TY  - JOUR
A1  - Simons, Nadja K.
A1  - Lewinsohn, Thomas
A1  - Bluethgen, Nico
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Daniel, Rolf
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Jung, Kirsten
A1  - Kaiser, Kristin
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Sonnemann, Ilja
A1  - Weiner, Christiane N.
A1  - Werner, Michael
A1  - Wubet, Tesfaye
A1  - Wurst, Susanne
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
T1  - Contrasting effects of grassland management modes on species-abundance distributions of multiple groups
JF  - Agriculture, ecosystems & environment : an international journal for scientific research on the relationship of agriculture and food production to the biosphere
N2  - Intensive land use is a major cause of biodiversity loss, but most studies comparing the response of multiple taxa rely on simple diversity measures while analyses of other community attributes are only recently gaining attention. Species-abundance distributions (SADs) are a community attribute that can be used to study changes in the overall abundance structure of species groups, and whether these changes are driven by abundant or rare species. We evaluated the effect of grassland management intensity for three land-use modes (fertilization, mowing, grazing) and their combination on species richness and SADs for three belowground (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, prokaryotes and insect larvae) and seven aboveground groups (vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens; arthropod herbivores; arthropod pollinators; bats and birds). Three descriptors of SADs were evaluated: general shape (abundance decay rate), proportion of rare species (rarity) and proportional abundance of the commonest species (dominance). Across groups, taxonomic richness was largely unaffected by land-use intensity and only decreased with increasing mowing intensity. Of the three SAD descriptors, abundance decay rate became steeper with increasing combined land-use intensity across groups. This reflected a decrease in rarity among plants, herbivores and vertebrates. Effects of fertilization on the three descriptors were similar to the combined land-use intensity effects. Mowing intensity only affected the SAD descriptors of insect larvae and vertebrates, while grazing intensity produced a range of effects on different descriptors in distinct groups. Overall, belowground groups had more even abundance distribtitions than aboveground groups. Strong differences among aboveground groups and between above- and belowground groups indicate that no single taxonomic group can serve as an indicator for effects in other groups. In the past, the use of SADs has been hampered by concerns over theoretical models underlying specific forms of SADs. Our study shows that SAD descriptors that are not connected to a particular model are suitable to assess the effect of land use on community structure.
KW  - Biodiversity
KW  - Cutting frequency
KW  - Management intensity
KW  - Rank-abundance
KW  - Species loss
KW  - Rarity
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.12.022
SN  - 0167-8809
SN  - 1873-2305
VL  - 237
SP  - 143
EP  - 153
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Low-intensity management promotes bryophyte diversity in grasslands
JF  - Tuexenia : Mitteilungen der Floristisch-Soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft
N2  - Bryophytes constitute an important and permanent component of the grassland flora and diversity in Europe. As most bryophyte species are sensitive to habitat change, their diversity is likely to decline following land-use intensification. Most previous studies on bryophyte diversity focused on specific habitats of high bryophyte diversity, such as bogs, montane grasslands, or calcareous dry grasslands. In contrast, mesic grasslands are rarely studied, although they are the most common grassland habitat in Europe. They are secondary vegetation, maintained by agricultural use and thus, are influenced by different forms of land use. We studied bryophyte species richness in three regions in Germany, in 707 plots of 16 m(2) representing different land-use types and environmental conditions. Our study is one of the few to inspect the relationships between bryophyte richness and land use across contrasting regions and using a high number of replicates. Among the managed grasslands, pastures harboured 2.5 times more bryophyte species than meadows and mown pastures. Similarly, bryophyte cover was about twice as high in fallows and pastures than in meadows and mown pastures. Among the pastures, bryophyte species richness was about three times higher in sheep grazed plots than in the ones grazed by cattle or horses. In general, bryophyte species richness and cover was more than 50% lower in fertilized than in unfertilized plots. Moreover, the amount of suitable substrates was linked to bryophyte diversity. Species richness of bryophytes growing on stones increased with stone cover, and the one of bryophytes growing on bark and deadwood increased with larger values of woody plant species and deadwood cover. Our findings highlight the importance of low-intensity land use and high structural heterogeneity for bryophyte conservation. They also caution against an intensification of traditionally managed pastures. In the light of our results, we recommend to maintain low-intensity sheep grazing on sites with low productivity, such as slopes on shallow soils.
T2  - Extensive Landnutzung fördert die Moosdiversität im Grünland
KW  - biodiversity exploratories
KW  - competition
KW  - dry and mesic grasslands
KW  - grazing
KW  - fertilization
KW  - land use
KW  - liverwort
KW  - meadow
KW  - moss
KW  - pasture
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.14471/2018.38.014
SN  - 0722-494X
IS  - 38
SP  - 311
EP  - 328
PB  - Floristisch-Soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dengler, Jürgen
A1  - Wagner, Viktoria
A1  - Dembicz, Iwona
A1  - Garcia-Mijangos, Itziar
A1  - Naqinezhad, Alireza
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Chiarucci, Alessandro
A1  - Conradi, Timo
A1  - Filibeck, Goffredo
A1  - Guarino, Riccardo
A1  - Janisova, Monika
A1  - Steinbauer, Manuel J.
A1  - Acic, Svetlana
A1  - Acosta, Alicia T. R.
A1  - Akasaka, Munemitsu
A1  - Allers, Marc-Andre
A1  - Apostolova, Iva
A1  - Axmanova, Irena
A1  - Bakan, Branko
A1  - Baranova, Alina
A1  - Bardy-Durchhalter, Manfred
A1  - Bartha, Sandor
A1  - Baumann, Esther
A1  - Becker, Thomas
A1  - Becker, Ute
A1  - Belonovskaya, Elena
A1  - Bengtsson, Karin
A1  - Benito Alonso, Jose Luis
A1  - Berastegi, Asun
A1  - Bergamini, Ariel
A1  - Bonini, Ilaria
A1  - Bruun, Hans Henrik
A1  - Budzhak, Vasyl
A1  - Bueno, Alvaro
A1  - Antonio Campos, Juan
A1  - Cancellieri, Laura
A1  - Carboni, Marta
A1  - Chocarro, Cristina
A1  - Conti, Luisa
A1  - Czarniecka-Wiera, Marta
A1  - De Frenne, Pieter
A1  - Deak, Balazs
A1  - Didukh, Yakiv P.
A1  - Diekmann, Martin
A1  - Dolnik, Christian
A1  - Dupre, Cecilia
A1  - Ecker, Klaus
A1  - Ermakov, Nikolai
A1  - Erschbamer, Brigitta
A1  - Escudero, Adrian
A1  - Etayo, Javier
A1  - Fajmonova, Zuzana
A1  - Felde, Vivian A.
A1  - Fernandez Calzado, Maria Rosa
A1  - Finckh, Manfred
A1  - Fotiadis, Georgios
A1  - Fracchiolla, Mariano
A1  - Ganeva, Anna
A1  - Garcia-Magro, Daniel
A1  - Gavilan, Rosario G.
A1  - Germany, Markus
A1  - Giladi, Itamar
A1  - Gillet, Francois
A1  - Giusso del Galdo, Gian Pietro
A1  - Gonzalez, Jose M.
A1  - Grytnes, John-Arvid
A1  - Hajek, Michal
A1  - Hajkova, Petra
A1  - Helm, Aveliina
A1  - Herrera, Mercedes
A1  - Hettenbergerova, Eva
A1  - Hobohm, Carsten
A1  - Huellbusch, Elisabeth M.
A1  - Ingerpuu, Nele
A1  - Jandt, Ute
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
A1  - Jensen, Kai
A1  - Jentsch, Anke
A1  - Jeschke, Michael
A1  - Jimenez-Alfaro, Borja
A1  - Kacki, Zygmunt
A1  - Kakinuma, Kaoru
A1  - Kapfer, Jutta
A1  - Kavgaci, Ali
A1  - Kelemen, Andras
A1  - Kiehl, Kathrin
A1  - Koyama, Asuka
A1  - Koyanagi, Tomoyo F.
A1  - Kozub, Lukasz
A1  - Kuzemko, Anna
A1  - Kyrkjeeide, Magni Olsen
A1  - Landi, Sara
A1  - Langer, Nancy
A1  - Lastrucci, Lorenzo
A1  - Lazzaro, Lorenzo
A1  - Lelli, Chiara
A1  - Leps, Jan
A1  - Loebel, Swantje
A1  - Luzuriaga, Arantzazu L.
A1  - Maccherini, Simona
A1  - Magnes, Martin
A1  - Malicki, Marek
A1  - Marceno, Corrado
A1  - Mardari, Constantin
A1  - Mauchamp, Leslie
A1  - May, Felix
A1  - Michelsen, Ottar
A1  - Mesa, Joaquin Molero
A1  - Molnar, Zsolt
A1  - Moysiyenko, Ivan Y.
A1  - Nakaga, Yuko K.
A1  - Natcheva, Rayna
A1  - Noroozi, Jalil
A1  - Pakeman, Robin J.
A1  - Palpurina, Salza
A1  - Partel, Meelis
A1  - Paetsch, Ricarda
A1  - Pauli, Harald
A1  - Pedashenko, Hristo
A1  - Peet, Robert K.
A1  - Pielech, Remigiusz
A1  - Pipenbaher, Natasa
A1  - Pirini, Chrisoula
A1  - Pleskova, Zuzana
A1  - Polyakova, Mariya A.
A1  - Prentice, Honor C.
A1  - Reinecke, Jennifer
A1  - Reitalu, Triin
A1  - Pilar Rodriguez-Rojo, Maria
A1  - Rolecek, Jan
A1  - Ronkin, Vladimir
A1  - Rosati, Leonardo
A1  - Rosen, Ejvind
A1  - Ruprecht, Eszter
A1  - Rusina, Solvita
A1  - Sabovljevic, Marko
A1  - Maria Sanchez, Ana
A1  - Savchenko, Galina
A1  - Schuhmacher, Oliver
A1  - Skornik, Sonja
A1  - Sperandii, Marta Gaia
A1  - Staniaszek-Kik, Monika
A1  - Stevanovic-Dajic, Zora
A1  - Stock, Marin
A1  - Suchrow, Sigrid
A1  - Sutcliffe, Laura M. E.
A1  - Swacha, Grzegorz
A1  - Sykes, Martin
A1  - Szabo, Anna
A1  - Talebi, Amir
A1  - Tanase, Catalin
A1  - Terzi, Massimo
A1  - Tolgyesi, Csaba
A1  - Torca, Marta
A1  - Torok, Peter
A1  - Tothmeresz, Bela
A1  - Tsarevskaya, Nadezda
A1  - Tsiripidis, Ioannis
A1  - Tzonev, Rossen
A1  - Ushimaru, Atushi
A1  - Valko, Orsolya
A1  - van der Maarel, Eddy
A1  - Vanneste, Thomas
A1  - Vashenyak, Iuliia
A1  - Vassilev, Kiril
A1  - Viciani, Daniele
A1  - Villar, Luis
A1  - Virtanen, Risto
A1  - Kosic, Ivana Vitasovic
A1  - Wang, Yun
A1  - Weiser, Frank
A1  - Went, Julia
A1  - Wesche, Karsten
A1  - White, Hannah
A1  - Winkler, Manuela
A1  - Zaniewski, Piotr T.
A1  - Zhang, Hui
A1  - Ziv, Yaron
A1  - Znamenskiy, Sergey
A1  - Biurrun, Idoia
T1  - GrassPlot - a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands
JF  - Phytocoenologia
N2  - GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (releves) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001;... 1,000 m(2)) and on nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes. The usage of GrassPlot is regulated through Bylaws that intend to balance the interests of data contributors and data users. The current version (v. 1.00) contains data for approximately 170,000 plots of different sizes and 2,800 nested-plot series. The key components are richness data and metadata. However, most included datasets also encompass compositional data. About 14,000 plots have near-complete records of terricolous bryophytes and lichens in addition to vascular plants. At present, GrassPlot contains data from 36 countries throughout the Palaearctic, spread across elevational gradients and major grassland types. GrassPlot with its multi-scale and multi-taxon focus complements the larger international vegetationplot databases, such as the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database " sPlot". Its main aim is to facilitate studies on the scale-and taxon-dependency of biodiversity patterns and drivers along macroecological gradients. GrassPlot is a dynamic database and will expand through new data collection coordinated by the elected Governing Board. We invite researchers with suitable data to join GrassPlot. Researchers with project ideas addressable with GrassPlot data are welcome to submit proposals to the Governing Board.
KW  - biodiversity
KW  - European Vegetation Archive (EVA)
KW  - Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG)
KW  - grassland vegetation
KW  - GrassPlot
KW  - macroecology
KW  - multi-taxon
KW  - nested plot
KW  - scale-dependence
KW  - species-area relationship (SAR)
KW  - sPlot
KW  - vegetation-plot database
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1127/phyto/2018/0267
SN  - 0340-269X
VL  - 48
IS  - 3
SP  - 331
EP  - 347
PB  - Cramer
CY  - Stuttgart
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schall, Peter
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Heinrichs, Steffi
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Jung, Kirsten
A1  - Baumgartner, Vanessa
A1  - Blaser, Stefan
A1  - Böhm, Stefan
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Daniel, Rolf
A1  - Goldmann, Kezia
A1  - Kaiser, Kristin
A1  - Kahl, Tiemo
A1  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Müller, Jörg Hans
A1  - Overmann, Jörg
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef
A1  - Sikorski, Johannes
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Wemheuer, Bernd
A1  - Wubet, Tesfaye
A1  - Ammer, Christian
T1  - The impact of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on regional biodiversity of multiple taxa in European beech forests
JF  - Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society
N2  - 1. For managed temperate forests, conservationists and policymakers favour fine-grained uneven-aged (UEA) management over more traditional coarse-grained even-aged (EA) management, based on the assumption that within-stand habitat heterogeneity enhances biodiversity. There is, however, little empirical evidence to support this assumption. We investigated for the first time how differently grained forest management systems affect the biodiversity of multiple above- and below-ground taxa across spatial scales. 2. We sampled 15 taxa of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria within the largest contiguous beech forest landscape of Germany and classified them into functional groups. Selected forest stands have been managed for more than a century at different spatial grains. The EA (coarse-grained management) and UEA (fine-grained) forests are comparable in spatial arrangement, climate and soil conditions. These were compared to forests of a nearby national park that have been unmanaged for at least 20years. We used diversity accumulation curves to compare -diversity for Hill numbers D-0 (species richness), D-1 (Shannon diversity) and D-2 (Simpson diversity) between the management systems. Beta diversity was quantified as multiple-site dissimilarity. 3. Gamma diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for at least one of the three Hill numbers for six taxa (up to 77%), while eight showed no difference. Only bacteria showed the opposite pattern. Higher -diversity in EA forests was also found for forest specialists and saproxylic beetles. 4. Between-stand -diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for one-third (all species) and half (forest specialists) of all taxa, driven by environmental heterogeneity between age-classes, while -diversity showed no directional response across taxa or for forest specialists. 5. Synthesis and applications. Comparing EA and uneven-aged forest management in Central European beech forests, our results show that a mosaic of different age-classes is more important for regional biodiversity than high within-stand heterogeneity. We suggest reconsidering the current trend of replacing even-aged management in temperate forests. Instead, the variability of stages and stand structures should be increased to promote landscape-scale biodiversity.
KW  - beta diversity
KW  - forest specialists
KW  - gamma diversity
KW  - heterogeneity
KW  - Hill numbers
KW  - saproxylic beetles
KW  - spatial grain
KW  - species accumulation curve
KW  - species richness
KW  - species turnover
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12950
SN  - 0021-8901
SN  - 1365-2664
VL  - 55
IS  - 1
SP  - 267
EP  - 278
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Busch, Verena
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Penone, Caterina
A1  - Schäfer, Deborah
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Niinemets, Ülo
A1  - Penuelas, Josep
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
T1  - Nutrient stoichiometry and land use rather than species richness determine plant functional diversity
JF  - Ecology and evolution
N2  - Plant functional traits reflect individual and community ecological strategies. They allow the detection of directional changes in community dynamics and ecosystemic processes, being an additional tool to assess biodiversity than species richness. Analysis of functional patterns in plant communities provides mechanistic insight into biodiversity alterations due to anthropogenic activity. Although studies have consi-dered of either anthropogenic management or nutrient availability on functional traits in temperate grasslands, studies combining effects of both drivers are scarce. Here, we assessed the impacts of management intensity (fertilization, mowing, grazing), nutrient stoichiometry (C, N, P, K), and vegetation composition on community-weighted means (CWMs) and functional diversity (Rao's Q) from seven plant traits in 150 grasslands in three regions in Germany, using data of 6 years. Land use and nutrient stoichiometry accounted for larger proportions of model variance of CWM and Rao's Q than species richness and productivity. Grazing affected all analyzed trait groups; fertilization and mowing only impacted generative traits. Grazing was clearly associated with nutrient retention strategies, that is, investing in durable structures and production of fewer, less variable seed. Phenological variability was increased. Fertilization and mowing decreased seed number/mass variability, indicating competition-related effects. Impacts of nutrient stoichiometry on trait syndromes varied. Nutrient limitation (large N:P, C:N ratios) promoted species with conservative strategies, that is, investment in durable plant structures rather than fast growth, fewer seed, and delayed flowering onset. In contrast to seed mass, leaf-economics variability was reduced under P shortage. Species diversity was positively associated with the variability of generative traits. Synthesis. Here, land use, nutrient availability, species richness, and plant functional strategies have been shown to interact complexly, driving community composition, and vegetation responses to management intensity. We suggest that deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms shaping community assembly and biodiversity will require analyzing all these parameters.
KW  - biodiversity exploratories
KW  - fertilization
KW  - leaf economics
KW  - mowing
KW  - nutrient availability
KW  - nutrient ratios
KW  - phosphorus
KW  - plant functional traits
KW  - plant strategies
KW  - seed mass
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3609
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
SP  - 601
EP  - 616
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sorkau, Elisabeth
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Boeddinghaus, Runa S.
A1  - Bonkowski, Michael
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Kandeler, Ellen
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Marhan, Sven
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Schoening, Ingo
A1  - Schrumpf, Marion
A1  - Weinert, Jan
A1  - Oelmann, Yvonne
T1  - The role of soil chemical properties, land use and plant diversity for microbial phosphorus in forest and grassland soils
JF  - Journal of plant nutrition and soil science = Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde
N2  - Management intensity modifies soil properties, e.g., organic carbon (C-org) concentrations and soil pH with potential feedbacks on plant diversity. These changes might influence microbial P concentrations (P-mic) in soil representing an important component of the Pcycle. Our objectives were to elucidate whether abiotic and biotic variables controlling P-mic concentrations in soil are the same for forests and grasslands, and to assess the effect of region and management on P-mic concentrations in forest and grassland soils as mediated by the controlling variables. In three regions of Germany, Schwabische Alb, Hanich-Dun, and Schorfheide-Chorin, we studied forest and grassland plots (each n=150) differing in plant diversity and land-use intensity. In contrast to controls of microbial biomass carbon (C-mic), P-mic was strongly influenced by soil pH, which in turn affected phosphorus (P) availability and thus microbial Puptake in forest and grassland soils. Furthermore, P-mic concentrations in forest and grassland soils increased with increasing plant diversity. Using structural equation models, we could show that soil C-org is the profound driver of plant diversity effects on P-mic in grasslands. For both forest and grassland, we found regional differences in P-mic attributable to differing environmental conditions (pH, soil moisture). Forest management and tree species showed no effect on P-mic due to a lack of effects on controlling variables (e.g., C-org). We also did not find management effects in grassland soils which might be caused by either compensation of differently directed effects across sites or by legacy effects of former fertilization constraining the relevance of actual practices. We conclude that variables controlling P-mic or C-mic in soil differ in part and that regional differences in controlling variables are more important for P-mic in soil than those induced by management.
KW  - age class forest
KW  - land-use intensity
KW  - meadow
KW  - microbes
KW  - pasture
KW  - unmanaged forest
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201700082
SN  - 1436-8730
SN  - 1522-2624
VL  - 181
IS  - 2
SP  - 185
EP  - 197
PB  - Wiley-VCH
CY  - Weinheim
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Penone, Caterina
A1  - Allan, Eric
A1  - Soliveres, Santiago
A1  - Felipe-Lucia, Maria R.
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Seibold, Sebastian
A1  - Simons, Nadja K.
A1  - Schall, Peter
A1  - van der Plas, Fons
A1  - Manning, Peter
A1  - Manzanedo, Ruben D.
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Ammer, Christian
A1  - Bauhus, Juergen
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Ehbrecht, Martin
A1  - Goldmann, Kezia
A1  - Jung, Kirsten
A1  - Mueller, Joerg
A1  - Mueller, Joerg C.
A1  - Pena, Rodica
A1  - Polle, Andrea
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Ruess, Liliane
A1  - Schoenig, Ingo
A1  - Schrumpf, Marion
A1  - Solly, Emily F.
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Wubet, Tesfaye
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Specialisation and diversity of multiple trophic groups are promoted by different forest features
JF  - Ecology letters
N2  - While forest management strongly influences biodiversity, it remains unclear how the structural and compositional changes caused by management affect different community dimensions (e.g. richness, specialisation, abundance or completeness) and how this differs between taxa. We assessed the effects of nine forest features (representing stand structure, heterogeneity and tree composition) on thirteen above- and belowground trophic groups of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria in 150 temperate forest plots differing in their management type. Canopy cover decreased light resources, which increased community specialisation but reduced overall diversity and abundance. Features increasing resource types and diversifying microhabitats (admixing of oaks and conifers) were important and mostly affected richness. Belowground groups responded differently to those aboveground and had weaker responses to most forest features. Our results show that we need to consider forest features rather than broad management types and highlight the importance of considering several groups and community dimensions to better inform conservation.
KW  - biodiversity exploratories
KW  - dark diversity
KW  - forest management
KW  - global change
KW  - land-use
KW  - multidiversity
KW  - specialisation
KW  - temperate forests
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13182
SN  - 1461-023X
SN  - 1461-0248
VL  - 22
IS  - 1
SP  - 170
EP  - 180
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinrichs, Steffi
A1  - Ammer, Christian
A1  - Mund, Martina
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Budde, Sabine
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Mueller, Joerg
A1  - Schoening, Ingo
A1  - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef
A1  - Schmidt, Wolfgang
A1  - Weckesser, Martin
A1  - Schall, Peter
T1  - Landscape-Scale Mixtures of Tree Species are More Effective than Stand-Scale Mixtures for Biodiversity of Vascular Plants, Bryophytes and Lichens
JF  - Forests
N2  - Tree species diversity can positively affect the multifunctionality of forests. This is why conifer monocultures of Scots pine and Norway spruce, widely promoted in Central Europe since the 18th and 19th century, are currently converted into mixed stands with naturally dominant European beech. Biodiversity is expected to benefit from these mixtures compared to pure conifer stands due to increased abiotic and biotic resource heterogeneity. Evidence for this assumption is, however, largely lacking. Here, we investigated the diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens at the plot (alpha diversity) and at the landscape (gamma diversity) level in pure and mixed stands of European beech and conifer species (Scots pine, Norway spruce, Douglas fir) in four regions in Germany. We aimed to identify compositions of pure and mixed stands in a hypothetical forest landscape that can optimize gamma diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens within regions. Results show that gamma diversity of the investigated groups is highest when a landscape comprises different pure stands rather than tree species mixtures at the stand scale. Species mainly associated with conifers rely on light regimes that are only provided in pure conifer forests, whereas mixtures of beech and conifers are more similar to beech stands. Combining pure beech and pure conifer stands at the landscape scale can increase landscape level biodiversity and conserve species assemblages of both stand types, while landscapes solely composed of stand scale tree species mixtures could lead to a biodiversity reduction of a combination of investigated groups of 7 up to 20%.
KW  - Fagus sylvatica
KW  - Pinus sylvestris
KW  - Picea abies
KW  - Pseudotsuga menziesii
KW  - forest management
KW  - tree species diversity
KW  - forest conversion
KW  - gamma diversity
KW  - landscape scale
KW  - Biodiversity Exploratories
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/f10010073
SN  - 1999-4907
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Pommer, Ulf
A1  - Hessenmöller, Dominik
A1  - Schall, Peter
A1  - Schulze, Ernst Detlef
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Effects of forest management on bryophyte species richness in Central European forests
JF  - Forest ecology and management
N2  - We studied the effect of three major forest management types (unmanaged beech, selection beech, and age class forests) and stand variables (SMId, soil pH, proportion of conifers, litter cover, deadwood cover, rock cover and cumulative cover of woody trees and shrubs) on bryophyte species richness in 1050 forest plots in three regions in Germany. In addition, we analysed the species richness of four ecological guilds of bryophytes according to their colonized substrates (deadwood, rock, soil, bark) and the number of woodland indicator bryophyte species. Beech selection forests turned out to be the most species rich management type, whereas unmanaged beech forests revealed even lower species numbers than age-class forests. Increasing conifer proportion increased bryophyte species richness but not the number of woodland indicator bryophyte species. The richness of the four ecological guilds mainly responded to the abundance of their respective substrate. We conclude that the permanent availability of suitable substrates is most important for bryophyte species richness in forests, which is not stringently linked to management type. Therefore, managed age-class forests and selection forests may even exceed unmanaged forests in bryophyte species richness due to higher substrate supply and therefore represent important habitats for bryophytes. Typical woodland indicator bryophytes and their species richness were negatively affected by SMId (management intensity) and therefore better indicate forest integrity than the species richness of all bryophytes. Nature conservation efforts should focus on the reduction of management intensity. Moreover, maintaining and increasing a variability of substrates and habitats, such as coarse woody debris, increasing structural heterogeneity by retaining patches with groups of old, mature to over-mature trees in managed forests, maintaining forest climate conditions by silvicultural methods that assure stand continuity, e.g. by selection cutting rather than clear cutting and shelterwood logging might promote bryophyte diversity and in particular the one of woodland indicator bryophytes.
KW  - Beech forests
KW  - Conifer plantations
KW  - Cryptogams
KW  - Ecological guilds
KW  - Forest management
KW  - Temperate forests
KW  - Selection vs. age-class forests
KW  - Unmanaged vs. managed forests
KW  - Woodland indicator species
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.019
SN  - 0378-1127
SN  - 1872-7042
VL  - 432
SP  - 850
EP  - 859
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Busch, Verena
A1  - Klaus, Valentin Helmut
A1  - Schaefer, Deborah
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Chiste, Melanie
A1  - Mody, Karsten
A1  - Blüthgen, Nico
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
T1  - Will I stay or will I go? Plant species-specific response and tolerance to high land-use intensity in temperate grassland ecosystems
JF  - Journal of vegetation science
KW  - community composition
KW  - ecological strategies
KW  - Ellenberg indicator values
KW  - land-use intensity niche
KW  - plant functional traits
KW  - species-specific niche breadth
KW  - species-specific niche optima
KW  - temperate grasslands
KW  - vegetation dynamics
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12749
SN  - 1100-9233
SN  - 1654-1103
VL  - 30
IS  - 4
SP  - 674
EP  - 686
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -