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Picture: The photo shows a close-up of a longhorn beetle.

Effects of land-use on diversity of arthropods and trophic interactions ia analysed by assessing arthropod diversity on all experimental plots.

Overall hypotheses:

1. Increasing land-use intensity decreases the diversity and abundance of arthropods in grasslands and forests.

2. Food webs are more complex and more stable in natural systems.

3. The relationship between land-use intensity, diversity and functioning of arthropods depends on habitat type (grassland, forest) and region (Schorfheide-Chorin, Hainich-Dün, Schwäbische Alb).

Assessment of arthropods is performed by different methods along the land-use gradients on 100 experimental plots in each exploratory.

Forest arthropods
Continuous sampling on the forest floor, in the understorey and the canopy by different sampling methods during the entire vegetation period. Only activity based traps were installed; no attractants were used.

  • Flight-interception traps in the understorey and in the canopy
    Hereby mainly flying insects were assessed.
  • Funnel traps in the ground
    Hereby mainly epigaeic species were assessed.

Grassland arthropods
Continuous sampling of epigaeic species by

  • Funnel traps,
    and herb-dwelling species by
  • Monthly sweep-net samples

Herbivory and plant fitness

Herbivore-mediated effects of land use and biodiversity on plant fitness is assessed by analyzing experimentally whether increasing biodiversity in less intensively used land reduces leaf herbivory and causes more effective control of herbivore populations

Hypotheses:

1. the diversity and abundance of the natural enemies of insect herbivores is greater in natural forests than in managed forests

2. rate of parasitism and predation is higher in natural forests than in managed forests

3. herbivore abundances are lower in natural forests

4. damage by leaf-chewing herbivores is higher in managed than in natural forests

Ants and seed dispersal

Assessing Ant-mediated effects of land use and biodiversity on ecosystem functioning is assessed by testing whether less intense land use leads to higher diversity of ants and more effective seed dispersal.

Hypotheses:

1. age-class forests have a lower diversity of seed-dispersing ants than natural forests

2. rodents are the most important predators of plant seeds in beech forests

3. ants reduce seed predation in plant species with adaptation to dispersal by ants (myrmecochores) and this effects is stronger in natural forests

4. there are more ant-dispersed plants (myrmecochores) in natural


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Landnutzungs-Effekte auf Arten-Abundanz-Verteilung im Grünlang
Simons N. K., Gossner M. M., Lewinsohn T. M., Lange M., Türke M., Weisser W. W. (2015): Effects of land-use intensity on arthropod species abundance distributions in grasslands. Journal of Animal Ecology 84 (1), 143–154. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12278
More information:  doi.org
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Effekte von Landnutzungs-Intensität auf die Vielfalt und Struktur von Arthropoden im Grünland
Simons N. (2015): Effects of land-use intensity on arthropod diversity and community structure in grassland. Dissertation, TU München
More information:  mediatum.ub.tum.de
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Die Waldbewirtschaftung in Mitteleuropa wirkt sich hauptsächlich über die veränderte Waldstruktur auf bodenbewohnende Käfer aus
Lange M., Türke M., Pasalic E., Boch S., Hessenmöller D., Müller J., Prati D., Socher S. A., Fischer M., Weisser W. W. (2014): Effects of forest management on ground-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera; Carabidae, Staphylinidae) in Central Europe are mainly mediated by changes in forest structure. Forest Ecology and Management 329, 166–176. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.06.012
More information:  doi.org
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Ressourcen-gesteuerte indirekte Effekte von Grassland-Management auf Arthropodendiversität
Simons N. K., Gossner M. M., Lewinsohn T. M., Boch S., Lange M., et al. (2014): Resource-Mediated Indirect Effects of Grassland Management on Arthropod Diversity. PLoS ONE 9(9): e107033. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107033
More information:  doi.org
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Ausbreitung von Waldkräutern durch Schnecken: Pflanzenart, Schneckenart und die Größe der Schnecken sind entscheidend
Türke M., Weisser W. W. (2013): Species, Diaspore Volume and Body Mass Matter in Gastropod Seed Feeding Behavior. PLOS ONE 8(7): e68788. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068788
More information:  doi.org
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Sind Gastropoden, eher als Ameisen, wichtige Verbreiter für Samen von myrmekochoren Waldkräutern?
Türke M., Andreas K., Gossner M. M., Kowalski E., Lange M., Boch S., Socher S., Müller J., Prati D., Fischer M., Meyhöfer R., Weisser W. W. (2012): Are gastropods, rather than ants, important dispersers of seeds of myrmecochorous forest herbs? American Naturalist 179 (1), 124-131. doi: 10.1086/663195
More information:  doi.org
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Effekte der Habitatisolation und „Metacommunity-Prozesse“ auf die Artenzahl und Abundanz von Organismen in Phytotelmen
Lade P. (2011): Effekte der Habitatisolation und „Metacommunity-Prozesse“ auf die Artenzahl und Abundanz von Organismen in Phytotelmen. Bachelor thesis, University Jena
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Die Verwendung von Forstinventurdaten für die Platzierung von Kreuzfensterfallen im Kronendach
Kowalski E., Gossner M. M., Türke M., Lange M., Veddeler D., Hessenmöller D., Schulze E.-D., Weisser W. W. (2011): The use of forest inventory data for placing flight interception traps in the forest canopy. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata Volume 140 (1), 35–44. doi: 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2011.01134.x
More information:  doi.org
Doc
Der Einfluss der Waldbewirtschaftung auf Streubewohnende Wirbellose: Ein Vergleich der Subtropen und der gemäßigten Zone
Lange M., Weisser W.W., Gossner M. M., Kowalski E., Türke M., Joner F. & Fonseca C. R. (2011). The impact of forest management on litter-dwelling invertebrates: a subtropical - temperate contrast. Biodiversity and Conservation, doi: 10.1007/s10531-011-0078-0
More information:  doi.org
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Der Effekt von Art und Durchmesser einer Bodenfalle auf den Wirbeltier-Beifang und auf die Beprobung von Laufkäfern (Coleoptera: Carabidae) und Spinnen (Araneae)
Lange M., Gossner M. M., Weisser W. W. (2011): Effect of pitfall trap type and diameter on vertebrate by-catches and ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and spider (Araneae) sampling. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2(2), 185-190. doi: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00062.x
More information:  doi.org
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Türke M.(2011): Complicating a Complex Ecosystem Function: the Controversial Role of Gastropods in a Myrmecochorous Seed Dispersal Mutualism. Dissertation, University Jena
More information:  www.db-thueringen.de
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The effect of land use and biodiversity on ground-dwelling arthropods
Lange M. (2011): The effect of land use and biodiversity on ground-dwelling arthropods. Dissertation, University Jena
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Effekte der Landnutzung auf das Vorkommen von Phytotelmen und der mit diesen assoziierten Invertebratengemeinschaften im Biosphärengebiet „Schwäbische Alb“
Schober A. (2010): Effekte der Landnutzung auf das Vorkommen von Phytotelmen und der mit diesen assoziierten Invertebratengemeinschaften im Biosphärengebiet „Schwäbische Alb“. Thesis, University Jena
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Samenaufnahme und -verbreitung durch Schnecken
Türke M., Heinze E., Andreas K., Svendsen S. M., Gossner M. M., Weisser W. W. (2010): Seed consumption and dispersal of ant-dispersed plants by slugs. Oecologia 163(3), 681-693. doi: 10.1007/s00442-010-1612-6
More information:  doi.org
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Samenverbreiter und Samenprädatoren myrmekochorer Pflanzen im Wald in Abhängigkeit des Landnutzungsgrades
Andreas K.(2010): Samenverbreiter und Samenprädatoren myrmekochorer Pflanzen im Wald in Abhängigkeit des Landnutzungsgrades. Thesis, University Jena
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Der Einfluss von Landnutzung auf Herbivorie an Buchen
Geesink P. (2009): Der Einfluss von Landnutzung auf Herbivorie an Buchen. Bachelor thesis, University Jena
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Goßner M. M., Weigel A., Schulze E.-D. (2009): Emus hirtus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) in Thüringen - ein Überblick. - Thüringer faunistische Abhandlungen 14, 171-176.
More information:  www.zvab.com
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Goßner M. M., Kowalski E., Lange M., Türke M., Weisser W.W. (2009): Effekte von Landnutzung auf die Diversität von Wanzen. HETEROPTERON Heft 31 / 2009
More information:  www.heteropteron.de

The so-called core projects of the BE emerged from the site selection project and the establishment of the exploratories (2006-2008). Since 2008, they have been providing the infrastructure and collecting important basic information on land use, diversity and ecosystem processes (long-term monitoring) for all projects. In addition, they coordinate project-wide activities such as various large-scale experiments.

Project in other funding periods

Picture: The photo shows a close-up of a longhorn beetle.
Arthropods I (Core project)
#Animals  #2011 – 2014  #Species biodiversity […]
Picture: The photo shows a close-up of a longhorn beetle.
Arthropods (Core project)
#Animals  #2017 – 2020  #2014 – 2017  #Species biodiversity […]
Picture: The photo shows a close-up of a longhorn beetle.
Arthropods (Core project)
#Animals  #2020 – 2023  #Species biodiversity […]

Scientific assistants

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weisser
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weisser
Technische Universität München (TUM)
Prof. Dr. Martin Gossner
Alumni
Prof. Dr. Martin Gossner
Markus Lange
Alumni
Markus Lange
Manfred Türke
Alumni
Manfred Türke
Esther Pasalic
Alumni
Esther Pasalic
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