BO-R-2: Permanent grassland

The picture shows a mown permanent grassland where the freshly cut grass is still lying in rows. Click to enlarge
Grassland use can protect soils comparatively well from many adverse impacts of climate change.
Source: Photograph: © goldbany / stock.adobe.com

2019 Monitoring Report on the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change

Table of Contents

 

BO-R-2: Permanent grassland

The conservation of permanent grassland is intended to protect soils under agricultural use from the adverse effects of climate change. Between 1991 and 2013 grassland areas were experiencing a continuous and significant declining trend. Since 2013 the areas and the proportion of land in agricultural use have been increasing very slowly. As far as statistical trend analysis is concerned, this development has not yet been mirrored in respect of grassland areas.

A bar chart shows the share of permanent grassland in the area used for agriculture. A time series from 1991 to 2017 is shown, with values decreasing continuously and significantly. For 1991 the value is 31 percent, in 2017 it has dropped to 28 percent. A line represents the permanent grassland area in hectares. In 1991, there were 5,400,000 hectares, in 2017 around 4,700,000. The trend is quadratically increasing, which means that the decline was halted after 2010.
BO-R-2: Permanent grassland

A bar chart shows the share of permanent grassland in the area used for agriculture. A time series from 1991 to 2017 is shown, with values decreasing continuously and significantly. For 1991 the value is 31 percent, in 2017 it has dropped to 28 percent. A line represents the permanent grassland area in hectares. In 1991, there were 5,400,000 hectares, in 2017 around 4,700,000. The trend is quadratically increasing, which means that the decline was halted after 2010.

Source: StBA (main land use survey; agricultural structure survey)
 

Grassland conservation – important for soil protection

Permanent grassland is a type of agricultural use which, owing to permanent ground cover, provides comparatively good soil protection, along with humus enhancement and biodiversity, especially compared to arable use, because permanent grassland provides numerous favourable impacts as well as comparatively good soil protection from the projected adverse effects of climate change. Both the risks from desiccation and from soil loss caused by water and wind are much reduced in soil where grassland is present. In cases of heavy precipitation the precipitated water has a much better chance of penetrating a field with permanent grassland cover. Consequently, the maintenance or even expansion of permanent grassland, especially on sensitive sloping ground used for agricultural purposes or in floodplains, is a suitable measure for protecting soil even where it is affected by climate change.

Likewise, the loss or ploughing of grassland is to be viewed critically for reasons of protection from climate change in general. Whenever grassland is ploughed up, a considerable part of carbon stored in the soil is released to the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases. This applies especially to grassland on organic soils which are particularly rich in high proportions of organic matter. This makes the maintenance of grassland highly relevant also in terms of climate protection. Furthermore, grassland plays a major role in species protection, the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of soils and water bodies.

The total of Germany’s grassland areas decreased between 1991 and 2013 but has been increasing slightly since 2014. It can therefore be argued that the nationwide decline of grassland area was almost proportionate to the decline of agricultural land in Germany overall. Starting in 2014, the proportion of grassland in agricultural ground has been increasing again.

The data on the development of permanent grassland areas do not permit any specific statements on ecological weightings of the grassland areas lost. Ploughing took place generally at all grassland sites, i.e. even in locations with semi-arid and/or humid grassland areas of great conservation and ecological value. Ploughing activities on wet soils or moorland soils is therefore especially precarious in terms of climate protection.

Ever since 2015 the precept of permanent grassland conservation has been in force as part of the ‘Greening’ objective, which was intended to achieve positive effects for maintaining biodiversity as well as the protection of water, climate and soil in agricultural landscapes. Accordingly, the conversion of permanent grassland into arable land should in principle be allowed only with official authorisation and, depending on the site incline and age of the permanent grassland, this should only be tolerated on condition that new permanent grassland be created elsewhere. In areas governed by designations under the Habitats Directive (FFH areas), an even stricter ban on ploughing and conversion is in force for permanent grassland. It must be said, however, that newly created grasslands do not have the same significance in terms of climate protection or biodiversity in view of the fact that they are typically species-poor24.

24 BfN – Bundesamt für Naturschutz (Hrsg.) 2017: BfN-Agrarreport 2017 – Biologische Vielfalt in der Agrarlandschaft. Bonn-Bad Godesberg, 61 pp.
https://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/BfN/landwirtschaft/Dokumente/BfN-Agrar-Report_2017.pdf

 

Objectives

Promotion of site-adapted land use strategies (DAS, ch. 3.2.4)

Refraining from ploughing up grassland on slopes at risk from erosion, in floodplains, on sites with high groundwater levels and on moorland sites (BNatSchG, § 5 (2) 5)