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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Näther, Astrid A1 - Fösel, Bärbel U. A1 - Nägele, Verena A1 - Wüst, Pia K. A1 - Weinert, Jan A1 - Bonkowski, Michael A1 - Alt, Fabian A1 - Oelmann, Yvonne A1 - Polle, Andrea A1 - Lohaus, Gertrud A1 - Gockel, Sonja A1 - Hemp, Andreas A1 - Kalko, Elisabeth K. V. A1 - Linsenmair, Karl Eduard A1 - Pfeiffer, Simone A1 - Renner, Swen A1 - Schöning, Ingo A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Wells, Konstans A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Overmann, Jörg A1 - Friedrich, Michael W. T1 - Environmental factors affect acidobacterial communities below the subgroup level in Grassland and Forest Soils JF - Applied and environmental microbiology N2 - In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are physiologically active in situ. However, their individual functions and interactions with higher taxa in soil are still unknown. Here, potential effects of land use, soil properties, plant diversity, and soil nanofauna on acidobacterial community composition were studied by cultivation-independent methods in grassland and forest soils from three different regions in Germany. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries representing all studied soils revealed that grassland soils were dominated by subgroup Gp6 and forest soils by subgroup Gp1 Acidobacteria. The analysis of a large number of sites (n = 57) by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism [T-RFLP] and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) showed that Acidobacteria diversities differed between grassland and forest soils but also among the three different regions. Edaphic properties, such as pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, phosphorus, nitrate, ammonium, soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil respiration, had an impact on community composition as assessed by fingerprinting. However, interrelations with environmental parameters among subgroup terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) differed significantly, e.g., different Gp1 T-RFs correlated positively or negatively with nitrogen content. Novel significant correlations of Acidobacteria subpopulations (i.e., individual populations within subgroups) with soil nanofauna and vascular plant diversity were revealed only by analysis of clone sequences. Thus, for detecting novel interrelations of environmental parameters with Acidobacteria, individual populations within subgroups have to be considered. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01325-12 SN - 0099-2240 VL - 78 IS - 20 SP - 7398 EP - 7406 PB - American Society for Microbiology CY - Washington ER -