TY - JOUR A1 - Scherber, Christoph A1 - Eisenhauer, Nico A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Schmid, Bernhard A1 - Voigt, Winfried A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Schukze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Roscher, Christiane A1 - Weigelt, Alexandra A1 - Allan, Eric A1 - Beßler, Holger A1 - Bonkowski, Michael A1 - Buchmann, Nina A1 - Buscot, François A1 - Clement, Lars W. A1 - Ebeling, Anne A1 - Engels, Christof A1 - Halle, Stefan A1 - Kertscher, Ilona A1 - Klein, Alexandra Maria A1 - Koller, Robert A1 - König, Stephan A1 - Kowalski, Esther A1 - Kummer, Volker A1 - Kuu, Annely A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Lauterbach, Dirk T1 - Bottom-up effects of plant diversity on multitrophic interactions in a biodiversity experiment Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7323/full/nature09492.html SN - 0028-0836 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stein, Claudia A1 - Unsicker, Sybille B. A1 - Kahmen, Ansgar A1 - Wagner, Markus A1 - Audorff, Volker A1 - Auge, Harald A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. T1 - Impact of invertebrate herbivory in grasslands depends on plant species diversity N2 - Invertebrate herbivores are ubiquitous in most terrestrial ecosystems, and theory predicts that their impact on plant community biomass should depend on diversity and productivity of the associated plant communities. To elucidate general patterns in the relationship between invertebrate herbivory, plant diversity, and productivity, we carried out a long-term herbivore exclusion experiment at multiple grassland sites in a mountainous landscape of central Germany. Over a period of five years, we used above-and belowground insecticides as well as a molluscicide to manipulate invertebrate herbivory at 14 grassland sites, covering a wide range of plant species diversity (13-38 species/m(2)) and aboveground plant productivity (272-1125 g.m(-2).yr(-1)), where plant species richness and productivity of the sites were not significantly correlated. Herbivore exclusion had significant effects on the plant communities: it decreased plant species richness and evenness, and it altered plant community composition. In particular, exclusion of belowground herbivores promoted grasses at the expense of herbs. In contrast to our expectation, herbivore effects on plant community biomass were not influenced by productivity. However, effect size of invertebrate herbivores was negatively correlated with plant diversity of the grasslands: the effect of herbivory on biomass tended to be negative at sites of high diversity and positive at sites of low diversity. In general, the effects of aboveground herbivores were relatively small as compared to belowground herbivores, which were important drivers of plant community composition. Our study is the first to show that variation in the effects of invertebrate herbivory on plant communities across a landscape is significantly influenced by plant species richness. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://esapubs.org/esapubs/journals/ecology.htm U6 - https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0600.1 SN - 0012-9658 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Bossdorf, Oliver A1 - Gockel, Sonja A1 - Haensel, Falk A1 - Hemp, Andreas A1 - Hessenmoeller, Dominik A1 - Korte, Gunnar A1 - Nieschulze, Jens A1 - Pfeiffer, Simone A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Renner, Swen A1 - Schoening, Ingo A1 - Schumacher, Uta A1 - Wells, Konstans A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Kalko, Elisabeth K. V. A1 - Linsenmair, Karl Eduard A1 - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. T1 - Implementing large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research : the biodiversity exploratories N2 - Functional biodiversity research explores drivers and functional consequences of biodiversity changes Land use change is a major driver of changes of biodiversity and of biogeochemical and biological ecosystem processes and services However, land use effects on genetic and species diversity are well documented only for a few taxa and trophic networks We hardly know how different components of biodiversity and their responses to land use change are interrelated and very little about the simultaneous, and interacting, effects of land use on multiple ecosystem processes and services Moreover, we do not know to what extent land use effects on ecosystem processes and services are mediated by biodiversity change Thus, overall goals are on the one hand to understand the effects of land use on biodiversity and on the other to understand the modifying role of biodiversity change for land-use effects on ecosystem processes, including biogeochemical cycles To comprehensively address these Important questions, we recently established a new large-scale and long-term project for functional biodiversity, the Biodiversity Exploratories (www biodiversity-exploratories de) They comprise a hierarchical set of standardized field plots in three different regions of Germany covering manifold management types and intensities in grasslands and forests They serve as a joint research platform for currently 40 projects involving over 300 people studying various aspects of the relationships between land use biodiversity and ecosystem processes through monitoring, comparative observation and experiments We introduce guiding questions, concept and design of the Biodiversity Exploratories - including main aspects of selection and implementation of field plots and project structure - and we discuss the significance of this approach for further functional biodiversity research This includes the crucial relevance of a common study design encompassing variation in both drivers and outcomes of biodiversity change and ecosystem processes, the interdisciplinary integration of biodiversity and ecosystem researchers, the training of a new generation of integrative biodiversity researchers, and the stimulation of functional biodiversity research in real landscape contexts, in Germany and elsewhere. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/14391791 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2010.07.009 SN - 1439-1791 ER -