Authors: Duflot, Remi; Pithon, Josephine A.;Aviron, Stéphanie;Alignier, Audrey;Beaujouan, Véronique;Burel, Françoise;Cochard, Arnaud;Ernoult, Aude;Pain, Guillaume;Daniel, Hervé;

Grasslands occupy large areas in agricultural and urban landscapes. Although considered to be species-rich habitats, the response of their biodiversity to landscape structure has been much less studied than for wooded habitats. Here we investigated multi-taxon responses of grassland biodiversity to landscape structure across a single region and compared these between agricultural and urban contexts. Plant, carabid, and bird communities were sampled along landscape gradients in agricultural and urban contexts, in western France. We looked at the influence of grassland connectivity and proximity with wooded habitats and private gardens on species richness and composition of overall communities and of functional groups. Results showed that species richness did not vary much according to landscape structure while species composition did, governed by ecological traits. Species and functional composition also differed between agricultural and urban contexts. Biodiversity of grasslands in both agricultural and urban contexts was primarily influenced by neighbouring wooded vegetation at different scales. In urban context, a high proportion of private gardens correlated with increased plant species richness and bird abundance in grasslands and influenced species composition. We conclude that grasslands located in differing landscape contexts offer diverse opportunities for biodiversity.