Evidence from experimental and established grasslands indicates that plant biodiversity can modify the water cycle. One suspected mechanism behind this is a higher infiltration capacity (ν_B) and hydraulic conductivity (K) of the soil on species-rich grasslands. However, in established and agriculturally managed grasslands, biodiversity effects cannot be studied independent of land-use effects. Therefore, we investigated in established grassland systems how land-use intensity and associated biodiversity of plants and soil animals affect ν_B and K at and close to saturation. On 50 grassland plots along a land-use intensity gradient in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schwäbische Alb, Germany, we measured ν_B with a hood infiltrometer at several matrix potentials and calculated the saturated and unsaturated K. We statistically analysed the relationship between ν_B or K and land-use information (e.g., fertilising intensity), abiotic (e.g., soil texture) and biotic data (e.g., plant species richness, earthworm abundance). Land-use intensity decreased and plant species richness increased ν_B and K, while the direction of the effects of soil animals was inconsistent. The effect of land-use intensity on ν_B and K was mainly attributable to its negative effect on plant species richness. Our results demonstrate that plant species richness was a better predictor of ν_B and K at and close to saturation than land-use intensity or soil physical properties in the established grassland systems of the Schwäbische Alb.

中文翻译：

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土地利用强度和生物多样性对德国南部草地土壤入渗能力和导水率的影响

来自实验和已建草地的证据表明，植物生物多样性可以改变水循环。这背后的人怀疑机构是较高渗透能力（ν_乙）和水力传导率（ķ上物种丰富的草地的土壤）。然而，在已建立和农业管理的草原中，不能独立于土地利用影响研究生物多样性影响。因此，我们在已建立的草地系统中调查了土地利用强度和相关植物和土壤动物的生物多样性如何影响ν _B和K在饱和状态和接近饱和状态。在德国 Schwäbische Alb 生物多样性探索区沿土地利用强度梯度的 50 块草地上，我们测量了ν _B用罩式渗透计在几个基质电位下计算饱和和不饱和K。我们统计分析了ν _B或K与土地利用信息（例如施肥强度）、非生物（例如土壤质地）和生物数据（例如植物物种丰富度、蚯蚓丰度）之间的关系。土地利用强度降低，植物物种丰富度增加ν _B和K，而土壤动物效应的方向不一致。土地利用强度对ν _B和K 的影响主要归因于其对植物物种丰富度的负面影响。我们的结果表明，在 Schwäbische Alb 已建立的草地系统中，与土地利用强度或土壤物理特性相比，植物物种丰富度是饱和度和接近饱和度时ν _B和K的更好预测指标。