TY - JOUR A1 - Soliveres, Santiago A1 - Manning, Peter A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Alt, Fabian A1 - Arndt, Hartmut A1 - Baumgartner, Vanessa A1 - Binkenstein, Julia A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Blaser, Stefan A1 - Bluethgen, Nico A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Boehm, Stefan A1 - Boerschig, Carmen A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Diekoetter, Tim A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Hoelzel, Norbert A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Klaus, Valentin H. A1 - Klein, Alexandra-Maria A1 - Kleinebecker, Till A1 - Klemmer, Sandra A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Morris, E. Kathryn A1 - Mueller, Joerg A1 - Oelmann, Yvonne A1 - Overmann, Jörg A1 - Pasalic, Esther A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Schaefer, H. Martin A1 - Schloter, Michael A1 - Schmitt, Barbara A1 - Schoening, 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 - Tuerke, Manfred A1 - Venter, Paul 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 - Locally rare species influence grassland ecosystem multifunctionality JF - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - Species diversity promotes the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality). However, the relative functional importance of rare and common species in driving the biodiversity multifunctionality relationship remains unknown. We studied the relationship between the diversity of rare and common species (according to their local abundances and across nine different trophic groups), and multifunctionality indices derived from 14 ecosystem functions on 150 grasslands across a land use intensity (LUI) gradient. The diversity of above- and below-ground rare species had opposite effects, with rare above-ground species being associated with high levels of multifunctionality, probably because their effects on different functions did not trade off against each other. Conversely, common species were only related to average, not high, levels of multifunctionality, and their functional effects declined with LUI. Apart from the community level effects of diversity, we found significant positive associations between the abundance of individual species and multifunctionality in 6% of the species tested. Species specific functional effects were best predicted by their response to LUI: species that declined in abundance with land use intensification were those associated with higher levels of multifunctionality. Our results highlight the importance of rare species for ecosystem multifunctionality and help guiding future conservation priorities. KW - biodiversity KW - common species KW - ecosystem function KW - identity hypothesis KW - land use KW - multitrophic Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0269 SN - 0962-8436 SN - 1471-2970 VL - 371 SP - 3175 EP - 3185 PB - Royal Society CY - London 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 - Meyer, Sebastian T. A1 - Ebeling, Anne A1 - Eisenhauer, Nico A1 - Hertzog, Lionel A1 - Hillebrand, Helmut A1 - Milcu, Alexandru A1 - Pompe, Sven A1 - Abbas, Maike A1 - Bessler, Holger A1 - Buchmann, Nina A1 - De Luca, Enrica A1 - Engels, Christof A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Gleixner, Gerd A1 - Hudewenz, Anika A1 - Klein, Alexandra-Maria A1 - de Kroon, Hans A1 - Leimer, Sophia A1 - Loranger, Hannah A1 - Mommer, Liesje A1 - Oelmann, Yvonne A1 - Ravenek, Janneke M. A1 - Roscher, Christiane A1 - Rottstock, Tanja A1 - Scherber, Christoph A1 - Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael A1 - Scheu, Stefan A1 - Schmid, Bernhard A1 - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Staudler, Andrea A1 - Strecker, Tanja A1 - Temperton, Vicky A1 - Tscharntke, Teja A1 - Vogel, Anja A1 - Voigt, Winfried A1 - Weigelt, Alexandra A1 - Wilcke, Wolfgang A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. T1 - Effects of biodiversity strengthen over time as ecosystem functioning declines at low and increases at high biodiversity JF - Ecosphere : the magazine of the International Ecology University KW - biodiversity ecosystem functioning (BEF) KW - ecosystem processes KW - grassland KW - mechanism KW - plant productivity KW - plant species richness KW - temporal effects KW - trophic interactions Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1619 SN - 2150-8925 VL - 7 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Lewinsohn, Thomas M. A1 - Kahl, Tiemo A1 - Grassein, Fabrice A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Sikorski, Johannes A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Arndt, Hartmut A1 - Baumgartner, Vanessa A1 - Blaser, Stefan A1 - Blüthgen, Nico A1 - Börschig, Carmen A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Diekötter, Tim A1 - Jorge, Leonardo Re A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Keyel, Alexander C. A1 - Klein, Alexandra-Maria A1 - Klemmer, Sandra A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Overmann, Jörg A1 - Pasalic, Esther A1 - Penone, Caterina A1 - Perovic, David J. A1 - Purschke, Oliver A1 - Schall, Peter A1 - Socher, Stephanie A. A1 - Sonnemann, Ilja A1 - Tschapka, Marco A1 - Tscharntke, Teja A1 - Türke, Manfred A1 - Venter, Paul Christiaan A1 - Weiner, Christiane N. A1 - Werner, Michael A1 - Wolters, Volkmar A1 - Wurst, Susanne A1 - Westphal, Catrin A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Allan, Eric T1 - Land-use intensification causes multitrophic homogenization of grassland communities JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science N2 - Land-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss(1,2). Alongside reductions in local species diversity, biotic homogenization at larger spatial scales is of great concern for conservation. Biotic homogenization means a decrease in beta-diversity (the compositional dissimilarity between sites). Most studies have investigated losses in local (alpha)-diversity(1,3) and neglected biodiversity loss at larger spatial scales. Studies addressing beta-diversity have focused on single or a few organism groups (for example, ref. 4), and it is thus unknown whether land-use intensification homogenizes communities at different trophic levels, above-and belowground. Here we show that even moderate increases in local land-use intensity (LUI) cause biotic homogenization across microbial, plant and animal groups, both above- and belowground, and that this is largely independent of changes in alpha-diversity. We analysed a unique grassland biodiversity dataset, with abundances of more than 4,000 species belonging to 12 trophic groups. LUI, and, in particular, high mowing intensity, had consistent effects on beta-diversity across groups, causing a homogenization of soil microbial, fungal pathogen, plant and arthropod communities. These effects were nonlinear and the strongest declines in beta-diversity occurred in the transition from extensively managed to intermediate intensity grassland. LUI tended to reduce local alpha-diversity in aboveground groups, whereas the alpha-diversity increased in belowground groups. Correlations between the alpha-diversity of different groups, particularly between plants and their consumers, became weaker at high LUI. This suggests a loss of specialist species and is further evidence for biotic homogenization. The consistently negative effects of LUI on landscape-scale biodiversity underscore the high value of extensively managed grasslands for conserving multitrophic biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Indeed, biotic homogenization rather than local diversity loss could prove to be the most substantial consequence of land-use intensification. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20575 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 540 SP - 266 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London 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 - 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 - 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Soliveres, Santiago A1 - Maestre, Fernando T. A1 - Ulrich, Werner A1 - Manning, Peter A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Bowker, Matthew A. A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel A1 - Quero, Jose L. A1 - Schöning, Ingo A1 - Gallardo, Antonio A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Socher, Stephanie A. A1 - Garcia-Gomez, Miguel A1 - Ochoa, Victoria A1 - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Allan, Eric T1 - Intransitive competition is widespread in plant communities and maintains their species richness JF - Ecology letters N2 - Intransitive competition networks, those in which there is no single best competitor, may ensure species coexistence. However, their frequency and importance in maintaining diversity in real-world ecosystems remain unclear. We used two large data sets from drylands and agricultural grasslands to assess: (1) the generality of intransitive competition, (2) intransitivity-richness relationships and (3) effects of two major drivers of biodiversity loss (aridity and land-use intensification) on intransitivity and species richness. Intransitive competition occurred in >65% of sites and was associated with higher species richness. Intransitivity increased with aridity, partly buffering its negative effects on diversity, but was decreased by intensive land use, enhancing its negative effects on diversity. These contrasting responses likely arise because intransitivity is promoted by temporal heterogeneity, which is enhanced by aridity but may decline with land-use intensity. We show that intransitivity is widespread in nature and increases diversity, but it can be lost with environmental homogenisation. KW - Aridity KW - biodiversity KW - coexistence KW - drylands KW - land use KW - mesic grasslands KW - rock-paper-scissors game Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12456 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 18 IS - 8 SP - 790 EP - 798 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Marcus, Tamar A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Durka, Walter A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Schöning, Ingo A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Drees, Claudia A1 - Assmann, Thorsten T1 - Living in Heterogeneous Woodlands - Are Habitat Continuity or Quality Drivers of Genetic Variability in a Flightless Ground Beetle? JF - PLoS one N2 - Although genetic diversity is one of the key components of biodiversity, its drivers are still not fully understood. While it is known that genetic diversity is affected both by environmental parameters as well as habitat history, these factors are not often tested together. Therefore, we analyzed 14 microsatellite loci in Abax parallelepipedus, a flightless, forest dwelling ground beetle, from 88 plots in two study regions in Germany. We modeled the effects of historical and environmental variables on allelic richness, and found for one of the regions, the Schorfheide-Chorin, a significant effect of the depth of the litter layer, which is a main component of habitat quality, and of the sampling effort, which serves as an inverse proxy for local population size. For the other region, the Schwabische Alb, none of the potential drivers showed a significant effect on allelic richness. We conclude that the genetic diversity in our study species is being driven by current local population sizes via environmental variables and not by historical processes in the studied regions. This is also supported by lack of genetic differentiation between local populations sampled from ancient and from recent woodlands. We suggest that the potential effects of former fragmentation and recolonization processes have been mitigated by the large and stable local populations of Abax parallelepipedus in combination with the proximity of the ancient and recent woodlands in the studied landscapes. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144217 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 10 IS - 12 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Allan, Eric A1 - Bossdorf, Oliver A1 - Dormann, Carsten F. A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Tscharntke, Teja A1 - Blüthgen, Nico A1 - Bellach, Michaela A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Böhm, Stefan A1 - Börschig, Carmen A1 - Chatzinotas, Antonis A1 - Christ, Sabina A1 - Daniel, Rolf A1 - Diekötter, Tim A1 - Fischer, Christiane A1 - Friedl, Thomas A1 - Glaser, Karin A1 - Hallmann, Christine A1 - Hodac, Ladislav A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Klein, Alexandra-Maria A1 - Klaus, Valentin H. A1 - Kleinebecker, Till A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Morris, E. Kathryn A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Nacke, Heiko A1 - Pasalic, Esther A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Rothenwoehrer, Christoph A1 - Schally, Peter A1 - Scherber, Christoph A1 - Schulze, Waltraud X. A1 - Socher, Stephanie A. A1 - Steckel, Juliane A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Türke, Manfred A1 - Weiner, Christiane N. A1 - Werner, Michael A1 - Westphal, Catrin A1 - Wolters, Volkmar A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Gockel, Sonja A1 - Gorke, Martin A1 - Hemp, Andreas A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Schöning, Ingo A1 - Pfeiffer, Simone A1 - König-Ries, Birgitta A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Linsenmair, Karl Eduard A1 - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Interannual variation in land-use intensity enhances grassland multidiversity JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - Although temporal heterogeneity is a well-accepted driver of biodiversity, effects of interannual variation in land-use intensity (LUI) have not been addressed yet. Additionally, responses to land use can differ greatly among different organisms; therefore, overall effects of land-use on total local biodiversity are hardly known. To test for effects of LUI (quantified as the combined intensity of fertilization, grazing, and mowing) and interannual variation in LUI (SD in LUI across time), we introduce a unique measure of whole-ecosystem biodiversity, multidiversity. This synthesizes individual diversity measures across up to 49 taxonomic groups of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria from 150 grasslands. Multidiversity declined with increasing LUI among grasslands, particularly for rarer species and aboveground organisms, whereas common species and belowground groups were less sensitive. However, a high level of interannual variation in LUI increased overall multidiversity at low LUI and was even more beneficial for rarer species because it slowed the rate at which the multidiversity of rare species declined with increasing LUI. In more intensively managed grasslands, the diversity of rarer species was, on average, 18% of the maximum diversity across all grasslands when LUI was static over time but increased to 31% of the maximum when LUI changed maximally over time. In addition to decreasing overall LUI, we suggest varying LUI across years as a complementary strategy to promote biodiversity conservation. KW - biodiversity loss KW - agricultural grasslands KW - Biodiversity Exploratories Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1312213111 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 111 IS - 1 SP - 308 EP - 313 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER -