TY  - JOUR
A1  - Blüthgen, Nico
A1  - Dormann, Carsten F.
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Hoelzel, Norbert
A1  - Alt, Fabian
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Gockel, Sonja
A1  - Hemp, Andreas
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Nieschulze, Jens
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Schöning, Ingo
A1  - Schumacher, Uta
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Wells, Konstans
A1  - Birkhofer, Klaus
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Oelmann, Yvonne
A1  - Rothenwöhrer, Christoph
A1  - Scherber, Christoph
A1  - Tscharntke, Teja
A1  - Weiner, Christiane N.
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Kalko, Elisabeth K. V.
A1  - Linsenmair, Karl Eduard
A1  - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
T1  - A quantitative index of land-use intensity in grasslands integrating mowing, grazing and fertilization
JF  - Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft für Ökologie
N2  - Land use is increasingly recognized as a major driver of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in many current research projects. In grasslands, land use is often classified by categorical descriptors such as pastures versus meadows or fertilized versus unfertilized sites. However, to account for the quantitative variation of multiple land-use types in heterogeneous landscapes, a quantitative, continuous index of land-use intensity (LUI) is desirable. Here we define such a compound, additive LUI index for managed grasslands including meadows and pastures. The LUI index summarizes the standardized intensity of three components of land use, namely fertilization, mowing, and livestock grazing at each site. We examined the performance of the LUI index to predict selected response variables on up to 150 grassland sites in the Biodiversity Exploratories in three regions in Germany(Alb, Hainich, Schorlheide). We tested the average Ellenberg nitrogen indicator values of the plant community, nitrogen and phosphorus concentration in the aboveground plant biomass, plant-available phosphorus concentration in the top soil, and soil C/N ratio, and the first principle component of these five response variables.
 The LUI index significantly predicted the principal component of all five response variables, as well as some of the individual responses. Moreover, vascular plant diversity decreased significantly with LUI in two regions (Alb and Hainich).
 Inter-annual changes in management practice were pronounced from 2006 to 2008, particularly due to variation in grazing intensity. This rendered the selection of the appropriate reference year(s) an important decision for analyses of land-use effects, whereas details in the standardization of the index were of minor importance. We also tested several alternative calculations of a LUI index, but all are strongly linearly correlated to the proposed index.
 The proposed LUI index reduces the complexity of agricultural practices to a single dimension and may serve as a baseline to test how different groups of organisms and processes respond to land use. In combination with more detailed analyses, this index may help to unravel whether and how land-use intensities, associated disturbance levels or other local or regional influences drive ecological processes.
KW  - Agro-ecosystems
KW  - Biodiversity exploratories
KW  - Grassland management
KW  - Land-use impacts
KW  - Livestock density
KW  - Meadows
KW  - Nitrogen
KW  - Pastures
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2012.04.001
SN  - 1439-1791
VL  - 13
IS  - 3
SP  - 207
EP  - 220
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Jena
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weißhuhn, Karoline
A1  - Prati, Daniel
T1  - Activated carbon may have undesired side effects for testing allelopathy in invasive plants
N2  - Activated carbon has become a widely used tool to investigate root-mediated allelopathy of plants, especially in plant invasion biology, because it adsorbs and thereby neutralizes root exudates. Allelopathy has been a controversially debated phenomenon for years, which revived in plant invasion biology as one possible reason for the success of invasive plants. Noxious plant exudates may harm other plants and provide an advantage to the allelopathic plant. However, root exudates are not always toxic, but may stimulate the microbial community and change nutrient availability in the rhizosphere. In a greenhouse experiment, we investigated the interacting effects of activated carbon, arbuscular mycorrhiza and plant competition between the invasive Senecio inaequidens and the native Artemisia vulgaris. Furthermore, we tested whether activated carbon showed any undesired effects by directly affecting mycorrhiza or soil chemistry. Contrary to the expectation, S. inaequidens was a weak competitor and we could not support the idea that allelopathy was involved in the competition. Activated carbon led to a considerable increase in the aboveground biomass production and reduced the infection with arbuscular mycorrhiza of both plant species. We expected that arbuscular mycorrhiza promotes plant growth by increasing nutrient availability, but we found the contrary when activated carbon was added. Chemical analyses of the substrate showed, that adding activated carbon resulted in a strong increase in plant available phosphate and in a decrease of the C-organic/N-total ration both of which suggest stimulated microbial activity. Thus, activated carbon not only reduced potential allelopathic effects, but substantially changed the chemistry of the substrate. These results show that activated carbon should be handled with great care in ecological experiments on allelopathy because of possible confounding effects on the soil community.
