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 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Low-intensity management promotes bryophyte diversity in grasslands JF - Tuexenia : Mitteilungen der Floristisch-Soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft N2 - Bryophytes constitute an important and permanent component of the grassland flora and diversity in Europe. As most bryophyte species are sensitive to habitat change, their diversity is likely to decline following land-use intensification. Most previous studies on bryophyte diversity focused on specific habitats of high bryophyte diversity, such as bogs, montane grasslands, or calcareous dry grasslands. In contrast, mesic grasslands are rarely studied, although they are the most common grassland habitat in Europe. They are secondary vegetation, maintained by agricultural use and thus, are influenced by different forms of land use. We studied bryophyte species richness in three regions in Germany, in 707 plots of 16 m(2) representing different land-use types and environmental conditions. Our study is one of the few to inspect the relationships between bryophyte richness and land use across contrasting regions and using a high number of replicates. Among the managed grasslands, pastures harboured 2.5 times more bryophyte species than meadows and mown pastures. Similarly, bryophyte cover was about twice as high in fallows and pastures than in meadows and mown pastures. Among the pastures, bryophyte species richness was about three times higher in sheep grazed plots than in the ones grazed by cattle or horses. In general, bryophyte species richness and cover was more than 50% lower in fertilized than in unfertilized plots. Moreover, the amount of suitable substrates was linked to bryophyte diversity. Species richness of bryophytes growing on stones increased with stone cover, and the one of bryophytes growing on bark and deadwood increased with larger values of woody plant species and deadwood cover. Our findings highlight the importance of low-intensity land use and high structural heterogeneity for bryophyte conservation. They also caution against an intensification of traditionally managed pastures. In the light of our results, we recommend to maintain low-intensity sheep grazing on sites with low productivity, such as slopes on shallow soils. T2 - Extensive Landnutzung fördert die Moosdiversität im Grünland KW - biodiversity exploratories KW - competition KW - dry and mesic grasslands KW - grazing KW - fertilization KW - land use KW - liverwort KW - meadow KW - moss KW - pasture Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.14471/2018.38.014 SN - 0722-494X IS - 38 SP - 311 EP - 328 PB - Floristisch-Soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schall, Peter A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Heinrichs, Steffi A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Baumgartner, Vanessa A1 - Blaser, Stefan A1 - Böhm, Stefan A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Daniel, Rolf A1 - Goldmann, Kezia A1 - Kaiser, Kristin A1 - Kahl, Tiemo A1 - Lange, Markus A1 - Müller, Jörg Hans A1 - Overmann, Jörg A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Schulze, Ernst-Detlef A1 - Sikorski, Johannes A1 - Tschapka, Marco A1 - Türke, Manfred A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Wemheuer, Bernd A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Ammer, Christian T1 - The impact of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on regional biodiversity of multiple taxa in European beech forests JF - Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society N2 - 1. For managed temperate forests, conservationists and policymakers favour fine-grained uneven-aged (UEA) management over more traditional coarse-grained even-aged (EA) management, based on the assumption that within-stand habitat heterogeneity enhances biodiversity. There is, however, little empirical evidence to support this assumption. We investigated for the first time how differently grained forest management systems affect the biodiversity of multiple above- and below-ground taxa across spatial scales. 2. We sampled 15 taxa of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria within the largest contiguous beech forest landscape of Germany and classified them into functional groups. Selected forest stands have been managed for more than a century at different spatial grains. The EA (coarse-grained management) and UEA (fine-grained) forests are comparable in spatial arrangement, climate and soil conditions. These were compared to forests of a nearby national park that have been unmanaged for at least 20years. We used diversity accumulation curves to compare -diversity for Hill numbers D-0 (species richness), D-1 (Shannon diversity) and D-2 (Simpson diversity) between the management systems. Beta diversity was quantified as multiple-site dissimilarity. 3. Gamma diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for at least one of the three Hill numbers for six taxa (up to 77%), while eight showed no difference. Only bacteria showed the opposite pattern. Higher -diversity in EA forests was also found for forest specialists and saproxylic beetles. 4. Between-stand -diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for one-third (all species) and half (forest specialists) of all taxa, driven by environmental heterogeneity between age-classes, while -diversity showed no directional response across taxa or for forest specialists. 5. Synthesis and applications. Comparing EA and uneven-aged forest management in Central European beech forests, our results show that a mosaic of different age-classes is more important for regional biodiversity than high within-stand heterogeneity. We suggest reconsidering the current trend of replacing even-aged management in temperate forests. Instead, the variability of stages and stand structures should be increased to promote landscape-scale biodiversity. KW - beta diversity KW - forest specialists KW - gamma diversity KW - heterogeneity KW - Hill numbers KW - saproxylic beetles KW - spatial grain KW - species accumulation curve KW - species richness KW - species turnover Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12950 SN - 0021-8901 SN - 1365-2664 VL - 55 IS - 1 SP - 267 EP - 278 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Busch, Verena A1 - Klaus, Valentin H. A1 - Penone, Caterina A1 - Schäfer, Deborah A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Socher, Stephanie A. A1 - Niinemets, Ülo A1 - Penuelas, Josep A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Kleinebecker, Till T1 - Nutrient stoichiometry and land use rather than species richness determine plant functional diversity JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Plant functional traits reflect individual and community ecological strategies. They allow the detection of directional changes in community dynamics and ecosystemic processes, being an additional tool to assess biodiversity than species richness. Analysis of functional patterns in plant communities provides mechanistic insight into biodiversity alterations due to anthropogenic activity. Although studies have consi-dered of either anthropogenic management or nutrient availability on functional traits in temperate grasslands, studies combining effects of both drivers are scarce. Here, we assessed the impacts of management intensity (fertilization, mowing, grazing), nutrient stoichiometry (C, N, P, K), and vegetation composition on community-weighted means (CWMs) and functional diversity (Rao's Q) from seven plant traits in 150 grasslands in three regions in Germany, using data of 6 years. Land use and nutrient stoichiometry accounted for larger proportions of model variance of CWM and Rao's Q than species richness and productivity. Grazing affected all analyzed trait groups; fertilization and mowing only impacted generative traits. Grazing was clearly associated with nutrient retention strategies, that is, investing in durable structures and production of fewer, less variable seed. Phenological variability was increased. Fertilization and mowing decreased seed number/mass variability, indicating competition-related effects. Impacts of nutrient stoichiometry on trait syndromes varied. Nutrient limitation (large N:P, C:N ratios) promoted species with conservative strategies, that is, investment in durable plant structures rather than fast growth, fewer seed, and delayed flowering onset. In contrast to seed mass, leaf-economics variability was reduced under P shortage. Species diversity was positively associated with the variability of generative traits. Synthesis. Here, land use, nutrient availability, species richness, and plant functional strategies have been shown to interact complexly, driving community composition, and vegetation responses to management intensity. We suggest that deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms shaping community assembly and biodiversity will require analyzing all these parameters. KW - biodiversity exploratories KW - fertilization KW - leaf economics KW - mowing KW - nutrient availability KW - nutrient ratios KW - phosphorus KW - plant functional traits KW - plant strategies KW - seed mass Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3609 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - 601 EP - 616 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sorkau, Elisabeth A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Boeddinghaus, Runa S. A1 - Bonkowski, Michael A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Kandeler, Ellen A1 - Klaus, Valentin H. A1 - Kleinebecker, Till A1 - Marhan, Sven A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Schoening, Ingo A1 - Schrumpf, Marion A1 - Weinert, Jan A1 - Oelmann, Yvonne T1 - The role of soil chemical properties, land use and plant diversity for microbial phosphorus in forest and grassland soils JF - Journal of plant nutrition and soil science = Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde N2 - Management intensity modifies soil properties, e.g., organic carbon (C-org) concentrations and soil pH with potential feedbacks on plant diversity. These changes might influence microbial P concentrations (P-mic) in soil representing an important component of the Pcycle. Our objectives were to elucidate whether abiotic and biotic variables controlling P-mic concentrations in soil are the same for forests and grasslands, and to assess the effect of region and management on P-mic concentrations in forest and grassland soils as mediated by the controlling variables. In three regions of Germany, Schwabische Alb, Hanich-Dun, and Schorfheide-Chorin, we studied forest and grassland plots (each n=150) differing in plant diversity and land-use intensity. In contrast to controls of microbial biomass carbon (C-mic), P-mic was strongly influenced by soil pH, which in turn affected phosphorus (P) availability and thus microbial Puptake in forest and grassland soils. Furthermore, P-mic concentrations in forest and grassland soils increased with increasing plant diversity. Using structural equation models, we could show that soil C-org is the profound driver of plant diversity effects on P-mic in grasslands. For both forest and grassland, we found regional differences in P-mic attributable to differing environmental conditions (pH, soil moisture). Forest management and tree species showed no effect on P-mic due to a lack of effects on controlling variables (e.g., C-org). We also did not find management effects in grassland soils which might be caused by either compensation of differently directed effects across sites or by legacy effects of former fertilization constraining the relevance of actual practices. We conclude that variables controlling P-mic or C-mic in soil differ in part and that regional differences in controlling variables are more important for P-mic in soil than