@article{EccardMendesFerreiraPeredoArceetal.2022, author = {Eccard, Jana and Mendes Ferreira, Clara and Peredo Arce, Andres and Dammhahn, Melanie}, title = {Top-down effects of foraging decisions on local, landscape and regional biodiversity of resources (DivGUD)}, series = {Ecology letters}, volume = {25}, journal = {Ecology letters}, number = {1}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Oxford [u.a.]}, issn = {1461-0248}, doi = {10.1111/ele.13901}, pages = {3 -- 16}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Foraging by consumers acts as a biotic filtering mechanism for biodiversity at the trophic level of resources. Variation in foraging behaviour has cascading effects on abundance, diversity, and functional trait composition of the community of resource species. Here we propose diversity at giving-up density (DivGUD), i.e. when foragers quit exploiting a patch, as a novel concept and simple measure quantifying cascading effects at multiple spatial scales. In experimental landscapes with an assemblage of plant seeds, patch residency of wild rodents decreased local alpha-DivGUD (via elevated mortality of species with large seeds) and regional gamma-DivGUD, while dissimilarity among patches in a landscape (beta-DivGUD) increased. By linking theories of adaptive foraging behaviour with community ecology, DivGUD allows to investigate cascading indirect predation effects, e.g. the ecology-of-fear framework, feedbacks between functional trait composition of resource species and consumer communities, and effects of inter-individual differences among foragers on the biodiversity of resource communities.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{MendesFerreira2023, author = {Mendes Ferreira, Clara}, title = {Indirect, tri-trophic effects of fear on biodiversity}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-61102}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-611020}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {119}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Predator-forager interactions are a major factor in evolutionary adaptation of many species, as predators need to gain energy by consuming prey species, and foragers needs to avoid the worst fate of mortality while still consuming resources for energetic gains. In this evolutionary arms race, the foragers have constantly evolved anti-predator behaviours (e.g. foraging activity changes). To describe all these complex changes, researchers developed the framework of the landscape of fear, that is, the spatio-temporal variation of perceived predation risk. This concept simplifies all the involved ecological processes into one framework, by integrating animal biology and distribution with habitat characteristics. Researchers can then evaluate the perception of predation risk in prey species, what are the behavioural responses of the prey and, therefore, understand the cascading effects of landscapes of fear at the resource levels (tri-trophic effects). Although tri-trophic effects are well studied at the predator-prey interaction level, little is known on how the forager-resource interactions are part of the overall cascading effects of landscapes of fear, despite the changes of forager feeding behaviour - that occur with perceived predation risk - affecting directly the level of the resources. This thesis aimed to evaluate the cascading effects of the landscape of fear on biodiversity of resources, and how the feeding behaviour and movement of foragers shaped the final resource species composition (potential coexistence mechanisms). We studied the changes caused by landscapes of fear on wild and captive rodent communities and evaluated: the cascading effects of different landscapes of fear on a tri-trophic system (I), the effects of fear on a forager's movement patterns and dietary preferences (II) and cascading effects of different types of predation risk (terrestrial versus avian, III). In Chapter I, we applied a novel measure to evaluate the cascading effects of fear at the level of resources, by quantifying the diversity of resources left after the foragers gave-up on foraging (diversity at the giving-up density). We tested the measure at different spatial levels (local and regional) and observed that with decreased perceived predation risk, the density and biodiversity of resources also decreased. Foragers left a very dissimilar community of resources based on perceived risk and resources functional traits, and therefore acted as an equalising mechanism. In Chapter II, we wanted to understand further the decision-making processes of rodents in different landscapes of fear, namely, in which resource species rodents decided to forage on (based on three functional traits: size, nutrients and shape) and how they moved depending on perceived predation risk. In safe landscapes, individuals increased their feeding activity and movements and despite the increased costs, they visited more often patches that were further away from their central-place. Despite a preference for the bigger resources regardless of risk, when perceived predation risk was low, individuals changed their preference to fat-rich resources. In Chapter III, we evaluated the cascading effects of two different types of predation risk in rodents: terrestrial (raccoon) versus avian predation