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 - Scherber, Christoph A1 - Eisenhauer, Nico A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Schmid, Bernhard A1 - Voigt, Winfried A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Schukze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Roscher, Christiane A1 - Weigelt, Alexandra A1 - Allan, Eric A1 - Beßler, Holger A1 - Bonkowski, Michael A1 - Buchmann, Nina A1 - Buscot, François A1 - Clement, Lars W. A1 - Ebeling, Anne A1 - Engels, Christof A1 - Halle, Stefan A1 - Kertscher, Ilona A1 - Klein, Alexandra Maria A1 - Koller, Robert A1 - König, Stephan A1 - Kowalski, Esther A1 - Kummer, Volker A1 - Kuu, Annely A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Lauterbach, Dirk T1 - Bottom-up effects of plant diversity on multitrophic interactions in a biodiversity experiment Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7323/full/nature09492.html SN - 0028-0836 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Willi, Yvonne A1 - van Buskirk, J. A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - A threefold genetic allee effect : Population size affects cross-compatibility, inbreeding depression and drift load in the self-incompatible Ranunculus reptans Y1 - 2005 SN - 0016-6731 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seifert, Birgit A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Experimental establishment of a declining dry-grassland flagship species in relation to seed origin and target environment N2 - Supporting species persistence may involve (re)connecting suitable habitats. However, for many declining species habitat suitability and drivers of establishment are poorly known. We addressed this experimentally for a declining flagship species of dry grasslands in Germany, Armeria maritima subsp. elongata. In three regions, we sowed seeds from each of eight source populations back to their origin and to eight apparently suitable, but currently unoccupied, habitats close to the source populations. Overall, seeds germinated and seedlings established equally well in occupied and potential sites indicating that suitable habitats are available, but lack seed input. Germination and establishment varied among sowing sites. Moreover, seeds from populations of lower current connectivity established less well in new sites, and establishment was more variable among seeds from smaller than from larger populations, possibly reflecting genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation. Further, establishment across different new environments differed between seeds from different populations. As this was neither related to a home-away contrast nor to geographic or environmental distance between sites it could not clearly be attributed to local adaptation. To promote long-term persistence within this dry-grassland meta-population context we suggest increasing the density of suitable habitats and supporting dispersal connecting multiple sites, e.g. by promoting sheep transhumance, to increase current populations and their connectivity, and to colonise suitable habitats with material from different sources. We suggest that sowing experiments with characteristic species, including multiple source populations and multiple recipient sites, should be used regularly to inform connecting efforts in plant conservation. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00063207 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.02.028 SN - 0006-3207 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Perret, Catherine A1 - Galeuchet, David J. T1 - Performance of Lychnis flos-cuculi from fragmented populations under experimental competition and pathogen infection, Ecology Y1 - 2005 SN - 0012-9658 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Willi, Yvonne A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Genetic rescue effect in interconnected populations of small and large size of the self-incompatible Ranunculus reptans Y1 - 2005 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Wipf, S. A1 - Rixen, C. A1 - Stöckli, V. T1 - Effects of ski piste preparation on alpine vegetation N2 - 1. Ski resorts increasingly affect alpine ecosystems through enlargement of ski pistes, machine-grading of ski piste areas and increasing use of artificial snow. 2. In 12 Swiss alpine ski resorts, we investigated the effects of ski piste management on vegetation structure and composition using a pairwise design of 38 plots on ski pistes and 38 adjacent plots off-piste. 3. Plots on ski pistes had lower species richness and productivity, and lower abundance and cover of woody plants and early flowering species, than reference plots. Plots on machine-graded pistes had higher indicator values for nutrients and light, and lower vegetation cover, productivity, species diversity and abundance of early flowering and woody plants. Time since machine-grading did not mitigate the impacts of machine-grading, even for those plots where revegetation had been attempted by sowing. 4. The longer artificial snow had been used on ski pistes (2-15 years), the higher the moisture and nutrient indicator values. Longer use also affected species composition by increasing the abundance of woody plants, snowbed species and late-flowering species, and decreasing wind-edge species. 5. Synthesis and applications. All types of ski piste management cause deviations from the natural structure and composition of alpine vegetation, and lead to lower plant species diversity. Machine-grading causes particularly severe and lasting impacts on alpine vegetation, which are mitigated neither by time nor by revegetation measures. The impacts of artificial snow increase with the period of time since it was first applied to ski piste vegetation. Extensive machine-grading and snow production should be avoided, especially in areas where nutrient and water input are a concern. Ski pistes should not be established in areas where the alpine vegetation has a high conservation value Y1 - 2005 SN - 0021-8901 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maurer, Katrin A1 - Gautschi, B A1 - Weyand, Anne A1 - Stocklin, J A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Isolation and characterization of microsatellite DNA markers in the grass Poa alpina L. N2 - The important fodder grass Poa alpina L. occurs at several ploidy levels with common aneuploidy. We isolated and characterized five polymorphic microsatellite markers for the study of molecular genetic variation of this species. As first examples of the value of the developed markers for population genetic analyses, we show that plants with more chromosomes have more microsatellite bands and that isolation by distance plays a small role in shaping microsatellite diversity of P. alpina in the Swiss Alps Y1 - 2005 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Galeuchet, D. A1 - Perret, C. T1 - Microsatellite variation and structure of 28 populations of the common wetland plant Lychnis flos-cuculi L. in a fragemented landscape N2 - Habitat fragmentation is known to cause genetic differentiation between small populations of rare species and decrease genetic variation within such populations. However, common species with recently fragmented populations have rarely been studied in this context. We investigated genetic variation and its relationship to population size and geographical isolation of populations of the common plant species, Lychnis flos-cuculi L., in fragmented fen grasslands. We analysed 467 plants from 28 L. flos-cuculi populations of different sizes (60 000-54 000 flowering individuals) in northeastern Switzerland using seven polymorphic microsatellite loci. Genetic differentiation between populations is small (F-ST = 0.022; AMOVA; P < 0.001), suggesting that gene flow among populations is still high or that habitat fragmentation is too recent to result in pronounced differentiation. Observed heterozygosity (H-O = 0.44) significantly deviates from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and within-population inbreeding coefficient F-IS is high (0.30-0.59), indicating a mixed mating breeding system with substantial inbreeding in L. flos-cuculi. Gene diversity is the only measure of genetic variation which decreased with decreasing population size (R = 0.42; P < 0.05). While our results do not indicate pronounced effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic variation in the still common L. flos-cuculi, the lower gene diversity of smaller populations suggests that the species is not entirely unaffected Y1 - 2005 SN - 0962-1083 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Pfisterer, A. A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - Schmid, Bernhard T1 - Rapid decay of diversity-productivity relationships after invasion of experimental plant communities Y1 - 2004 ER -