In the Southern Alps, the role of landscape context on meadows plant diversity was evaluated using a multimodel information theoretic approach and five competing hypotheses of landscape context factors: habitat quality (HQ), matrix quality (MQ), habitat change (HC), matrix quality change (MQC) and topography-environmental conditions (TEC). The hypotheses were measured at three spatial scales (125, 250 and 500 m) using land cover/use data of 1954, 1980 and 2003 derived from manual photo interpretation. Plant diversity was determined by Shannon diversity index and species richness in 102 sample sites located in extensively managed permanent meadows. The role of landscape context (single hypothesis), the most parsimonious set of landscape context predictors (multiple hypothesis approach) and its predictive ability of plant diversity were investigated. Results showed that matrix quality change at larger scale (500 m) was the most supported hypothesis explaining Shannon diversity index, while species richness responded mostly to topography-environmental conditions in the immediate surroundings (125 m). The most parsimonious set of landscape context predictors of Shannon diversity index included matrix quality, matrix quality change and topography-environmental conditions, while species richness was best explained by topography-environmental conditions and matrix quality change. The predictive ability achieved was satisfactory (R2 = 0.45 for Shannon diversity index and R2 = 0.39 for species richness). Findings underline the importance of landscape context to extensive permanent meadows plant diversity and provide an important step to integrate the role of landscape context in conservation planning of permanent meadows in the Southern Alps.