@article{KlausKleinebeckerHoelzeletal.2011,
  author    = {Klaus, Valentin H. and Kleinebecker, Till and Hoelzel, Norbert and Bluethgen, Nico and Boch, Steffen and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Socher, Stephanie A. and Prati, Daniel and Fischer, Markus},
  title     = {Nutrient concentrations and fibre contents of plant community biomass reflect species richness patterns along a broad range of land-use intensities among agricultural grasslands},
  series = {Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Jena},
  issn      = {1433-8319},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.ppees.2011.07.001},
  pages     = {287 -- 295},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {Understanding changes in biodiversity in agricultural landscapes in relation to land-use type and intensity is a major issue in current ecological research. In this context nutrient enrichment has been identified as a key mechanism inducing species loss in Central European grassland ecosystems. At the same time, insights into the linkage between agricultural land use and plant nutrient status are largely missing. So far, studies on the relationship between chemical composition of plant community biomass and biodiversity have mainly been restricted to wetlands and all these studies neglected the effects of land use. Therefore, we analyzed aboveground biomass of 145 grassland plots covering a gradient of land-use intensities in three regions across Germany. In particular, we explored relationships between vascular plant species richness and nutrient concentrations as well as fibre contents (neutral and acid detergent fibre and lignin) in the aboveground community biomass. We found the concentrations of several nutrients in the biomass to be closely linked to plant species richness and land use. Whereas phosphorus concentrations increased with land-use intensity and decreased with plant species richness, nitrogen and potassium concentrations showed less clear patterns. Fibre fractions were negatively related to nutrient concentrations in biomass, but hardly to land-use measures and species richness. Only high lignin contents were positively associated with species richness of grasslands. The N:P ratio was strongly positively related to species richness and even more so to the number of endangered plant species, indicating a higher persistence of endangered species under P (co-)limited conditions. Therefore, we stress the importance of low P supply for species-rich grasslands and suggest the N:P ratio in community biomass to be a useful proxy of the conservation value of agriculturally used grasslands.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KlossFischerDurka2011,
  author    = {Kloss, Lena and Fischer, Markus and Durka, Walter},
  title     = {Land-use effects on genetic structure of a common grassland herb a matter of scale},
  series = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Jena},
  issn      = {1439-1791},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.baae.2011.06.001},
  pages     = {440 -- 448},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {The most common management practices in European grasslands are grazing by livestock and mowing for silage and hay. Grazing and mowing differ in their potential effects on plant gene flow and resulting population genetic structure. After assessing its breeding system, we investigated the effect of land use on the population genetic structure in the common grassland plant Veronica chamaedrys using 63 study populations on meadows, mown pastures and pastures in three regions in Germany, the so-called Biodiversity Exploratories. We determined plant density and analysed the genetic diversity, differentiation and small-scale genetic structure using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The breeding system of V chamaedrys turned out as self-incompatible and outcrossing. Its genetic diversity did not differ among land-use types. This may be attributed to large population sizes and the strong dispersal ability of the species, which maintains genetically diverse populations not prone to genetic drift. Genetic differentiation among populations was low (overall F(ST) = 0.075) but significant among the three regions. Land use had only weak effects on population differentiation in only one region. However, land use affected small-scale genetic structure suggesting that gene flow within plots was more restricted on meadows than on mown and unmown pastures. Our study shows that land use influences genetic structure mainly at the small scale within populations, despite high gene flow.},
  language  = {en}
}