TY  - JOUR
A1  - Solly, Emily
A1  - Schöning, Ingo
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Mueller, J.
A1  - Socher, S. A.
A1  - Trumbore, S. E.
A1  - Schrumpf, M.
T1  - Mean age of carbon in fine roots from temperate forests and grasslands with different management
JF  - Biogeosciences
N2  - Fine roots are the most dynamic portion of a plant's root system and a major source of soil organic matter. By altering plant species diversity and composition, soil conditions and nutrient availability, and consequently belowground allocation and dynamics of root carbon (C) inputs, land-use and management changes may influence organic C storage in terrestrial ecosystems. In three German regions, we measured fine root radiocarbon (C-14) content to estimate the mean time since C in root tissues was fixed from the atmosphere in 54 grassland and forest plots with different management and soil conditions. Although root biomass was on average greater in grasslands 5.1 +/- 0.8 g (mean +/- SE, n = 27) than in forests 3.1 +/- 0.5 g (n = 27) (p < 0.05), the mean age of C in fine roots in forests averaged 11.3 +/- 1.8 yr and was older and more variable compared to grasslands 1.7 +/- 0.4 yr (p < 0.001). We further found that management affects the mean age of fine root C in temperate grasslands mediated by changes in plant species diversity and composition. Fine root mean C age is positively correlated with plant diversity (r = 0.65) and with the number of perennial species (r = 0.77). Fine root mean C age in grasslands was also affected by study region with averages of 0.7 +/- 0.1 yr (n= 9) on mostly organic soils in northern Germany and of 1.8 +/- 0.3 yr (n = 9) and 2.6 +/- 0.3 (n = 9) in central and southern Germany (p < 0.05). This was probably due to differences in soil nutrient contents and soil moisture conditions between study regions, which affected plant species diversity and the presence of perennial species. Our results indicate more long-lived roots or internal redistribution of C in perennial species and suggest linkages between fine root C age and management in grasslands. These findings improve our ability to predict and model belowground C fluxes across broader spatial scales.
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-4833-2013
SN  - 1726-4170
VL  - 10
IS  - 7
SP  - 4833
EP  - 4843
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Göttingen
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Allan, Eric
A1  - Manning, Pete
A1  - Alt, Fabian
A1  - Binkenstein, Julia
A1  - Blaser, Stefan
A1  - Blüthgen, Nico
A1  - Böhm, Stefan
A1  - Grassein, Fabrice
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Morris, E. Kathryn
A1  - Oelmann, Yvonne
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Rillig, Matthias C.
A1  - Schaefer, Martin
A1  - Schloter, Michael
A1  - Schmitt, Barbara
A1  - Schöning, Ingo
A1  - Schrumpf, Marion
A1  - Solly, Emily
A1  - Sorkau, Elisabeth
A1  - Steckel, Juliane
A1  - Steffen-Dewenter, Ingolf
A1  - Stempfhuber, Barbara
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Weiner, Christiane N.
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Werner, Michael
A1  - Westphal, Catrin
A1  - Wilcke, Wolfgang
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Land use intensification alters ecosystem multifunctionality via loss of biodiversity and changes to functional composition
JF  - Ecology letters
N2  - Global change, especially land-use intensification, affects human well-being by impacting the delivery of multiple ecosystem services (multifunctionality). However, whether biodiversity loss is a major component of global change effects on multifunctionality in real-world ecosystems, as in experimental ones, remains unclear. Therefore, we assessed biodiversity, functional composition and 14 ecosystem services on 150 agricultural grasslands differing in land-use intensity. We also introduce five multifunctionality measures in which ecosystem services were weighted according to realistic land-use objectives. We found that indirect land-use effects, i.e. those mediated by biodiversity loss and by changes to functional composition, were as strong as direct effects on average. Their strength varied with land-use objectives and regional context. Biodiversity loss explained indirect effects in a region of intermediate productivity and was most damaging when land-use objectives favoured supporting and cultural services. In contrast, functional composition shifts, towards fast-growing plant species, strongly increased provisioning services in more inherently unproductive grasslands.
KW  - Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning
KW  - ecosystem services
KW  - global change
KW  - land use
KW  - multifunctionality
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12469
SN  - 1461-023X
SN  - 1461-0248
VL  - 18
IS  - 8
SP  - 834
EP  - 843
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -