intensity using a cumulative link mixed model. Higher forest self‐sustainability indicated a need for more intense post‐treatment. If MPNV models estimate high self‐sustainability for forests at restored sites, they are more likely to require intensive post‐treatments after shrub removal, even beside considerable grassland self‐sustainability. Based on our results, MPNV models can help predict the necessary post‐treatment intensity in grassland restoration and be helpful in identifying sites that would require less intensive post‐treatment, thus optimizing restoration costs. Finally, MPNV models can support successful restoration in maintenance‐intensive sites by indicating the need for regular post‐treatment measures.

Central European grasslands with low land‐use intensity potentially harbor high biodiversity, but have decreased in extent due to land‐use intensification. We evaluated the success of a 30‐year grassland restoration project on former arable fields in comparison to old permanent grassland in a floodplain in North Germany, taking into account the effects of land‐use intensity and habitat connectivity. We analyzed restoration success by richness and abundance of target species groups of vascular plants and butterflies. Restoration was successful in establishing common plant species of agricultural grasslands. However, restoration failed to recover plant species of wet grasslands with respect to both richness and cover, which may be explained by the lack of wet site conditions on former arable fields. In general, higher land‐use intensity reduced species richness and cover of mesotrophic and wet‐grassland plants, while smaller distances to old permanent grassland increased richness of all but wet‐grassland species. Butterfly species, including grassland specialists and red‐list species, were favored by high cover of flowering forbs and, coherent to this, low land‐use intensity. Surprisingly, higher cover of old permanent grassland in the surrounding landscape decreased species richness of butterflies, possibly due to a dilution effect. In conclusion, we recommend recreating wet microsites and introducing seeds of specialist and rare forbs for better restoration success, in addition to sowing of diverse seed mixtures. It is also important to keep land‐use intensity low to allow for higher cover of host and nectar plants, which is vitally important for promoting butterflies, especially grassland specialists and red‐list species.

After two decades of implementing top-down grassland restoration projects focused on reducing livestock numbers and pastoralist populations, the Chinese government’s well-funded efforts have not significantly reversed grassland degradation. This study reviews the institutional changes in grassland management over the past forty years, highlighting the Livestock and Grassland Double Contract Household Responsibility System of the early 1980s and the Grassland Ecological Reward and Compensation Policy introduced in 2011. It demonstrates how these institutional transformations have shaped pastoralists’ evolving understanding of grassland value and reveals that commodifying grassland’s economic and ecological value has led to the capitalization of nature, disembedding husbandry from grassland production, and undermining the effectiveness of conservation projects. This article also showcases the development of grassland ecology research in China, noting its increasing detachment from a holistic understanding of ecosystems and the interdisciplinary needs of management practices. The disjunction between grassland ecology research and practical management has resulted in a lack of techniques aligned with local ecological and socioeconomic contexts. This article champions active engagement with and protection of pastoralist communities to reintegrate grasslands’ true economic and ecological value into management practices, thereby effectively restoring degraded grasslands and achieving sustainable management.

The relationship between aboveground biomass and plant diversity has been extensively examined to understand the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functions and services. Degraded grassland restoration projects can enhance carbon sequestration. However, the relationship between biomass and diversity remains one of the most actively debated topics regarding grassland ecosystems in degraded grassland restoration projects. We speculated that establishing the linear relationships between aboveground biomass and plant species diversity could contribute to enhancing the efficacy of degraded grassland restoration projects. This study sought to determine whether these relationships were linear during the initial stages of the restoration projects of degraded grasslands in Xing'an League, China. The investigations were based on an examination of seventy-six 1 × 1 m2 plots distributed among 15 areas in which the degraded grassland was at the initial stages of restoration. To quantify the species diversity of the degraded grassland communities, we used the species richness, Shannon-Wiener, inverse Simpson's reciprocal, and Pielou's evenness indices. Our analyses revealed that aboveground biomass had clear positive linear relationships with species richness during the initial stages of degraded grassland restoration. However, there were less pronounced associations with species diversity as assessed using the Shannon and inverse Simpson indices, based on regression models. Furthermore, weed biomass was found to have significant negative effects on species richness and Pielou's evenness. The weak linear relationship between aboveground biomass and species richness could be ascribed to an increase in weed biomass. We concluded that aboveground biomass and plant species diversity could be enhanced during the initial stages of degraded grassland restoration projects and suggest that the extent of weed biomass could serve as a key indicator of the efficacy of restoration from the perspective of plant species diversity and aboveground biomass in carbon sequestration projects.

Scale dependency of taxonomic and functional diversity in pristine and recovered loess steppic grasslands

Amount, distribution and controls of the soil organic carbon storage loss in the degraded China's grasslands

Abstract The ecological restoration (ER) project significantly affects the water retention function in the Taihang Mountain area. However, a comprehensive understanding of the water retention effects in different ER project areas still needs to be improved. In this study, we employed the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade‐offs (InVEST) model to evaluate the differences in water retention among different ER project areas. Additionally, we used the structural equation model to explore the influence of various factors on water retention. The results showed the following: (1) The total amount of water retention in the Taihang Mountain area increased yearly from 2000 to 2020, with an 85.25% increase in 21 years. The water retention function showed a trend of transferring to a higher level. (2) The forest land restoration project showed the highest average water retention capacity, followed by the grassland restoration project, which together provided 61.12% of the water retention capacity in the ER areas. Forest land restoration project was found to have the most potential in improving water retention, while grassland restoration was more efficient. The water retention capacity of a 21‐year‐old artificial forest could only reach 70.92% of the natural forest. Cropland restoration mode increased the water retention by 22.85% compared with non‐ecological engineering areas. (3) The enhancement of water retention function in the study area resulted from multiple factors, among which precipitation and root depth were the most critical variables. (4) According to the structural equation model, the impact of natural factors on water retention accounted for 74.33%, and ecological engineering had a greater impact on water retention in the hilly zone. The ER project significantly increased water retention capacity. The results provide scientific support for improving water retention function and optimizing ER projects in semi‐arid areas of China.

Ecological restoration is critical for recovering degraded ecosystems but is challenged by variable success and low predictability. Understanding which outcomes are more predictable and less variable following restoration can improve restoration effectiveness. Recent theory asserts that the predictability of outcomes would follow an order from most to least predictable from coarse to fine community properties (physical structure > taxonomic diversity > functional composition > taxonomic composition) and that predictability would increase with more severe environmental conditions constraining species establishment. We tested this "hierarchy of predictability" hypothesis by synthesizing outcomes along an aridity gradient with 11 grassland restoration projects across the United States. We used 1829 vegetation monitoring plots from 227 restoration treatments, spread across 52 sites. We fit generalized linear mixed-effects models to predict six indicators of restoration outcomes as a function of restoration characteristics (i.e., seed mixes, disturbance, management actions, time since restoration) and used variance explained by models and model residuals as proxies for restoration predictability. We did not find consistent support for our hypotheses. Physical structure was among the most predictable outcomes when the response variable was relative abundance of grasses, but unpredictable for total canopy cover. Similarly, one dimension of taxonomic composition related to species identities was unpredictable, but another dimension of taxonomic composition indicating whether exotic or native species dominated the community was highly predictable. Taxonomic diversity (i.e., species richness) and functional composition (i.e., mean trait values) were intermittently predictable. Predictability also did not increase consistently with aridity. The dimension of taxonomic composition related to the identity of species in restored communities was more predictable (i.e., smaller residuals) in more arid sites, but functional composition was less predictable (i.e., larger residuals), and other outcomes showed no significant trend. Restoration outcomes were most predictable when they related to variation in dominant species, while those responding to rare species were harder to predict, indicating a potential role of scale in restoration predictability. Overall, our results highlight additional factors that might influence restoration predictability and add support to the importance of continuous monitoring and active management beyond one-time seed addition for successful grassland restoration in the United States.

Restricting seed collecting to local populations is a common practice in restoration because it is assumed that most plants are adapted to local environmental conditions. However, there is still considerable debate about whether local seed collection should be the default seed‐provenancing strategy as the effects of climate change are increasingly considered in restoration planning. It is especially important to explore whether local seed provenance is necessary for dominant species used in restoration because the success of these projects often rests on these species. Stipa pulchra is one such species that is commonly used in grassland restoration projects in California. To explore how different seed‐provenancing strategies affected the establishment and growth of S. pulchra, we established three common garden experiments distributed across a latitudinal gradient in California. We collected seeds from seven wild populations, germinated seeds in a common greenhouse, then planted all populations at the three common gardens. We assessed growth and reproduction for 2 years. We found limited evidence that restricting seed sourcing to local populations increased the establishment of S. pulchra compared to seeds from more distant populations. Instead, we found evidence to support the use of regional admixture seed sourcing to increase resiliency to environmental variation. In particular, we found being sourced from a dry location during the dry 2018 season was a benefit, highlighting the importance of including dry‐adapted populations to increase climate resilience. Our experiment highlights the importance of exploring multiple seed‐provenancing methods when designing a project to improve long‐term success.

The alpine grasslands of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are one of the most famous grazing ecosystems in the world, providing a variety of ecosystem functions and services. The rate of grassland degradation has been slowed by the implementation of national grassland restoration projects, but the degradation of grasslands on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau has not yet been fundamentally reversed, and some grasslands are still degraded to varying degrees. The main causes of grassland degradation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are both human and natural factors. Human factors include overgrazing, over-cultivation, indiscriminate digging and mining, mineral resource development, infrastructure construction and use, and tourism development. Natural factors include climate change, wildlife destruction, pests, etc. Based on the principles of restoration ecology, a number of effective practices and integrated management responses for restoring degraded grasslands have been developed on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The degraded grassland restoration practices include fencing, fertilization, sown grassland establishment, rodent control, and grazing management. Based on these practices, the comprehensive restoration of degraded grasslands and the establishment and sustainable management of sown grasslands in the alpine grasslands of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau should be further strengthened, and research on the mechanisms of grassland degradation and restoration should be further developed.

“The ASO grassland-restoration project”, to maintain and restore the ASO semi-natural grassland using local certified plants

Abstract AimLocal seed mixtures are frequently used to restore species‐rich grasslands. However, it has hardly been tested whether local seed mixtures can actually be applied successfully in grassland restoration practice at larger scales and long‐term. To close this gap, we report the results of a large‐scale restoration study in which grasslands were restored about 15 years ago using different local seed mixtures.LocationBavaria, SE Germany.MethodsTo evaluate the efficacy of the local seed mixtures, we compared the species composition of seed mixtures and current vegetation. We then tested whether restoration success depends on site characteristics such as the size and shape (rectangle or stripe) of the grassland, restoration procedures such as topsoil removal, seed density and land use, or species habitat preferences for light, water and nutrients, and species life span (annual, perennial).ResultsOn average, the current vegetation contained 62.4% of all species that were present in the local seed mixtures. Species from the local seed mixtures made up on average 69.1% of the total cover in the established vegetation, whereby the species composition of the local seed mixture and vegetation differed significantly from each other. The probability that a sown species would establish increased with seed density up to 300 seeds/m². Furthermore, habitat preferences significantly affected species establishment chances, with species requiring full illumination, dry and nutrient‐poor soil being more successful during restoration, reflecting the high proportion of sites with topsoil removal prior to seeding in our study. Annual species had significantly lower establishment chances compared with their perennial counterparts.ConclusionsOur study provides another piece of evidence that local seed mixtures can be applied successfully in large‐scale grassland restoration projects. We provide several practical recommendations of how such practices can be further improved by using specific seed densities and creating new local seed mixtures using species that are ecologically more suitable to the restored sites.

Hay transfer is a nature-based and sustainable solution for restoring grassland biodiversity

The number of natural grassland restoration projects increased in the last decade in Hungary, and probably the area of restored grasslands will be significantly extended in the next years due to New National Rural Development Program. To contribute to the success of this activity, in this paper we review the most important theoretical and practical aspects of natural grassland restoration methods. In the course of grassland restoration, habitats dominated by grasses and/or sedges have been restored in place of arable lands. In order to perform “natural” restoration, we should consider the ecological conditions of the landscape, and reconstruct natural or seminatural grasslands including of native plant species. Essentially, rehabilitation of natural landscape is supported also by creating new seminatural grassland patches. The basic principles of the natural grassland restoration are:
 1. When a spontaneous secondary succession starts to proceed on an abandoned field without invasion of any alien plant species, the re-ploughing of the abandoned field has to be ignored.
 2. Generally, the old fields surrounded by species-rich natural or seminatural grassland pathes can succesfully be restorated. Then, as a consequence of newly restored vegetation patches the recovery of the whole landscape can be accelerated. Furthermore, by restoring isolated grassland patches surrounded by arable lands a more diverse landscape pattern could be developed.
 3. Spontaneous secondary succession of grasslands should be assisted.
 4. The development of typical species composition of a seminatural grassland can be promoted by methods of spreaded hay. For successful process the hay has to be cut in a habitat type similar to ones that will be restored.
 5. Applying seed-mix for sowing can be useful to prevent spreading weeds drastically in the early stages of succession.
 6. Ideally, the seed-mix is originated from own harvesting or gathering from similar (or the same) habitats. If it is not possible, commercially available seed-mix can be applied, in which the dominant species is the same as in the restored habitat, with similar proportion.
 7. Seed-mix consists of alien species has to be avoided.
 8. If the composition or structure of the restored grassland is not appropriate after some years, the renewal of the grassland could be necessary. During the improvement process the reploughing of the restored grassland is avoided, but spreading seeds or hay, and direct sowing can be applied.
 9. The loading of nutrient is not necessary in any stages of grassland restoration.
 10. Applying chemicals is avoided; any herbicides can be used only when extensive invasion of alien plant species occurs.
 11. The mechanical intrusions on soil are also avoided.
 12. The restored grasslands is required regular or continuous management, which could be a preserving mowing or moderate grazing. The aspects of nature conservation should be considered.

Knowledge of the costs involved to implement a restoration project is imperative to most cost‐effectively allocate restoration funds, aid the prioritization of efforts, minimize waste, and conceive realistic objectives. When integrated with information regarding ecological and other socioeconomic indicators, consistent and complete cost‐reporting not only informs evaluations of overall project success but also aids practitioners and academics alike to assess the suitability of restoration innovations prior to implementation. Yet, despite awareness of the lack of cost information in restoration literature for at least 30 years, cost reporting, and thus analysis of cost variability, is still rare. This study discusses the results of a literature review and questionnaire conducted with grassland restoration practitioners internationally in order to better understand the costs related to grassland restoration, and to attempt to explain sources of variability in cost data. Only 12 scientific papers reporting cost data were retrieved, and although widely distributed, only 15 responses to the survey were registered. Northern hemisphere temperate grassland restoration projects dominated. Costs for grassland restoration were extremely variable, with costs of individual restoration activities/phases ranging from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. This variation derives from the highly context‐dependent nature of ecological restoration. The lack of cost data may hinder implementation of broader scale restoration projects, and mechanisms should be sought to collect standardized information and make it better available.

Evaluating ecological outcomes from environmental stewardship initiatives: A comparative analysis of approaches