Grassland management, soil biota and ecosystem services in sandy soils

Summary

Recent legislative restrictions on the use of fertilizers and irrigation, and a quest for sustainable farming systems have drawn renewed attention to the functioning of the soil and the ecosystem services it provides. Soil biota play an important role in the provision of these ecosystem services, which may be influenced by grassland management. The two objectives of this thesis were 1) to gain insight into the effect of different grassland management measures on soil biota in sandy soils; and 2) to explore the effect of grassland management on the ecosystem services provided by soil biota.