risk. Raccoon presence or absence did not alter the rodents feeding behaviour in different landscapes of fear. Rodent's showed risk avoidance behaviours towards avian predators (spatial risk avoidance), but not towards raccoons (lack of temporal risk avoidance). By analysing the effects of fear in tri-trophic systems, we were able to deepen the knowledge of how non-consumptive effects of predators affect the behaviour of foragers, and quantitatively measure the cascading effects at the level of resources with a novel measure. Foragers are at the core of the ecological processes and responses to the landscape of fear, acting as variable coexistence agents for resource species depending on perceived predation risk. This newly found measures and knowledge can be applied to more trophic chains, and inform researchers on biodiversity patterns originating from landscapes of fear.}, language = {en} } @article{MooijTrolleJeppesenetal.2010, author = {Mooij, Wolf M. and Trolle, Dennis and Jeppesen, Erik and Arhonditsis, George B. and Belolipetsky, Pavel V. and Chitamwebwa, Deonatus B. R. and Degermendzhy, Andrey G. and DeAngelis, Donald L. and Domis, Lisette Nicole de Senerpont and Downing, Andrea S. and Elliott, J. Alex and Fragoso Jr, Carlos Ruberto and Gaedke, Ursula and Genova, Svetlana N. and Gulati, Ramesh D. and H{\aa}kanson, Lars and Hamilton, David P. and Hipsey, Matthew R. and 't Hoen, Jochem and H{\"u}lsmann, Stephan and Los, F. Hans and Makler-Pick, Vardit and Petzoldt, Thomas and Prokopkin, Igor G. and Rinke, Karsten and Schep, Sebastiaan A. and Tominaga, Koji and Van Dam, Anne A. and Van Nes, Egbert H. and Wells, Scott A. and Janse, Jan H.}, title = {Challenges and opportunities for integrating lake ecosystem modelling approaches}, series = {Aquatic ecology}, volume = {44}, journal = {Aquatic ecology}, publisher = {Springer Science + Business Media B.V.}, address = {Dordrecht}, issn = {1573-5125}, doi = {10.1007/s10452-010-9339-3}, pages = {633 -- 667}, year = {2010}, abstract = {A large number and wide variety of lake ecosystem models have been developed and published during the past four decades. We identify two challenges for making further progress in this field. One such challenge is to avoid developing more models largely following the concept of others ('reinventing the wheel'). The other challenge is to avoid focusing on only one type of model, while ignoring new and diverse approaches that have become available ('having tunnel vision'). In this paper, we aim at improving the awareness of existing models and knowledge of concurrent approaches in lake ecosystem modelling, without covering all possible model tools and avenues. First, we present a broad variety of modelling approaches. To illustrate these approaches, we give brief descriptions of rather arbitrarily selected sets of specific models. We deal with static models (steady state and regression models), complex dynamic models (CAEDYM, CE-QUAL-W2, Delft 3D-ECO, LakeMab, LakeWeb, MyLake, PCLake, PROTECH, SALMO), structurally dynamic models and minimal dynamic models. We also discuss a group of approaches that could all be classified as individual based: super-individual models (Piscator, Charisma), physiologically structured models, stage-structured models and traitbased models. We briefly mention genetic algorithms, neural networks, Kalman filters and fuzzy logic. Thereafter, we zoom in, as an in-depth example, on the multi-decadal development and application of the lake ecosystem model PCLake and related models (PCLake Metamodel, Lake Shira Model, IPH-TRIM3D-PCLake). In the discussion, we argue that while the historical development of each approach and model is understandable given its 'leading principle', there are many opportunities for combining approaches. We take the point of view that a single 'right' approach does not exist and should not be strived for. Instead, multiple modelling approaches, applied concurrently to a given problem, can help develop an integrative view on the functioning of lake ecosystems. We end with a set of specific recommendations that may be of help in the further development of lake ecosystem models.}, language = {en} } @misc{MooijTrolleJeppesenetal.2010, author = {Mooij, Wolf M. and Trolle, Dennis and Jeppesen, Erik and Arhonditsis, George B. and Belolipetsky, Pavel V. and Chitamwebwa, Deonatus B. R. and Degermendzhy, Andrey G. and DeAngelis, Donald L. and Domis, Lisette Nicole de Senerpont and Downing, Andrea S. and Elliott, J. Alex and Fragoso Jr., Carlos Ruberto and Gaedke, Ursula and Genova, Svetlana N. and Gulati, Ramesh D. and H{\aa}kanson, Lars and Hamilton, David P. and Hipsey, Matthew R. and 't Hoen, Jochem and H{\"u}lsmann, Stephan and Los, F. Hans and Makler-Pick, Vardit and Petzoldt, Thomas and Prokopkin, Igor G. and Rinke, Karsten and Schep, Sebastiaan A. and Tominaga, Koji and Van Dam, Anne A. and Van Nes, Egbert H. and Wells, Scott A. and Janse, Jan H.}, title = {Challenges and opportunities for integrating lake ecosystem modelling approaches}, series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {1326}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42983}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-429839}, pages = {35}, year = {2010}, abstract = {A large number and wide variety of lake ecosystem models have been developed and published during the past four decades. We identify two challenges for making further progress in this field. One such challenge is to avoid developing more models largely following the concept of others ('reinventing the wheel'). The other challenge is to avoid focusing on only one type of model, while ignoring new and diverse approaches that have become available ('having tunnel vision'). In this paper, we aim at improving the awareness of existing models and knowledge of concurrent approaches in lake ecosystem modelling, without covering all possible model tools and avenues. First, we present a broad variety of modelling approaches. To illustrate these approaches, we give brief descriptions of rather arbitrarily selected sets of specific models. We deal with static models (steady state and regression models), complex dynamic models (CAEDYM, CE-QUAL-W2, Delft 3D-ECO, LakeMab, LakeWeb, MyLake, PCLake, PROTECH, SALMO), structurally dynamic models and minimal dynamic models. We also discuss a group of approaches that could all be classified as individual based: super-individual models (Piscator, Charisma), physiologically structured models, stage-structured models and traitbased models. We briefly mention genetic algorithms, neural networks, Kalman filters and fuzzy logic. Thereafter, we zoom in, as an in-depth example, on the multi-decadal development and application of the lake ecosystem model PCLake and related models (PCLake Metamodel, Lake Shira Model, IPH-TRIM3D-PCLake). In the discussion, we argue that while the historical development of each approach and model is understandable given its 'leading principle', there are many opportunities for combining approaches. We take the point of view that a single 'right' approach does not exist and should not be strived for. Instead, multiple modelling approaches, applied concurrently to a given problem, can help develop an integrative view on the functioning of lake ecosystems. We end with a set of specific recommendations that may be of help in the further development of lake ecosystem models.}, language = {en} } @article{Eccard2022, author = {Eccard, Jana}, title = {Can rolling composite wildflower blocks increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes better than wildflowers strips?}, series = {Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society}, volume = {59}, journal = {Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society}, number = {5}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0021-8901}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2664.14147}, pages = {1172 -- 1177}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Biodiversity and abundance of wildlife has dramatically declined in agricultural landscapes. Sown, short-lived wildflower (WF) strips along the margins of crop fields are a widespread and often subsidised in agri-environmental schemes, intended to enhance biodiversity, provide refuges for wild plant and arthropod populations and to provide ecosystem services to crops. Meanwhile, WF elements are also criticised, since their functionality decreases with plant succession, the removal of aged WF strip poses an ecological trap for the attracted arthropod populations and only common and mobile species benefit. Further, insects in WF strips are impacted by pesticides from agricultural fields due to shared boundaries with crop fields and by edge effects. The performance of the measure could be improved by combining several WF strips of different successional stages, each harbouring a unique community of plants and arthropods, into persistent, composite WF block, where successional stages exist in parallel. Monitoring data on many taxa in the literature shows, that a third of species are temporarily present in an ageing WF stip, thus offering composite WF blocks should increase cumulative species richness by 28\%-39\% compared to annual richness in WF strips. Persistence of composite WF blocks would offer reliable refuge for animal and plant populations, also supporting their predators and herbivores. Further, WF blocks have less boundaries to crops compared to WF strips of the same area, and are less impacted by edge effects and pesticides. Policy implications. Here I suggest a change of conservation practice changing from successional WF strips to composite WF blocks. By regular removal and replacement of aged WF strips either within the block (rotational) or at its margins (rolling), the habitat heterogeneity in composite WF block could be perpetuated. Rolling composite WF blocks change locations over years, and the original location can be reconverted to arable land while a nearby WF block is still available to wildlife. A change in agricultural schemes would be necessary, since in some European countries clustered WF strips are explicitly not subsidised.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Guill2022, author = {Guill, Christian}, title = {Structure, stability and functioning of food webs}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-56115}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-561153}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {250}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In this thesis, a collection of studies is presented that advance research on complex food webs in several directions. Food webs, as the networks of predator-prey interactions in ecosystems, are responsible for distributing the resources every organism needs to stay alive. They are thus central to our understanding of the mechanisms that support biodiversity, which in the face of increasing severity of anthropogenic global change and accelerated species loss is of highest importance, not least for our own well-being. The studies in the first part of the thesis are concerned with general mechanisms that determine the structure and stability of food webs. It is shown how the allometric scaling of metabolic rates with the species' body masses supports their persistence in size-structured food webs (where predators are larger than their prey), and how this interacts with the adaptive adjustment of foraging efforts by consumer species to create stable food webs with a large number of coexisting species. The importance of the master trait body mass for structuring communities is further exemplified by demonstrating that the specific way the body masses of species engaging in empirically documented predator-prey interactions affect the predator's feeding rate dampens population oscillations, thereby helping both species to survive. In the first part of the thesis it is also shown that in order to understand certain phenomena of population dynamics, it may be necessary to not only take the interactions of a focal species with other species into account, but to also consider the internal structure of the population. This can refer for example to different abundances of age cohorts or developmental stages, or the way individuals of different age or stage interact with other species. Building on these general insights, the second part of the thesis is devoted to exploring the consequences of anthropogenic global change on the persistence of species. It is first shown that warming decreases diversity in size-structured food webs. This is due to starvation of large predators on higher trophic levels, which suffer from a mismatch between their respiration and ingestion rates when temperature increases. In host-parasitoid networks, which are not size-structured, warming does not have these negative effects, but eutrophication destabilises the systems by inducing detrimental population oscillations. In further studies, the effect of habitat change is addressed. On the level of individual patches, increasing isolation of habitat patches has a similar effect as warming, as it leads to decreasing diversity due to the extinction of predators on higher trophic levels. In this case it is caused by dispersal mortality of smaller and therefore less mobile species on lower trophic levels, meaning that an increasing fraction of their biomass production is lost to the inhospitable matrix surrounding the habitat patches as they become more isolated. It is further shown that increasing habitat isolation desynchronises population oscillations between the patches, which in itself helps species to persist by dampening fluctuations on the landscape level. However, this is counteracted by an increasing strength of local population oscillations fuelled by an indirect effect of dispersal mortality on the feeding interactions. Last, a study is presented that introduces a novel mechanism for supporting diversity in metacommunities. It builds on the self-organised formation of spatial biomass patterns in the landscape, which leads to the emergence of spatio-temporally varying selection pressures that keep local communities permanently out of equilibrium and force them to continuously adapt. Because this mechanism relies on the spatial extension of the metacommunity, it is also sensitive to habitat change. In the third part of the thesis, the consequences of biodiversity for the functioning of ecosystems are explored. The studies focus on standing stock biomass, biomass production, and trophic transfer efficiency as ecosystem functions. It is first shown that increasing the diversity of animal communities increases the total rate of intra-guild predation. However, the total biomass stock of the animal communities increases nevertheless, which also increases their exploitative pressure on the underlying plant communities. Despite this, the plant communities can maintain their standing stock biomass due to a shift of the body size spectra of both animal and plant communities towards larger species with a lower specific respiration rate. In another study it is further demonstrated that the generally positive relationship between diversity and the above mentioned ecosystem functions becomes steeper when not only the feeding interactions but also the numerous non-trophic interactions (like predator interference or competition for space) between the species of an ecosystem are taken into account. Finally, two studies are presented that demonstrate the power of functional diversity as explanatory variable. It is interpreted as the range spanned by functional traits of the species that determine their interactions. This approach allows to mechanistically understand how the ecosystem functioning of food webs with multiple trophic levels is affected by all parts of the food web and why a high functional diversity is required for efficient transportation of energy from primary producers to the top predators. The general discussion draws some synthesising conclusions, e.g. on the predictive power of ecosystem functioning to explain diversity, and provides an outlook on future research directions.