TY - GEN A1 - Neyret, Margot A1 - Le Provost, Gaëtane A1 - Boesing, Andrea Larissa A1 - Schneider, Florian D. A1 - Baulechner, Dennis A1 - Bergmann, Joana A1 - Vries, Franciska T. de A1 - Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria A1 - Geisen, Stefan A1 - Goldmann, Kezia A1 - Merges, Anna A1 - Saifutdinov, Ruslan A. A1 - Simons, Nadja K. A1 - Tobias, Joseph A. A1 - Zaitsev, Andrey S. A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Jung, Kirsten A1 - Kandeler, Ellen A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Penone, Caterina A1 - Schloter, Michael A1 - Schulz, Stefanie A1 - Staab, Michael A1 - Wolters, Volkmar A1 - Apostolakis, Antonios A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Boch, Steffen A1 - Boeddinghaus, Runa S. A1 - Bolliger, Ralph A1 - Bonkowski, Michael A1 - Buscot, François A1 - Dumack, Kenneth A1 - Fischer, Markus A1 - Gan, Huei Ying A1 - Heinze, Johannes A1 - Hölzel, Norbert A1 - John, Katharina A1 - Klaus, Valentin H. A1 - Kleinebecker, Till A1 - Marhan, Sven A1 - Müller, Jörg A1 - Renner, Swen C. A1 - Rillig, Matthias C. A1 - Schenk, Noëlle V. A1 - Schöning, Ingo A1 - Schrumpf, Marion A1 - Seibold, Sebastian A1 - Socher, Stephanie A. A1 - Solly, Emily F. A1 - Teuscher, Miriam A1 - Kleunen, Mark van A1 - Wubet, Tesfaye A1 - Manning, Peter T1 - A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification T2 - Nature Communications N2 - AbstractOrganismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for 2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a ‘slow-fast’ axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification. KW - General Physics and Astronomy KW - General Biochemistry KW - General Chemistry KW - Multidisciplinary KW - Genetics and Molecular Biology Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45113-5 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 15 IS - 1 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Baulechner, Dennis A1 - Diekötter, Tim A1 - Zaitsev, Andrey S. A1 - Wolters, Volkmar T1 - Fertilization Rapidly Alters the Feeding Activity of Grassland Soil Mesofauna Independent of Management History T2 - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - 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. KW - bait-lamina KW - ecosystem function KW - land-use intensity KW - nitrogen input KW - permanent grassland KW - Acari (mites) KW - Collembola KW - Nematoda Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.864470 SN - 2296-701X VL - 10 SP - 1 EP - 10 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Dietrich, Christoph A1 - John, Katharina A1 - Schorpp, Quentin A1 - Zaitsev, Andrey S. A1 - Wolters, Volkmar T1 - Regional conditions and land-use alter the contribution of soil arthropos to ecosystem services in grasslands. Frontiers in Agroecology and Land-Use Systems T2 - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00150 SN - 2296-701X VL - 3 SP - 150 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Zaitsev, Andrey S. A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Ekschmitt, Klemens A1 - Wolters, Volkmar T1 - Belowground Tritrophic Food Chain Modulates Soil Respiration in Grasslands T2 - Pedosphere N2 - 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. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(18)60008-6 SN - 1002-0160 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 114 EP - 123 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Gossner, Martin M. A1 - Diekötter, Tim A1 - Drees, Claudia A1 - Ferlian, Olga A1 - Maraun, Mark A1 - Scheu, Stefan A1 - Weisser, Wolfgang W. A1 - Wolters, Volkmar A1 - Wurst, Susanne A1 - Zaitsev, Andrey S. A1 - Smith, Henrik G. T1 - Land-use type and intensity differentially filter traits in above- and below-ground arthropod communities T2 - Journal of Animal Ecology Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12641 SN - 1365-2656 VL - 86 IS - 3 SP - 511 EP - 520 ER -