Grasslands constitute 67% of global agricultural land (FAO, n.d.) and provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). Zhao et al. (2020), however, showed that ES research with a particular focus on grasslands is limited. Simultaneously, the importance of (semi-) permanent grasslands for livestock production is decreasing in regions such as northwest (NW) Europe and many other parts of the world. Particularly from the 1950s onwards, this has been fuelled by the intensifcation of beef and dairy production with a sharp increase in productivity levels. This development has been based on using increased amounts of arable crops for feed, like silage maize, and (purchased) concentrates like grains and soy, and the replacement of permanent grasslands by temporary grasslands.