@misc{BochAllanBirkhoferetal., author = {Boch, Steffen and Allan, Eric and Birkhofer, Klaus and Bossdorf, Oliver and Bl{\"u}thgen, Nico and Christ-Breulmann, Sabina and Diek{\"o}tter, Tim and Dormann, Carsten F. and Gossner, Martin M. and Hallmann, Christine and Hemp, Andreas and H{\"o}lzel, Norbert and Jung, Kirsten and Klaus, Valentin H. and Klein, Alexandra M. and Kleinebecker, Till and Lange, Markus and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Nacke, Heiko and Prati, Daniel and Renner, Swen C. and Rothenw{\"o}hrer, Christoph and Schall, Peter and Schulze, Ernst-Detlef and Socher, Stephanie A. and Tscharntke, Teja and T{\"u}rke, Manfred and Weiner, Christiane N. and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Westphal, Catrin and Wolters, Volkmar and Wubet, Tesfaye and Fischer, Markus}, title = {Extensive und j{\"a}hrlich wechselnde Nutzungsintensit{\"a}t f{\"o}rdert den Artenreichtum im Gr{\"u}nland}, series = {ANLIEGEN NATUR}, volume = {38}, journal = {ANLIEGEN NATUR}, number = {1}, issn = {1864-0729}, pages = {86 -- 95}, language = {de} } @misc{TsiafouliThebaultSgardelisetal., author = {Tsiafouli, Maria and Th{\´e}bault, Elisa and Sgardelis, Stefanos P. and Ruiter, Peter C. de and Putten, Wim H. van der and Birkhofer, Klaus and Hemerik, Lia and Vries, Franciska T. de and Bardgett, Richard D. and Brady, Mark Vincent and Bjornlund, Lisa and Bracht J{\o}rgensen, Helene and Christensen, S{\"o}ren and D'Hertefeldt, Tina and Hotes, Stefan and Hol, W. H. Gera and Frouz, Jan and Liiri, Mira and Mortimer, Simon R. and Set{\"a}l{\"a}, Heikki and Tzanopoulous, Joseph and Uteseny, Karoline and Pižl, V{\´a}clav and Stary, Josef and Wolters, Volkmar and Hedlund, Katarina}, title = {Intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity across Europe}, series = {Global Change Biology}, volume = {21}, journal = {Global Change Biology}, number = {2}, issn = {1365-2486}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.12752}, pages = {973 -- 985}, language = {en} } @misc{BirkhoferBaulechnerDiekoetteretal., author = {Birkhofer, Klaus and Baulechner, Dennis and Diek{\"o}tter, Tim and Zaitsev, Andrey S. and Wolters, Volkmar}, title = {Fertilization Rapidly Alters the Feeding Activity of Grassland Soil Mesofauna Independent of Management History}, series = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, issn = {2296-701X}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2022.864470}, pages = {1 -- 10}, abstract = {Nitrogen fertilization of permanent grasslands affects soil fauna communities by modifying their taxonomic composition, population dynamics and feeding activity. However, it is not well understood if the edaphic fauna adapts to these external inputs so that the immediate response to fertilizer application depends on the long-term nutrient management strategy. We performed a field experiment in permanent grasslands under agricultural management in three regions across Germany. We used experimental fertilization with an organic plant-sourced fertilizer along a long-term nutrient management gradient to study the immediate and long-term effects of fertilization and their interdependence on the taxonomic composition and feeding activity of the soil mesofauna (Nematoda, Oribatida, and Collembola). Sampling season, soil properties, vegetation structure, and geographic location were considered as additional predictor variables to reflect heterogeneity in environmental conditions. The taxonomic composition, richness and total abundance of soil mesofauna communities were significantly affected by long-term nutrient management, but not by experimental fertilization. However, N pulses rapidly (within days) reduced the feeding activity estimated with bait-lamina strips independent of long-term nutrient management strategies. Experimental addition of organic plant-sourced fertilizer may have led to a rapid build-up of microbial biomass, providing alternative food sources for the soil mesofauna and causing a shift away from the bait-lamina substrate. Our study indicates that community changes associated with the long-term nutrient management regime in permanent grasslands do not alter the strong functional response of the soil mesofauna to N pulses. There is an urgent need to develop nutrient management strategies for permanent grasslands that take into account both the conservation of the edaphic faunal community and changes of ecosystem functions caused by rapid responses of the soil mesofauna to fertilizer inputs.}, language = {en} } @misc{BirkhoferDietrichJohnetal., author = {Birkhofer, Klaus and Dietrich, Christoph and John, Katharina and Schorpp, Quentin and Zaitsev, Andrey S. and Wolters, Volkmar}, title = {Regional conditions and land-use alter the contribution of soil arthropos to ecosystem services in grasslands. Frontiers in Agroecology and Land-Use Systems}, series = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, issn = {2296-701X}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2015.00150}, pages = {150}, language = {en} } @misc{ZaitsevBirkhoferEkschmittetal., author = {Zaitsev, Andrey S. and Birkhofer, Klaus and Ekschmitt, Klemens and Wolters, Volkmar}, title = {Belowground Tritrophic Food Chain Modulates Soil Respiration in Grasslands}, series = {Pedosphere}, volume = {28}, journal = {Pedosphere}, number = {1}, issn = {1002-0160}, doi = {10.1016/S1002-0160(18)60008-6}, pages = {114 -- 123}, abstract = {Edaphic biota significantly affects several essential ecological functions such as C-storage, nutrient turnover, and productivity. However, it is not completely understood how belowground animal contribution to these functions changes in grasslands subject to different land use types. A microcosm experiment was carried out to test the effect of a tritrophic food chain on CO2 release from grassland soils. Soil was collected from three differently managed grassland systems (meadow, pasture, and mown pasture) located in three distinct German regions that cover a north-south gradient of approximately 500 km. The tritrophic food chain comprised natural edaphic microflora, nematodes, and predatory gamasid mites. The experimental design involved a full factorial combination of the presence and absence of nematodes and gamasid mites. Nematodes significantly increased the CO2 emissions in most treatments, but the extent of this effect varied with land use type. The fact that grazing by nematodes stimulated the metabolic activity of the edaphic microflora over a wide range of grassland soils highlighted the critical impact of the microfauna on ecosystem services associated with soil organic matter dynamics. Gamasids slightly amplified the effect of nematodes on microbial metabolic activity, but only in the pastures. This effect was most probably due to the control of nematode abundance. The fact that gamasid addition also augmented the impact of environmental conditions on nematode-induced modulation of soil respiration highlighted the need for including land use differences while evaluating soil fauna contribution to soil processes. To conclude, the differential response of the investigated tritrophic food chain to different grassland management systems suggests that adverse effects of land use intensification on important soil processes such as atmospheric C-release could potentially be reduced by using management methods that preserve essential features of the belowground food web.}, language = {en} } @misc{BirkhoferSmithWeisseretal., author = {Birkhofer, Klaus and Smith, Henrik G. and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Wolters, Volkmar and Gossner, Martin M.}, title = {Land-use effects on the functional distinctness of arthropod communities}, series = {Ecography}, volume = {38}, journal = {Ecography}, number = {9}, issn = {0906-7590}, doi = {10.1111/ecog.01141}, pages = {889 -- 900}, abstract = {Land-use change is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity, but it is unclear to what extent this also results in a loss of ecological traits. Therefore, a better understanding of how land-use change affects ecological traits is crucial for efforts to sustain functional diversity. To this end we tested whether higher species richness or taxonomic distinctness generally leads to increased functional distinctness and whether intensive land use leads to functionally more narrow arthropod communities. We compiled species composition and trait data for 350 species of terrestrial arthropods (Araneae, Carabidae and Heteroptera) in different land-use types (forests, grasslands and arable fields) of low and high land-use intensity. We calculated the average functional and taxonomic distinctness and the rarified trait richness for each community. These measures reflect the range of traits, taxonomic relatedness and number of traits that are observed in local communities. Average functional distinctness only increased significantly with species richness in Carabidae communities. Functional distinctness increased significantly with taxonomic distinctness in communities of all analyzed taxa suggesting a high functional redundancy of taxonomically closely related species. Araneae and Heteroptera communities had the expected lower functional distinctness at sites with higher land-use intensity. More frequently disturbed land-use types such as managed grasslands or arable fields were characterized by species with smaller body sizes and higher dispersal abilities and communities with lower functional distinctness or trait richness. Simple recommendations about the conservation of functional distinctness of arthropod communities in the face of future land-use intensification and species loss are not possible. Our study shows that these relationships depend on the studied taxa and land-use type. However, for some arthropod groups functional distinctness is threatened by intensification and conversion from less to more frequently disturbed land-uses.}, language = {en} } @misc{BirkhoferGossnerDiekoetteretal., author = {Birkhofer, Klaus and Gossner, Martin M. and Diek{\"o}tter, Tim and Drees, Claudia and Ferlian, Olga and Maraun, Mark and Scheu, Stefan and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Wolters, Volkmar and Wurst, Susanne and Zaitsev, Andrey S. and Smith, Henrik G.}, title = {Land-use type and intensity differentially filter traits in above- and below-ground arthropod communities}, series = {Journal of Animal Ecology}, volume = {86}, journal = {Journal of Animal Ecology}, number = {3}, issn = {1365-2656}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2656.12641}, pages = {511 -- 520}, language = {en} }