Y1  - 2009
UR  - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/14391791
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2008.10.009
SN  - 1439-1791
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Andreas, Kerstin
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Kowalski, Esther
A1  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Meyhöfer, Rainer
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
T1  - Are gastropods, rather than ants, important dispersers of seeds of myrmecochorous forest herbs?
JF  - The American naturalist : a bi-monthly journal devoted to the advancement and correlation of the biological sciences
N2  - Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) is widespread, and seed adaptations to myrmecochory are common, especially in the form of fatty appendices (elaiosomes). In a recent study, slugs were identified as seed dispersers of myrmecochores in a central European beech forest. Here we used 105 beech forest sites to test whether myrmecochore presence and abundance is related to ant or gastropod abundance and whether experimentally exposed seeds are removed by gastropods. Myrmecochorous plant cover was positively related to gastropod abundance but was negatively related to ant abundance. Gastropods were responsible for most seed removal and elaiosome damage, whereas insects (and rodents) played minor roles. These gastropod effects on seeds were independent of region or forest management. We suggest that terrestrial gastropods can generally act as seed dispersers of myrmecochorous plants and even substitute myrmecochory, especially where ants are absent or uncommon.
KW  - myrmecochory
KW  - gastropodochory
KW  - Arion
KW  - slug
KW  - seed dispersal
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1086/663195
SN  - 0003-0147
VL  - 179
IS  - 1
SP  - 124
EP  - 131
PB  - Univ. of Chicago Press
CY  - Chicago
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Soliveres, Santiago
A1  - van der Plas, Fons
A1  - Manning, Peter
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Alt, Fabian
A1  - Arndt, Hartmut
A1  - Baumgartner, Vanessa
A1  - Binkenstein, Julia
A1  - Birkhofer, Klaus
A1  - Blaser, Stefan
A1  - Blüthgen, Nico
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Böhm, Stefan
A1  - Börschig, Carmen
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Diekötter, Tim
A1  - Heinze, Johannes
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Jung, Kirsten
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Klemmer, Sandra
A1  - Krauss, Jochen
A1  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Morris, E. Kathryn
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Oelmann, Yvonne
A1  - Overmann, Jörg
A1  - Pasalic, Esther
A1  - Rillig, Matthias C.
A1  - Schaefer, H. Martin
A1  - Schloter, Michael
A1  - Schmitt, Barbara
A1  - Schöning, Ingo
A1  - Schrumpf, Marion
A1  - Sikorski, Johannes
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Solly, Emily F.
A1  - Sonnemann, Ilja
A1  - Sorkau, Elisabeth
A1  - Steckel, Juliane
A1  - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf
A1  - Stempfhuber, Barbara
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Venter, Paul C.
A1  - Weiner, Christiane N.
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Werner, Michael
A1  - Westphal, Catrin
A1  - Wilcke, Wolfgang
A1  - Wolters, Volkmar
A1  - Wubet, Tesfaye
A1  - Wurst, Susanne
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Allan, Eric
T1  - Biodiversity at multiple trophic levels is needed for ecosystem multifunctionality
JF  - Nature : the international weekly journal of science
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19092
SN  - 0028-0836
SN  - 1476-4687
VL  - 536
SP  - 456
EP  - +
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pfestorf, H.
A1  - Weiss, L.
A1  - Müller, J.
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Socher, S. A.
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Schöning, Ingo
A1  - Weisser, W.
A1  - Fischer, M.
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
T1  - Community mean traits as additional indicators to monitor effects of land-use intensity On grassland plant diversity
JF  - Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics
N2  - Semi-natural grasslands, biodiversity hotspots in Central-Europe, suffer from the cessation of traditional land-use. Amount and intensity of these changes challenge current monitoring frameworks typically based on classic indicators such as selected target species or diversity indices. Indicators based on plant functional traits provide an interesting extension since they reflect ecological strategies at individual and ecological processes at community levels. They typically show convergent responses to gradients of land-use intensity over scales and regions, are more directly related to environmental drivers than diversity components themselves and enable detecting directional changes in whole community dynamics. However, probably due to their labor- and cost intensive assessment in the field, they have been rarely applied as indicators so far.
 Here we suggest overcoming these limitations by calculating indicators with plant traits derived from online accessible databases. Aiming to provide a minimal trait set to monitor effects of land-use intensification on plant diversity we investigated relationships between 12 community mean traits, 2 diversity indices and 6 predictors of land-use intensity within grassland communities of 3 different regions in Germany (part of the German 'Biodiversity Exploratory' research network). By standardization of traits and diversity measures, use of null models and linear mixed models we confirmed (i) strong links between functional community composition and plant diversity, (ii) that traits are closely related to land-use intensity, and (iii) that functional indicators are equally, or even more sensitive to land-use intensity than traditional diversity indices. The deduced trait set consisted of 5 traits, i.e., specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), seed release height, leaf distribution, and onset of flowering. These database derived traits enable the early detection of changes in community structure indicative for future diversity loss. As an addition to current monitoring measures they allow to better link environmental drivers to processes controlling community dynamics.
KW  - Biodiversity Exploratories
KW  - Biological conservation
KW  - (Semi-natural) Grasslands
KW  - Plant functional traits
KW  - Indicators
KW  - Land-use intensity
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2012.10.003
SN  - 1433-8319
VL  - 15
IS  - 1
SP  - 1
EP  - 11
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Jena
ER  - 
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  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Müller, Jorg
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
T1  - Direct and indirect associations between plant species richness and productivity in grasslands regional differences preclude simple generalization of productivity-biodiversity relationships
JF  - Preslia : the journal of the Czech Botanical Society
N2  - Plant species richness of permanent grasslands has often been found to be significantly associated with productivity. Concentrations of nutrients in biomass can give further insight into these productivity-plant species richness relationships, e.g. by reflecting land use or soil characteristics. However, the consistency of such relationships across different regions has rarely been taken into account, which might significantly compromise our potential for generalization. We recorded plant species richness and measured above-ground biomass and concentrations of nutrients in biomass in 295 grasslands in three regions in Germany that differ in soil and climatic conditions. Structural equation modelling revealed that nutrient concentrations were mostly indirectly associated with plant species richness via biomass production. However, negative associations between the concentrations of different nutrients and biomass and plant species richness differed considerably among regions. While in two regions, more than 40% of the variation in plant species richness could be attributed to variation in biomass, K, P. and to some degree also N concentrations, in the third region only 15% of the variation could be explained in this way. Generally, highest plant species richness was recorded in grasslands where N and P were co-limiting plant growth, in contrast to N or K (co-) limitation. But again, this pattern was not recorded in the third region. While for two regions land-use intensity and especially the application of fertilizers are suggested to be the main drivers causing the observed negative associations with productivity, in the third region the little variance accounted for, low species richness and weak relationships implied that former intensive grassland management, ongoing mineralization of peat and fluctuating water levels in fen grasslands have overruled effects of current land-use intensity and productivity. Finally, we conclude that regional replication is of major importance for studies seeking general insights into productivity-diversity relationships.
KW  - anthropogenic effect
KW  - Biodiversity Exploratories project
KW  - fen grasslands
KW  - generalizability
KW  - land-use history
KW  - nitrogen
KW  - phosphorus
KW  - potassium
KW  - plant species richness
KW  - structural equation modeling
Y1  - 2013
SN  - 0032-7786
VL  - 85
IS  - 2
SP  - 97
EP  - 112
PB  - Czech Botanical Soc.
CY  - Praha
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Direct and productivity-mediated indirect effects of fertilization, mowing and grazing on grassland species richness
JF  - The journal of ecology
N2  - Recent declines in biodiversity have given new urgency to questions about the relationship between land-use change, biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Despite the existence of a large body of research on the effects of land use on species richness, it is unclear whether the effects of land use on species richness are principally direct or indirect, mediated by concomitant changes in ecosystem processes. Therefore, we compared the direct effects of land use (fertilization, mowing and grazing) on species richness with indirect ones (mediated via grassland productivity) for grasslands in central Europe. We measured the richness and above-ground biomass in 150 grassland plots in 3 regions of Germany (the so-called Biodiversity Exploratories). We used univariate and structural equation models to examine direct and indirect land-use effects. The direct effects of mowing (-0.37, effect size) and grazing (0.04) intensity on species richness were stronger compared with the indirect effects of mowing (-0.04) and grazing (-0.01). However, the strong negative effect of fertilization (-0.23) on species richness was mainly indirect, mediated by increased productivity compared with the weak direct negative effect (-0.07). Differences between regions in land-use effects showed five times weaker negative effects of mowing (-0.13) in the region with organic soils (Schorfheide-Chorin), strong overall negative effects of grazing (-0.29) for the region with organic soils opposed to a similar strong positive effect (0.30) in the Hainich-Dun region, whereas the Schwabische Alb region displayed a five times weaker positive effect (0.06) only. Further, fertilization effects on species richness were positive (0.03) for the region with organic soils compared to up to 25 times stronger negative effects in the other two regions. Synthesis. Our results clearly show the importance of studying both direct and indirect effects of land-use intensity. They demonstrate the indirect nature, via productivity, of the negative effect of fertilization intensity on plant species richness in the real-world context of management-induced gradients of intensity of fertilization, mowing and grazing. Finally, they highlight that careful consideration of regional environments is necessary before attempting to generalize land-use effects on species diversity.
KW  - biodiversity
KW  - determinants of plant community diversity and structure
KW  - ecosystem functioning
KW  - functional plant group
KW  - land use
KW  - productivity
KW  - species richness
KW  - structural equation modelling
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2012.02020.x
SN  - 0022-0477
VL  - 100
IS  - 6
SP  - 1391
EP  - 1399
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Alt, Fabian
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Gockel, Sonja
A1  - Hemp, Andreas
A1  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Oelmann, Yvonne
A1  - Pasalic, Esther
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
T1  - Does organic grassland farming benefit plant and arthropod diversity at the expense of yield and soil fertility?
JF  - Agriculture, ecosystems & environment : an international journal for scientific research on the relationship of agriculture and food production to the biosphere
N2  - Organic management is one of the most popular strategies to reduce negative environmental impacts of intensive agriculture. However, little is known about benefits for biodiversity and potential worsening of yield under organic grasslands management across different grassland types, i.e. meadow, pasture and mown pasture. Therefore, we studied the diversity of vascular plants and foliage-living arthropods (Coleoptera, Araneae, Heteroptera, Auchenorrhyncha), yield, fodder quality, soil phosphorus concentrations and land-use intensity of organic and conventional grasslands across three study regions in Germany. Furthermore, all variables were related to the time since conversion to organic management in order to assess temporal developments reaching up to 18 years. Arthropod diversity was significantly higher under organic than conventional management, although this was not the case for Araneae, Heteroptera and Auchenorrhyncha when analyzed separately. On the contrary, arthropod abundance, vascular plant diversity and also yield and fodder quality did not considerably differ between organic and conventional grasslands. Analyses did not reveal differences in the effect of organic management among grassland types. None of the recorded abiotic and biotic parameters showed a significant trend with time since transition to organic management, except soil organic phosphorus concentrations which decreased with time. This implies that permanent grasslands respond slower and probably weaker to organic management than crop fields do. However, as land-use intensity and inorganic soil phosphorus concentrations were significantly lower in organic grasslands, overcoming seed and dispersal limitation by re-introducing plant species might be needed to exploit the full ecological potential of organic grassland management. We conclude that although organic management did not automatically increase the diversity of all studied taxa, it is a reasonable and useful way to support agro-biodiversity.
KW  - Agri-environmental schemes
KW  - Fertilization
KW  - Fodder quality
KW  - Land-use intensity
KW  - Nitrogen
KW  - Biomass nutrient concentrations
KW  - Organic farming
KW  - Phosphorus
KW  - Species richness
KW  - Nutrient availability
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.05.019
SN  - 0167-8809
VL  - 177
IS  - 3
SP  - 1
EP  - 9
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Blaser, Steffen
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Prati, Daniel
T1  - Effects of forest management on bryophyte communities on deadwood
JF  - Nova Hedwigia : Zeitschrift für Kryptogamenkunde
N2  - Epixylic bryophytes are important components of forest vegetation but are currently endangered by increment of wood harvest and intensive forest management. In this paper we present a study about the relationship between forest management, deadwood abundance, deadwood attributes and species richness of epixylic bryophytes on 30 plots comprising three forest types (managed coniferous, managed deciduous and unmanaged deciduous forests) in three regions in Germany. Additionally we analyzed the relations between deadwood attributes (wood species, decay, deadwood type, size) and bryophytes on deadwood items (n = 799) and calculated species interaction networks of wood species and bryophytes. Overall, species richness of epixylic bryophytes was positively related to deadwood abundance and diversity. The mean deadwood abundance was lowest in unmanaged forests (9.7 m(3) ha(-1)) compared with 15.0 m(3) ha(-1) in managed deciduous and 25.1 m(3) ha(-1) in managed coniferous forests. Accordingly, epixylic bryophyte species richness per plot increased from 7 species per 400 m(2) in unmanaged, 10 in managed deciduous and 16 in managed coniferous forests. The interaction network provided evidence of importance of tree-species diversity for bryophyte diversity and the relevance of particular wood species for rare bryophytes.
 Generally, the results demonstrate a considerable lack of deadwood in all forest types, even in unmanaged forests. Species richness of epixylic bryophytes was strongly limited by available substrates within the observed deadwood abundance ranging up to only 60 m(3) ha(-1). Altogether, this suggests a high demand to increase both abundance and diversity of deadwood in forests.
KW  - Coarse woody debris
KW  - cryptogams
KW  - deadwood
KW  - species interaction network
KW  - wood harvest
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2015/0242
SN  - 0029-5035
VL  - 100
IS  - 3-4
SP  - 423
EP  - 438
PB  - Cramer
CY  - Stuttgart
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  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Pasalic, Esther
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Hessenmöller, Dominik
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
T1  - Effects of forest management on ground-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera; Carabidae, Staphylinidae) in Central Europe are mainly mediated by changes in forest structure
JF  - Forest ecology and management
N2  - Forest management is known to influence species diversity of various taxa but inconsistent or even contrasting effects are reported for arthropods. Regional differences in management as well as differences in regional species pools might be responsible for these inconsistencies, but, inter-regional replicated studies that account for regional variability are rare. We investigated the effect of forest type on the abundance, diversity, community structure and composition of two important ground-dwelling beetle families, Carabidae and Staphylinidae, in 149 forest stands distributed over three regions in Germany. In particular we focused on recent forestry history, stand age and dominant tree species, in addition to a number of environmental descriptors. Overall management effects on beetle communities were small and mainly mediated by structural habitat parameters such as the cover of forest canopy or the plant diversity on forest stands. The general response of both beetle taxa to forest management was similar in all regions: abundance and species richness of beetles was higher in older than in younger stands and species richness was lower in unmanaged than in managed stands. The abundance ratio of forest species-to-open habitat species differed between regions, but generally increased from young to old stands, from coniferous to deciduous stands and from managed to unmanaged stands. The response of both beetle families to dominant tree species was variable among regions and staphylinid richness varied in the response to recent forestry history. Our results suggest that current forest management practices change the composition of ground-dwelling beetle communities mainly by favoring generalists and open habitat species. To protect important forest beetle communities and thus the ecosystem functions and services provided by them, we suggest to shelter remaining ancient forests and to develop near-to-nature management strategies by prolonging rotation periods and increasing structural diversity of managed forests. Possible geographic variations in the response of beetle communities need to be considered in conservation-orientated forest management strategies. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KW  - Beech forest
KW  - Biodiversity Exploratories
KW  - Conifer plantations
KW  - Habitat preferences
KW  - Insects
KW  - Land use
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.06.012
SN  - 0378-1127
SN  - 1872-7042
VL  - 329
SP  - 166
EP  - 176
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Manning, Pete
A1  - Gossner, Martin M.
