TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Lewinsohn, Thomas M.
A1  - Kahl, Tiemo
A1  - Grassein, Fabrice
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Birkhofer, Klaus
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Sikorski, Johannes
A1  - Wubet, Tesfaye
A1  - Arndt, Hartmut
A1  - Baumgartner, Vanessa
A1  - Blaser, Stefan
A1  - Blüthgen, Nico
A1  - Börschig, Carmen
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Diekötter, Tim
A1  - Jorge, Leonardo Re
A1  - Jung, Kirsten
A1  - Keyel, Alexander C.
A1  - Klein, Alexandra-Maria
A1  - Klemmer, Sandra
A1  - Krauss, Jochen
A1  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Overmann, Jörg
A1  - Pasalic, Esther
A1  - Penone, Caterina
A1  - Perovic, David J.
A1  - Purschke, Oliver
A1  - Schall, Peter
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Sonnemann, Ilja
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Tscharntke, Teja
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Venter, Paul Christiaan
A1  - Weiner, Christiane N.
A1  - Werner, Michael
A1  - Wolters, Volkmar
A1  - Wurst, Susanne
A1  - Westphal, Catrin
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Allan, Eric
T1  - Land-use intensification causes multitrophic homogenization of grassland communities
T2  - Nature : the international weekly journal of science
N2  - Land-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss(1,2). Alongside reductions in local species diversity, biotic homogenization at larger spatial scales is of great concern for conservation. Biotic homogenization means a decrease in beta-diversity (the compositional dissimilarity between sites). Most studies have investigated losses in local (alpha)-diversity(1,3) and neglected biodiversity loss at larger spatial scales. Studies addressing beta-diversity have focused on single or a few organism groups (for example, ref. 4), and it is thus unknown whether land-use intensification homogenizes communities at different trophic levels, above-and belowground. Here we show that even moderate increases in local land-use intensity (LUI) cause biotic homogenization across microbial, plant and animal groups, both above- and belowground, and that this is largely independent of changes in alpha-diversity. We analysed a unique grassland biodiversity dataset, with abundances of more than 4,000 species belonging to 12 trophic groups. LUI, and, in particular, high mowing intensity, had consistent effects on beta-diversity across groups, causing a homogenization of soil microbial, fungal pathogen, plant and arthropod communities. These effects were nonlinear and the strongest declines in beta-diversity occurred in the transition from extensively managed to intermediate intensity grassland. LUI tended to reduce local alpha-diversity in aboveground groups, whereas the alpha-diversity increased in belowground groups. Correlations between the alpha-diversity of different groups, particularly between plants and their consumers, became weaker at high LUI. This suggests a loss of specialist species and is further evidence for biotic homogenization. The consistently negative effects of LUI on landscape-scale biodiversity underscore the high value of extensively managed grasslands for conserving multitrophic biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Indeed, biotic homogenization rather than local diversity loss could prove to be the most substantial consequence of land-use intensification.
Y1  - 2016
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/44654
SN  - 0028-0836
SN  - 1476-4687
VL  - 540
SP  - 266
EP  - +
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  -