TY  - JOUR
A1  - Steffen, Will
A1  - Röckstrom, Johan
A1  - Richardson, Katherine
A1  - Lenton, Timothy M.
A1  - Folke, Carl
A1  - Liverman, Diana
A1  - Summerhayes, Colin P.
A1  - Barnosky, Anthony D.
A1  - Cornell, Sarah E.
A1  - Crucifix, Michel
A1  - Donges, Jonathan
A1  - Fetzer, Ingo
A1  - Lade, Steven J.
A1  - Scheffer, Marten
A1  - Winkelmann, Ricarda
A1  - Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim
T1  - Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene
JF  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
N2  - We explore the risk that self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System toward a planetary threshold that, if crossed, could prevent stabilization of the climate at intermediate temperature rises and cause continued warming on a "Hothouse Earth" pathway even as human emissions are reduced. Crossing the threshold would lead to a much higher global average temperature than any interglacial in the past 1.2 million years and to sea levels significantly higher than at any time in the Holocene. We examine the evidence that such a threshold might exist and where it might be. If the threshold is crossed, the resulting trajectory would likely cause serious disruptions to ecosystems, society, and economies. Collective human action is required to steer the Earth System away from a potential threshold and stabilize it in a habitable interglacial-like state. Such action entails stewardship of the entire Earth System-biosphere, climate, and societies-and could include decarbonization of the global economy, enhancement of biosphere carbon sinks, behavioral changes, technological innovations, new governance arrangements, and transformed social values.
KW  - Earth System trajectories
KW  - climate change
KW  - Anthropocene
KW  - biosphere feedbacks
KW  - tipping elements
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1810141115
SN  - 0027-8424
VL  - 115
IS  - 33
SP  - 8252
EP  - 8259
PB  - National Acad. of Sciences
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heger, Tina
A1  - Bernard-Verdier, Maud
A1  - Gessler, Arthur
A1  - Greenwood, Alex D.
A1  - Grossart, Hans-Peter
A1  - Hilker, Monika
A1  - Keinath, Silvia
A1  - Kowarik, Ingo
A1  - Küffer, Christoph
A1  - Marquard, Elisabeth
A1  - Mueller, Johannes
A1  - Niemeier, Stephanie
A1  - Onandia, Gabriela
A1  - Petermann, Jana S.
A1  - Rillig, Matthias C.
A1  - Rodel, Mark-Oliver
A1  - Saul, Wolf-Christian
A1  - Schittko, Conrad
A1  - Tockner, Klement
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
A1  - Jeschke, Jonathan M.
T1  - Towards an Integrative, Eco-Evolutionary Understanding of Ecological Novelty: Studying and Communicating Interlinked Effects of Global Change
JF  - Bioscience
N2  - Global change has complex eco-evolutionary consequences for organisms and ecosystems, but related concepts (e.g., novel ecosystems) do not cover their full range. Here we propose an umbrella concept of "ecological novelty" comprising (1) a site-specific and (2) an organism-centered, eco-evolutionary perspective. Under this umbrella, complementary options for studying and communicating effects of global change on organisms, ecosystems, and landscapes can be included in a toolbox. This allows researchers to address ecological novelty from different perspectives, e.g., by defining it based on (a) categorical or continuous measures, (b) reference conditions related to sites or organisms, and (c) types of human activities. We suggest striving for a descriptive, non-normative usage of the term "ecological novelty" in science. Normative evaluations and decisions about conservation policies or management are important, but require additional societal processes and engagement with multiple stakeholders.
KW  - Anthropocene
KW  - eco-evolutionary experience
KW  - global change
KW  - novel ecosystems
KW  - shifting baselines
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz095
SN  - 0006-3568
SN  - 1525-3244
VL  - 69
IS  - 11
SP  - 888
EP  - 899
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nwosu, Ebuka Canisius
A1  - Brauer, Achim
A1  - Kaiser, Jérôme
A1  - Horn, Fabian
A1  - Wagner, Dirk
A1  - Liebner, Susanne
T1  - Evaluating sedimentary DNA for tracing changes in cyanobacteria dynamics from sediments spanning the last 350 years of Lake Tiefer See, NE Germany
JF  - Journal of paleolimnology
N2  - Since the beginning of the Anthropocene, lacustrine biodiversity has been influenced by climate change and human activities. These factors advance the spread of harmful cyanobacteria in lakes around the world, which affects water quality and impairs the aquatic food chain. In this study, we assessed changes in cyanobacterial community dynamics via sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA) from well-dated lake sediments of Lake Tiefer See, which is part of the Klocksin Lake Chain spanning the last 350 years. Our diversity and community analysis revealed that cyanobacterial communities form clusters according to the presence or absence of varves. Based on distance-based redundancy and variation partitioning analyses (dbRDA and VPA) we identified that intensified lake circulation inferred from vegetation openness reconstructions, delta C-13 data (a proxy for varve preservation) and total nitrogen content were abiotic factors that significantly explained the variation in the reconstructed cyanobacterial community from Lake Tiefer See sediments. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) assigned to Microcystis sp. and Aphanizomenon sp. were identified as potential eutrophication-driven taxa of growing importance since circa common era (ca. CE) 1920 till present. This result is corroborated by a cyanobacteria lipid biomarker analysis. Furthermore, we suggest that stronger lake circulation as indicated by non-varved sediments favoured the deposition of the non-photosynthetic cyanobacteria sister clade Sericytochromatia, whereas lake bottom anoxia as indicated by subrecent- and recent varves favoured the Melainabacteria in sediments. Our findings highlight the potential of high-resolution amplicon sequencing in investigating the dynamics of past cyanobacterial communities in lake sediments and show that lake circulation, anoxic conditions, and human-induced eutrophication are main factors explaining variations in the cyanobacteria community in Lake Tiefer See during the last 350 years.
KW  - Late Holocene
KW  - Methylheptadecanes
KW  - Varves
KW  - Anthropocene
KW  - Sericytochromatia
KW  - Melainabacteria
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-021-00206-9
SN  - 0921-2728
SN  - 1573-0417
VL  - 66
IS  - 3
SP  - 279
EP  - 296
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schittko, Conrad
A1  - Onandia, Gabriela
A1  - Bernard-Verdier, Maud
A1  - Heger, Tina
A1  - Jeschke, Jonathan M.
A1  - Kowarik, Ingo
A1  - Maaß, Stefanie
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin
T1  - Biodiversity maintains soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon in novel urban ecosystems
JF  - Journal of ecology
N2  - Biodiversity in urban ecosystems has the potential to increase ecosystem functions and support a suite of services valued by society, including services provided by soils. Specifically, the sequestration of carbon in soils has often been advocated as a solution to mitigate the steady increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere as a key driver of climate change. However, urban ecosystems are also characterized by an often high level of ecological novelty due to profound human-mediated changes, such as the presence of high numbers of non-native species, impervious surfaces or other disturbances. Yet it is poorly understood whether and how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning and services of urban soils under these novel conditions. In this study, we assessed the influence of above- and below-ground diversity, as well as urbanization and plant invasions, on multifunctionality and organic carbon stocks of soils in non-manipulated grasslands along an urbanization gradient in Berlin, Germany. We focused on plant diversity (measured as species richness and functional trait diversity) and, in addition, on soil organism diversity as a potential mediator for the relationship of plant species diversity and ecosystem functioning. Our results showed positive effects of plant diversity on soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon stocks along the entire gradient. Structural equation models revealed that plant diversity enhanced soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon by increasing the diversity of below-ground organisms. These positive effects of plant diversity on soil multifunctionality and soil fauna were not restricted to native plant species only, but were also exerted by non-native species, although to a lesser degree. Synthesis. We conclude that enhancing diversity in plants and soil fauna of urban grasslands can increase the multifunctionality of urban soils and also add to their often underestimated but very valuable role in mitigating effects of climate change.
KW  - Anthropocene
KW  - biological invasions
KW  - ecosystem function and services;
KW  - functional diversity
KW  - global change
KW  - non-native species
KW  - novel
KW  - ecosystems
KW  - urbanization
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13852
SN  - 0022-0477
SN  - 1365-2745
VL  - 110
IS  - 4
SP  - 916
EP  - 934
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -