Aims Current studies on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have mostly focused on plant communities. Less is known about the individual and combined effects of biodiversity components above-and-below-ground on ecosystem multifunctionality. The aim of this study was to explore how different management regimes influence multifunctionality via modification of both plant and soil microbial (bacterial and fungal) diversity. Methods We used a 6-year experiment in Inner Mongolian grassland to compare multifunctionality and separate functions related to the C, N, P cycles and plant productivity under four management regimes and examine relationships between these functions and different components of biodiversity, both above- and belowground. Results Ecosystem multifunctionality and the rates of nutrient cycling and plant productivity, were greatest under moderate grazing intensity, and lowest under no grazing. Further, across all management regimes, multifunctionality was positively related to plant diversity, and plant and soil microbial diversity combined explained a much greater (62.5%) proportion of variance in multifunctionality than that did either component alone. Different components of biodiversity showed contrasting relationships with individual functions: plant diversity was positively related to C and N cycling, whereas bacterial diversity was negatively related to P cycling and plant productivity. Conclusions Moderate grazing has better outcomes for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem multifunctionality than mowing and cessation of grazing. Sustainable grazing management is a viable strategy to conserve both above- and belowground biodiversity and enhance the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions.

中文翻译：

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中等放牧条件下的高生态系统多功能性与半干旱草原草原的高植物多样性和低细菌多样性有关

目标 目前关于生物多样性与生态系统功能之间关系的研究主要集中在植物群落上。关于地上和地下生物多样性组成部分对生态系统多功能性的个体和综合影响知之甚少。本研究的目的是探索不同的管理制度如何通过改变植物和土壤微生物（细菌和真菌）多样性来影响多功能性。方法 我们在内蒙古草原进行了一项为期 6 年的试验，比较了四种管理制度下与碳、氮、磷循环和植物生产力相关的多功能性和独立功能，并检查了这些功能与生物多样性不同组成部分之间的关​​系。地下的。结果生态系统多功能性、养分循环速率和植物生产力在中等放牧强度下最大，在不放牧下最低。此外，在所有管理制度中，多功能性与植物多样性呈正相关，植物和土壤微生物多样性相结合解释了多功能性的差异比例（62.5%）比单独的任何一个组成部分都要大得多（62.5%）。生物多样性的不同组成部分与个体功能表现出对比关系：植物多样性与 C 和 N 循环呈正相关，而细菌多样性与 P 循环和植物生产力呈负相关。结论适度放牧在生物多样性保护和生态系统多功能性方面比割草和停止放牧具有更好的效果。