}, language = {en} } @article{EstendorferStempfhuberHauryetal.2017, author = {Estendorfer, Jennifer and Stempfhuber, Barbara and Haury, Paula and Vestergaard, Gisle and Rillig, Matthias C. and Joshi, Jasmin Radha and Schr{\"o}der, Peter and Schloter, Michael}, title = {The Influence of Land Use Intensity on the Plant-Associated Microbiome of Dactylis glomerata L.}, series = {Frontiers in plant science}, volume = {8}, journal = {Frontiers in plant science}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-462X}, doi = {10.3389/fpls.2017.00930}, pages = {10}, year = {2017}, abstract = {In this study, we investigated the impact of different land use intensities (LUI) on the root-associated microbiome of Dactylis glomerata (orchardgrass). For this purpose, eight sampling sites with different land use intensity levels but comparable soil properties were selected in the southwest of Germany. Experimental plots covered land use levels from natural grassland up to intensively managed meadows. We used 16S rRNA gene based barcoding to assess the plant-associated community structure in the endosphere, rhizosphere and bulk soil of D. glomerata. Samples were taken at the reproductive stage of the plant in early summer. Our data indicated that roots harbor a distinct bacterial community, which clearly differed from the microbiome of the rhizosphere and bulk soil. Our results revealed Pseudomonadaceae, Enterobacteriaceae and Comamonadaceae as the most abundant endophytes independently of land use intensity. Rhizosphere and bulk soil were dominated also by Proteobacteria, but the most abundant families differed from those obtained from root samples. In the soil, the effect of land use intensity was more pronounced compared to root endophytes leading to a clearly distinct pattern of bacterial communities under different LUI from rhizosphere and bulk soil vs. endophytes. Overall, a change of community structure on the plant-soil interface was observed, as the number of shared OTUs between all three compartments investigated increased with decreasing land use intensity. Thus, our findings suggest a stronger interaction of the plant with its surrounding soil under low land use intensity. Furthermore, the amount and quality of available nitrogen was identified as a major driver for shifts in the microbiome structure in all compartments.}, language = {en} } @article{DarwallBremerichDeWeveretal.2018, author = {Darwall, William and Bremerich, Vanessa and De Wever, Aaike and Dell, Anthony I. and Freyhof, Joerg and Gessner, Mark O. and Grossart, Hans-Peter and Harrison, Ian and Irvine, Ken and J{\"a}hnig, Sonja C. and Jeschke, Jonathan M. and Lee, Jessica J. and Lu, Cai and Lewandowska, Aleksandra M. and Monaghan, Michael T. and Nejstgaard, Jens C. and Patricio, Harmony and Schmidt-Kloiber, Astrid and Stuart, Simon N. and Thieme, Michele and Tockner, Klement and Turak, Eren and Weyl, Olaf}, title = {The alliance for freshwater life}, series = {Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems}, volume = {28}, journal = {Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1052-7613}, doi = {10.1002/aqc.2958}, pages = {1015 -- 1022}, year = {2018}, abstract = {1. Global pressures on freshwater ecosystems are high and rising. Viewed primarily as a resource for humans, current practices of water use have led to catastrophic declines in freshwater species and the degradation of freshwater ecosystems, including their genetic and functional diversity. Approximately three-quarters of the world's inland wetlands have been lost, one-third of the 28 000 freshwater species assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List are threatened with extinction, and freshwater vertebrate populations are undergoing declines that are more rapid than those of terrestrial and marine species. This global loss continues unchecked, despite the importance of freshwater ecosystems as a source of clean water, food, livelihoods, recreation, and inspiration. 2. The causes of these declines include hydrological alterations, habitat degradation and loss, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and the multiple impacts of climate change. Although there are policy initiatives that aim to protect freshwater life, these are rarely implemented with sufficient conviction and enforcement. Policies that focus on the development and management of fresh waters as a resource for people almost universally neglect the biodiversity that they contain. 3. Here we introduce the Alliance for Freshwater Life, a global initiative, uniting specialists in research, data synthesis, conservation, education and outreach, and policymaking. This expert network aims to provide the critical mass required for the effective representation of freshwater biodiversity at policy meetings, to develop solutions balancing the needs of development and conservation, and to better convey the important role freshwater ecosystems play in human well-being. Through this united effort we hope to reverse this tide of loss and decline in freshwater biodiversity. We introduce several short- and medium-term actions as examples for making positive change, and invite individuals, organizations, authorities, and governments to join the Alliance for Freshwater Life.}, language = {en} } @article{BachmannHeimbachHassenruecketal.2018, author = {Bachmann, Jennifer and Heimbach, Tabea and Hassenr{\"u}ck, Christiane and Kopprio, German A. and Iversen, Morten Hvitfeldt and Grossart, Hans-Peter and G{\"a}rdes, Astrid}, title = {Environmental Drivers of Free-Living vs. Particle-Attached Bacterial Community Composition in the Mauritania Upwelling System}, series = {Frontiers in microbiology}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in microbiology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-302X}, doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2018.02836}, pages = {13}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Saharan dust input and seasonal upwelling along North-West Africa provide a model system for studying microbial processes related to the export and recycling of nutrients. This study offers the first molecular characterization of prokaryotic particle-attached (PA; > 3.0 mu m) and free-living (FL; 0.2-3.0 mu m) players in this important ecosystem during August 2016. Environmental drivers for alpha-diversity, bacterial community composition, and differences between FL and PA fractions were identified. The ultra-oligotrophic waters off Senegal were dominated by Cyanobacteria while higher relative abundances of Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Planctomycetes (known particle-degraders) occurred in the upwelling area. Temperature, proxy for different water masses, was the best predictor for changes in FL communities. PA community variation was best explained by temperature and ammonium. Bray Curtis dissimilarities between FL and PA were generally very high and correlated with temperature and salinity in surface waters. Greatest similarities between FL and PA occurred at the deep chlorophyll maximum, where bacterial substrate availability was likely highest. This indicates that environmental drivers do not only influence changes among FL and PA communities but also differences between them. This could provide an explanation for contradicting results obtained by different studies regarding the dissimilarity/similarity between FL and PA communities and their biogeochemical functions.}, language = {en} } @article{LozadaGobilardStangPirhoferWalzletal.2019, author = {Lozada Gobilard, Sissi Donna and Stang, Susanne and Pirhofer-Walzl, Karin and Kalettka, Thomas and Heinken, Thilo and Schr{\"o}der, Boris and Eccard, Jana and Joshi, Jasmin Radha}, title = {Environmental filtering predicts plant-community trait distribution and diversity}, series = {Ecology and evolution}, volume = {9}, journal = {Ecology and evolution}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {2045-7758}, doi = {10.1002/ece3.4883}, pages = {1898 -- 1910}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Meta-communities of habitat islands may be essential to maintain biodiversity in anthropogenic landscapes allowing rescue effects in local habitat patches. To understand the species-assembly mechanisms and dynamics of such ecosystems, it is important to test how local plant-community diversity and composition is affected by spatial isolation and hence by dispersal limitation and local environmental conditions acting as filters for local species sorting.We used a system of 46 small wetlands (kettle holes)natural small-scale freshwater habitats rarely considered in nature conservation policiesembedded in an intensively managed agricultural matrix in northern Germany. We compared two types of kettle holes with distinct topographies (flat-sloped, ephemeral, frequently plowed kettle holes vs. steep-sloped, more permanent ones) and determined 254 vascular plant species within these ecosystems, as well as plant functional traits and nearest neighbor distances to other kettle holes.Differences in alpha and beta diversity between steep permanent compared with ephemeral flat kettle holes were mainly explained by species sorting and niche processes and mass effect processes in ephemeral flat kettle holes. The plant-community composition as well as the community trait distribution in terms of life span, breeding system, dispersal ability, and longevity of seed banks significantly differed between the two habitat types. Flat ephemeral kettle holes held a higher percentage of non-perennial plants with a more persistent seed bank, less obligate outbreeders and more species with seed dispersal abilities via animal vectors compared with steep-sloped, more permanent kettle holes that had a higher percentage of wind-dispersed species. In the flat kettle holes, plant-species richness was negatively correlated with the degree of isolation, whereas no such pattern was found for the permanent kettle holes.Synthesis: Environment acts as filter shaping plant diversity (alpha and beta) and plant-community trait distribution between steep permanent compared with ephemeral flat kettle holes supporting species sorting and niche mechanisms as expected, but we identified a mass effect in ephemeral kettle holes only. Flat ephemeral kettle holes can be regarded as meta-ecosystems that strongly depend on seed dispersal and recruitment from a seed bank, whereas neighboring permanent kettle holes have a more stable local species diversity.}, language = {en} }