Experiments showed that biodiversity increases grassland productivity and nutrient exploitation, potentially reducing fertiliser needs. Enhancing biodiversity could improve P-use efficiency of grasslands, which is beneficial given that rock-derived P fertilisers are expected to become scarce in the future. Here, we show in a biodiversity experiment that more diverse plant communities were able to exploit P resources more completely than less diverse ones. In the agricultural grasslands that we studied, management effects either overruled or modified the driving role of plant diversity observed in the biodiversity experiment. Nevertheless, we show that greater above-(plants) and belowground (mycorrhizal fungi) biodiversity contributed to tightening the P cycle in agricultural grasslands, as reduced management intensity and the associated increased biodiversity fostered the exploitation of P resources. Our results demonstrate that promoting a high above- and belowground biodiversity has ecological (biodiversity protection) and economical (fertiliser savings) benefits. Such win-win situations for farmers and biodiversity are crucial to convince farmers of the benefits of biodiversity and thus counteract global biodiversity loss.

Yvonne Oelmann, Markus Lange, Sophia Leimer, Christiane Roscher, Felipe Aburto, Fabian Alt, Nina Bange, Doreen Berner, Steffen Boch, Runa S. Boeddinghaus, François Buscot, Sigrid Dassen, Gerlinde De Deyn, Nico Eisenhauer, Gerd Gleixner, Kezia Goldmann, Norbert Hölzel, Malte Jochum, Ellen Kandeler, Valentin H. Klaus, Till Kleinebecker, Gaëtane Le Provost, Peter Manning, Sven Marhan, Daniel Prati, Deborah Schäfer, Ingo Schöning, Marion Schrumpf, Elisabeth Schurig, Cameron Wagg, Tesfaye Wubet, Wolfgang Wilcke