A1  - Bossdorf, Oliver
A1  - Allan, Eric
A1  - Zhang, Yuan-Ye
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Blüthgen, Nico
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Böhm, Stefan
A1  - Börschig, Carmen
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Jung, Kirsten
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Klein, Alexandra Maria
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Krauss, Jochen
A1  - Lange, Markus
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Pasalic, Esther
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Türke, Manfred
A1  - Weiner, Christiane
A1  - Werner, Michael
A1  - Gockel, Sonja
A1  - Hemp, Andreas
A1  - Renner, Swen C.
A1  - Wells, Konstans
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Kalko, Elisabeth K. V.
A1  - Linsenmair, Karl Eduard
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Grassland management intensification weakens the associations among the diversities of multiple plant and animal taxa
JF  - Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America
N2  - Land-use intensification is a key driver of biodiversity change. However, little is known about how it alters relationships between the diversities of different taxonomic groups, which are often correlated due to shared environmental drivers and trophic interactions. Using data from 150 grassland sites, we examined how land-use intensification (increased fertilization, higher livestock densities, and increased mowing frequency) altered correlations between the species richness of 15 plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate taxa. We found that 54% of pairwise correlations between taxonomic groups were significant and positive among all grasslands, while only one was negative. Higher land-use intensity substantially weakened these correlations(35% decrease in rand 43% fewer significant pairwise correlations at high intensity), a pattern which may emerge as a result of biodiversity declines and the breakdown of specialized relationships in these conditions. Nevertheless, some groups (Coleoptera, Heteroptera, Hymenoptera and Orthoptera) were consistently correlated with multidiversity, an aggregate measure of total biodiversity comprised of the standardized diversities of multiple taxa, at both high and lowland-use intensity. The form of intensification was also important; increased fertilization and mowing frequency typically weakened plant-plant and plant-primary consumer correlations, whereas grazing intensification did not. This may reflect decreased habitat heterogeneity under mowing and fertilization and increased habitat heterogeneity under grazing. While these results urge caution in using certain taxonomic groups to monitor impacts of agricultural management on biodiversity, they also suggest that the diversities of some groups are reasonably robust indicators of total biodiversity across a range of conditions.
KW  - Biodiversity indicators
KW  - correlation
KW  - fertilization
KW  - grassland management
KW  - grazing
KW  - land-use change
KW  - land-use intensity
KW  - mowing
KW  - multidiversity
KW  - multitrophic interactions
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1307.1
SN  - 0012-9658
SN  - 1939-9170
VL  - 96
IS  - 6
SP  - 1492
EP  - 1501
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weiss, Lina
A1  - Pfestorf, Hans
A1  - May, Felix
A1  - Körner, Katrin
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Socher, Stephanie A.
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
T1  - Grazing response patterns indicate isolation of semi-natural European grasslands
JF  - Oikos
N2  - Identifying drivers of species diversity is a major challenge in understanding and predicting the dynamics of species-rich semi-natural grasslands. In particular in temperate grasslands changes in land use and its consequences, i.e. increasing fragmentation, the on-going loss of habitat and the declining importance of regional processes such as seed dispersal by livestock, are considered key drivers of the diversity loss witnessed within the last decades.
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00957.x
SN  - 0030-1299
SN  - 1600-0706
VL  - 123
IS  - 5
SP  - 599
EP  - 612
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinze, Eric
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Hessenmöller, Dominik
A1  - Klenk, Bernd
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef
A1  - Seele, Carolin
A1  - Socher, Stephanie
A1  - Halle, Stefan
T1  - Habitat use of large ungulates in northeastern Germany in relation to forest management
JF  - Forest ecology and management
N2  - Estimating large herbivore density has been a major area of research in recent decades. Previous studies monitoring ungulate density, however, focused mostly on determining animal abundance, and did not interpret animal distribution in relation to habitat parameters. We surveyed large ungulates in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schorfheide-Chorin using faecal pellet group counts. This allowed us to explore the link between relative ungulate abundance, habitat use, and browsing damage on trees in a region with several types of forest, including unharvested and age-class beech forests, as well as age-class pine forests. Our results demonstrate that roe deer and fallow deer relative abundance is negatively correlated with large tree cover, and positively correlated with the cover of small shrubs (Rubus spec., Vaccinium spec.), and winter food supply. Habitat use of roe deer and fallow deer, as estimated by counting faecal pellet groups, revealed a preference for mature pine forests, and avoidance of deciduous forests. This differential habitat use is explained by different distributions of high quality food resources during winter. The response of deer to understory cover differed between roe deer and fallow deer at high cover percentages. The amount of browsing damage we observed on coniferous trees was not consistent with the relative deer abundance. Browsing damage was consistently higher on most deciduous trees, except for beech saplings which sustained less damage when roe deer density was low. Because roe deer is a highly selective feeder, it was reported to affect tree diversity by feeding only on trees with high nutritional value. Consequently, we propose that managing the number of all deer species by hunting is necessary to allow successful forest regeneration. Such an adjustment to deer numbers would need to account for both current tree diversity and alternative food resources. Our findings may be applicable to other forest landscapes in northeastern Germany including mature pine stands and differently harvested deciduous forests.
KW  - Large ungulates
KW  - Faecal pellet group count
KW  - Forest management
KW  - Browsing damage
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.10.022
SN  - 0378-1127
VL  - 261
IS  - 2
SP  - 288
EP  - 296
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Socher, Stephanie
A1  - Baumbach, Henryk
A1  - Buscot, Francois
A1  - Gockel, Sonja
A1  - Hemp, Andreas
A1  - Hessenmöller, Dominik
A1  - Kalko, Elisabeth K. V.
A1  - Linsenmair, K. Eduard
A1  - Pfeiffer, Simone
A1  - Pommer, Ulf
A1  - Schöning, Ingo
A1  - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef
A1  - Seilwinder, Claudia
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
A1  - Wells, Konstans
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - High plant species richness indicates management-related disturbances rather than the conservation status of forests
JF  - Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft für Ökologie
N2  - There is a wealth of smaller-scale studies on the effects of forest management on plant diversity. However, studies comparing plant species diversity in forests with different management types and intensity, extending over different regions and forest stages, and including detailed information on site conditions are missing. We studied vascular plants on 1500 20 m x 20 m forest plots in three regions of Germany (Schwabische Alb, Hainich-Dun, Schorfheide-Chorin). In all regions, our study plots comprised different management types (unmanaged, selection cutting, deciduous and coniferous age-class forests, which resulted from clear cutting or shelterwood logging), various stand ages, site conditions, and levels of management-related disturbances. We analyzed how overall richness and richness of different plant functional groups (trees, shrubs, herbs, herbaceous species typically growing in forests and herbaceous light-demanding species) responded to the different management types. On average, plant species richness was 13% higher in age-class than in unmanaged forests, and did not differ between deciduous age-class and selection forests. In age-class forests of the Schwabische Alb and Hainich-Dun, coniferous stands had higher species richness than deciduous stands. Among age-class forests, older stands with large quantities of standing biomass were slightly poorer in shrub and light-demanding herb species than younger stands. Among deciduous forests, the richness of herbaceous forest species was generally lower in unmanaged than in managed forests, and it was even 20% lower in unmanaged than in selection forests in Hainich-Dun. Overall, these findings show that disturbances by management generally increase plant species richness. This suggests that total plant species richness is not suited as an indicator for the conservation status of forests, but rather indicates disturbances.