those induced by management. KW - age class forest KW - land-use intensity KW - meadow KW - microbes KW - pasture KW - unmanaged forest Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201700082 SN - 1436-8730 SN - 1522-2624 VL - 181 IS - 2 SP - 185 EP - 197 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Penone, Caterina A1 - Allan, Eric A1 - Soliveres, Santiago A1 - Felipe-Lucia, Maria R. A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Seibold, Sebastian A1 - Simons, Nadja K. A1 - Schall, Peter A1 - van der Plas, Fons A1 - Manning, Peter A1 - Manzanedo, Ruben D. A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Ammer, Christian A1 - Bauhus, Juergen A1 - Buscot, Francois A1 - Ehbrecht, Martin A1 - Goldmann, Kezia A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Mueller, Joerg A1 - Mueller, Joerg C. A1 - Pena, Rodica A1 - Polle, Andrea A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Ruess, Liliane A1 - Schoenig, Ingo A1 - Schrumpf, Marion A1 - Solly, Emily F. A1 - Tschapka, Marco A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Fischer, Markus T1 - Specialisation and diversity of multiple trophic groups are promoted by different forest features JF - Ecology letters N2 - While forest management strongly influences biodiversity, it remains unclear how the structural and compositional changes caused by management affect different community dimensions (e.g. richness, specialisation, abundance or completeness) and how this differs between taxa. We assessed the effects of nine forest features (representing stand structure, heterogeneity and tree composition) on thirteen above- and belowground trophic groups of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria in 150 temperate forest plots differing in their management type. Canopy cover decreased light resources, which increased community specialisation but reduced overall diversity and abundance. Features increasing resource types and diversifying microhabitats (admixing of oaks and conifers) were important and mostly affected richness. Belowground groups responded differently to those aboveground and had weaker responses to most forest features. Our results show that we need to consider forest features rather than broad management types and highlight the importance of considering several groups and community dimensions to better inform conservation. KW - biodiversity exploratories KW - dark diversity KW - forest management KW - global change KW - land-use KW - multidiversity KW - specialisation KW - temperate forests Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13182 SN - 1461-023X SN - 1461-0248 VL - 22 IS - 1 SP - 170 EP - 180 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken 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 - Busch, Verena A1 - Klaus, Valentin Helmut A1 - Schaefer, Deborah A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Chiste, Melanie A1 - Mody, Karsten A1 - Blüthgen, Nico A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - Kleinebecker, Till T1 - Will I stay or will I go? Plant species-specific response and tolerance to high land-use intensity in temperate grassland ecosystems JF - Journal of vegetation science KW - community composition KW - ecological strategies KW - Ellenberg indicator values KW - land-use intensity niche KW - plant functional traits KW - species-specific niche breadth KW - species-specific niche optima KW - temperate grasslands KW - vegetation dynamics Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12749 SN - 1100-9233 SN - 1654-1103 VL - 30 IS - 4 SP - 674 EP - 686 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Simons, Nadja K. A1 - Seibold, Sebastian A1 - Wacker, Alexander A1 - Weithoff, Guntram A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Prati, Daniel A1 - Bezemer, T. Martijn A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - The relative importance of plant-soil feedbacks for plant-species performance increases with decreasing intensity of herbivory JF - Oecologia N2 - Under natural conditions, aboveground herbivory and plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) are omnipresent interactions strongly affecting individual plant performance. While recent research revealed that aboveground insect herbivory generally impacts the outcome of PSFs, no study tested to what extent the intensity of herbivory affects the outcome. This, however, is essential to estimate the contribution of PSFs to plant performance under natural conditions in the field. Here, we tested PSF effects both with and without exposure to aboveground herbivory for four common grass species in nine grasslands that formed a gradient of aboveground invertebrate herbivory. Without aboveground herbivores, PSFs for each of the four grass species were similar in each of the nine grasslands-both in direction and in magnitude. In the presence of herbivores, however, the PSFs differed from those measured under herbivory exclusion, and depended on the intensity of herbivory. At low levels of herbivory, PSFs were similar in the presence and absence of herbivores, but differed at high herbivory levels. While PSFs without herbivores remained similar along the gradient of herbivory intensity, increasing herbivory intensity mostly resulted in neutral PSFs in the presence of herbivores. This suggests that the relative importance of PSFs for plant-species performance in grassland communities decreases with increasing intensity of herbivory. Hence, PSFs might be more important for plant performance in ecosystems with low herbivore pressure than in ecosystems with large impacts of insect herbivores. KW - Plant-soil feedback KW - Herbivorous insects KW - Field conditions KW - Selective herbivory KW - Nutritional quality Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04442-9 SN - 0029-8549 SN - 1432-1939 VL - 190 IS - 3 SP - 651 EP - 664 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - 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 -