TY - GEN A1 - Winter, Susanne A1 - Zaplata, Markus K. A1 - Rzanny, Michael A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Fischer, Anton A1 - Ulrich, Werner T1 - Increasing ecological multifunctionality during early plant succession T2 - Plant Ecology N2 - Ecological multifunctionality quantifies the functional performance of various important plant traits and increases with growing structural habitat heterogeneity, number of plant functional traits, and species richness. However, the successional changes in multifunctionality have not been traced so far. We use quantitative plant samples of 1 m2 plots from the first 6 years of initial vegetation dynamics in a German created catchment to infer the temporal changes in plant functional trait space and multifunctionality. Multifunctionality at the plot level was in all study years lower than expected from a random sample of the local pool of potential colonizers and was lowest at intermediate states of succession. In each year species containing a specific set of traits occurred with limited but focused functionality. The observed average low degree of multifunctionality contrasts with recent models predicting a tendency towards maximum multifunctionality during plant community development. However, variability in multifunctionality among plots increased during succession and the respective multifunctionality distribution among plots was increasingly right skewed indicating an excess of plots with relatively high multifunctionality. This relative excess of plots with high multifunctionality might act as an important trigger of community development paving the way for new species and functions to become established. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-019-00930-3 SN - 1573-5052 VL - 220 IS - 4-5 SP - 499 EP - 509 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Elmer, Michael A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Zaplata, Markus K. A1 - Hohberg, Karin A1 - Nenov, Rossen A1 - Bens, Oliver A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. T1 - Dynamics of initial ecosystem development at the artificial catchment Chicken Creek, Lusatia, Germany T2 - Environmental Earth Sciences KW - ecosystem development Y1 - 2013 SN - 1866-6299 VL - 69 IS - 2 SP - 491 EP - 505 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Elmer, Michael A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Fischer, Anton A1 - Zaplata, Markus K. A1 - Nenov, Rossen T1 - Feedbacks between structures and processes during initial ecosystem development in an artificial catchment T2 - European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2013, Vienna, Austria, 07 – 12 April 2013 N2 - We studied the role of strutures and processes and their feedbacks during initial ecosystem development in the artificial catchment Chicken Creek. During the first seven years, considerable changes within the catchment were observed. Both internal and external factors could be identified as driving forces for the formation of structures and patterns in the artificial catchment. Initial structures formed by the construction process and initial substrate characteristics were decisive for the distribution and flow of water. External factors like episodic events triggered erosion and dissection during this initial phase, promoted by the low vegetation cover and the unconsolidated sandy substrate. The transformation of the initial geo-system into areas with evolving terrestrial or aquatic characteristics and from a very episodic to a more permanent stream network and discharge, together with the observed vegetation dynamics increased site diversity and heterogeneity with respect to water and nutrient availability and transformation processes compared to the more homogenous conditions at point zero. The processes and feedback mechanisms in the initial development of a new landscape may deviate in rates, intensity and dominance from those known from mature ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to understand these early phases of ecosystem development and to disentangle the increasingly complex interactions between the evolving terrestrial and aquatic, biotic and abiotic compartments of the system. Artificially created catchments could be a suitable tool to study these initial developments at the landscape scale under known, designed and defined boundary conditions. Y1 - 2013 UR - http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2013/EGU2013-6837.pdf N1 - EGU2013-6837 PB - European Geophysical Society CY - Katlenburg-Lindau ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Elmer, Michael A1 - Biemelt, Detlef A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Hoberg, Karin A1 - Kleeberg, Andreas A1 - Lessmann, Dieter A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Schneider, Anna A1 - Zaplata, Markus K. A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. ED - Elmer, Michael ED - Schaaf, Wolfgang ED - Biemelt, Detlef ED - Gerwin, Werner ED - Hüttl, Reinhard F. T1 - Conclusions T2 - The artificial catchment Chicken Creek - initial ecosystem development 2005-2010 KW - Hühnerwasser KW - Künstliches Wassereinzugsgebiet Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus-23730 SP - 145 EP - 153 PB - FZLB CY - Cottbus ER - TY - GEN A1 - Zaplata, Markus K. A1 - Fischer, Annette A1 - Winter, S. A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Veste, Maik ED - Holzheu, Stefan ED - Thies, B. T1 - Development of an initial ecosystem - II. Vegetation dynamics and soil pattern in an artificial water catchment in Lusatia, NE Germany T2 - GfÖ 2009: Dimensions of ecology - From global change to molecular ecology Y1 - 2009 SP - S. 124 PB - Bayreuther Zentrum für Ökologie und Umweltforschung (BayCEER) Selbstverlag CY - Bayreuth ER -