KW  - Biodiversity Exploratories
KW  - Coniferous plantations
KW  - Disturbance
KW  - Ellenberg indicator values
KW  - Forest management
KW  - Selection vs. age-class forests
KW  - Silviculture
KW  - Standing biomass
KW  - Typical forest species
KW  - Unmanaged vs. managed forests
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2013.06.001
SN  - 1439-1791
VL  - 14
IS  - 6
SP  - 496
EP  - 505
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Jena
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  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Kleinebecker, Till
A1  - Prati, Daniel
A1  - Hölzel, Norbert
A1  - Fischer, Markus
T1  - Impact of Land-Use intensity and productivity on bryophyte diversity in agricultural grasslands
JF  - PLoS one
N2  - While bryophytes greatly contribute to plant diversity of semi-natural grasslands, little is known about the relationships between land-use intensity, productivity, and bryophyte diversity in these habitats. We recorded vascular plant and bryophyte vegetation in 85 agricultural used grasslands in two regions in northern and central Germany and gathered information on land-use intensity. To assess grassland productivity, we harvested aboveground vascular plant biomass and analyzed nutrient concentrations of N, P, K, Ca and Mg. Further we calculated mean Ellenberg indicator values of vascular plant vegetation. We tested for effects of land-use intensity and productivity on total bryophyte species richness and on the species richness of acrocarpous (small & erect) and pleurocarpous (creeping, including liverworts) growth forms separately. Bryophyte species were found in almost all studied grasslands, but species richness differed considerably between study regions in northern Germany (2.8 species per 16 m(2)) and central Germany (6.4 species per 16 m(2)) due environmental differences as well as land-use history. Increased fertilizer application, coinciding with high mowing frequency, reduced bryophyte species richness significantly. Accordingly, productivity estimates such as plant biomass and nitrogen concentration were strongly negatively related to bryophyte species richness, although productivity decreased only pleurocarpous species. Ellenberg indicator values for nutrients proved to be useful indicators of species richness and productivity. In conclusion, bryophyte composition was strongly dependent on productivity, with smaller bryophytes that were likely negatively affected by greater competition for light. Intensive land-use, however, can also indirectly decrease bryophyte species richness by promoting grassland productivity. Thus, increasing productivity is likely to cause a loss of bryophyte species and a decrease in species diversity.
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051520
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 7
IS  - 12
PB  - PLoS
CY  - San Fransisco
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  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Heinze, Johannes
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
A1  - Boch, Steffen
A1  - Klaus, Valentin H.
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Prati, Daniel
T1  - Influence of experimental soil disturbances on the diversity of plants in agricultural grasslands
JF  - Journal of plant ecology
N2  - Disturbance is supposed to play an important role for biodiversity and ecosystem stability as described by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), which predicts highest species richness at intermediate levels of disturbances. In this study, we tested the effects of artificial soil disturbances on diversity of annual and perennial vascular plants and bryophytes in a field experiment in 86 agricultural grasslands differing in land use in two regions of Germany. On each grassland, we implemented four treatments: three treatments differing in application time of soil disturbances and one control. One year after experimental disturbance, we recorded vegetation and measured biomass productivity and bare ground. We analysed the disturbance response taking effects of region and land-use-accompanied disturbance regimes into account.
 Region and land-use type strongly determined plant species richness. Experimental disturbances had small positive effects on the species richness of annuals, but none on perennials or bryophytes. Bare ground was positively related to species richness of bryophytes. However, exceeding the creation of 12% bare ground further disturbance had a detrimental effect on bryophyte species richness, which corresponds to the IDH. As biomass productivity was unaffected by disturbance our results indicate that the disturbance effect on species richness of annuals was not due to decreased overall productivity, but rather due to short-term lowered inter- and intraspecific competition at the newly created microsites.
 Generally, our results highlight the importance of soil disturbances for species richness of annual plants and bryophytes in agricultural grasslands. However, most grasslands were disturbed naturally or by land-use practices and our additional experimental soil disturbances only had a small short-term effect. Overall, total plant diversity in grasslands seemed to be more limited by the availability of propagules rather than by suitable microsites for germination. Thus, nature conservation efforts to increase grassland diversity should focus on overcoming propagule limitation, for instance by additional sowing of seeds, while the creation of additional open patches by disturbance might only be appropriate where natural disturbances are scarce.
KW  - annuals
KW  - bryophytes
KW  - colonization
KW  - intermediate disturbance hypothesis
KW  - microsites
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtt062
SN  - 1752-9921
SN  - 1752-993X
VL  - 7
IS  - 6
SP  - 509
EP  - 517
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -