Grassland soils in focus: Overview of the SUSALPS project in the BonaRes brochure 11/2024

In the recently published BonaRes brochure “Ressource Boden” (30.11.2024), the SUSALPS project had the opportunity to present its most important results and findings from the interplay between grassland farming and climate. Climate change is already having a noticeable impact on grassland management and yields for farmers. In combination with the changing legal situation, farmers are under great ecological and economic pressure to adapt. A central experimental component of the SUSALPS project was the transplantation of soil from higher to lower altitudes in order to simulate the temperature increase caused by climate change. In addition to possible positive effects on grassland yields in years with sufficient precipitation, increased losses of species diversity and soil N and C stocks are of particular concern. The re-grazing of abandoned alpine pastures, on the other hand, could be an important building block for a climate-positive greenhouse gas balance at the farm scale, as initial results show a significant increase in soil carbon. Modeling and the web-based grassland decision system provide further tools for efficiently adapting grassland management to climate change.

Link to the full text in the brochure: https://www.bmbf.de/SharedDocs/Publikationen/DE/7/1064158_Ressource_Boden.html?templateQueryString=ressource+boden