Fig. 1

(a) Schematic overview of the grassland (Plot 1) to woodland (Plot 2) contrast with the contrast boundary, and grids 1 to 6. Soil sampling was performed in all grids, whereas site specific measurements (ANPP, infiltration, earth worms, HYPROP cores) were only conducted in grids 2 and 5. (b) Example of a field map showing the pre-determined randomized points, five of which were provided and three were selected in the field based on e.g. closeness to trees, slope, and other potentially confounding effects.