@article{EnglmeierMitesserBenbowetal.2023, author = {Englmeier, Jana and Mitesser, Oliver and Benbow, M. Eric and Hothorn, Torsten and von Hoermann, Christian and Benjamin, Caryl and Fricke, Ute and Ganuza, Cristina and Haensel, Maria and Redlich, Sarah and Riebl, Rebekka and Rojas Botero, Sandra and Rummler, Thomas and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf and Stengel, Elisa and Tobisch, Cynthia and Uhler, Johannes and Uphus, Lars and Zhang, Jie and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg}, title = {Diverse effects of climate, land use, and insects on dung and carrion decomposition}, series = {Ecosystems}, volume = {26}, journal = {Ecosystems}, number = {2}, issn = {1432-9840}, doi = {10.1007/s10021-022-00764-7}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-325064}, pages = {397-411}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Land-use intensification and climate change threaten ecosystem functions. A fundamental, yet often overlooked, function is decomposition of necromass. The direct and indirect anthropogenic effects on decomposition, however, are poorly understood. We measured decomposition of two contrasting types of necromass, rat carrion and bison dung, on 179 study sites in Central Europe across an elevational climate gradient of 168-1122 m a.s.l. and within both local and regional land uses. Local land-use types included forest, grassland, arable fields, and settlements and were embedded in three regional land-use types (near-natural, agricultural, and urban). The effects of insects on decomposition were quantified by experimental exclusion, while controlling for removal by vertebrates. We used generalized additive mixed models to evaluate dung weight loss and carrion decay rate along elevation and across regional and local land-use types. We observed a unimodal relationship of dung decomposition with elevation, where greatest weight loss occurred between 600 and 700 m, but no effects of local temperature, land use, or insects. In contrast to dung, carrion decomposition was continuously faster with both increasing elevation and local temperature. Carrion reached the final decomposition stage six days earlier when insect access was allowed, and this did not depend on land-use effect. Our experiment identified different major drivers of decomposition on each necromass form. The results show that dung and carrion decomposition are rather robust to local and regional land use, but future climate change and decline of insects could alter decomposition processes and the self-regulation of ecosystems.}, language = {en} } @article{EnglmeiervonHoermannRiekeretal.2022, author = {Englmeier, Jana and von Hoermann, Christian and Rieker, Daniel and Benbow, Marc Eric and Benjamin, Caryl and Fricke, Ute and Ganuza, Cristina and Haensel, Maria and Lackner, Tom{\´a}š and Mitesser, Oliver and Redlich, Sarah and Riebl, Rebekka and Rojas-Botero, Sandra and Rummler, Thomas and Salamon, J{\"o}rg-Alfred and Sommer, David and Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf and Tobisch, Cynthia and Uhler, Johannes and Uphus, Lars and Zhang, Jie and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg}, title = {Dung-visiting beetle diversity is mainly affected by land use, while community specialization is driven by climate}, series = {Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {12}, journal = {Ecology and Evolution}, number = {10}, issn = {2045-7758}, doi = {10.1002/ece3.9386}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312846}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Dung beetles are important actors in the self-regulation of ecosystems by driving nutrient cycling, bioturbation, and pest suppression. Urbanization and the sprawl of agricultural areas, however, destroy natural habitats and may threaten dung beetle diversity. In addition, climate change may cause shifts in geographical distribution and community composition. We used a space-for-time approach to test the effects of land use and climate on α-diversity, local community specialization (H\(_2\)′) on dung resources, and γ-diversity of dung-visiting beetles. For this, we used pitfall traps baited with four different dung types at 115 study sites, distributed over a spatial extent of 300 km × 300 km and 1000 m in elevation. Study sites were established in four local land-use types: forests, grasslands, arable sites, and settlements, embedded in near-natural, agricultural, or urban landscapes. Our results show that abundance and species density of dung-visiting beetles were negatively affected by agricultural land use at both spatial scales, whereas γ-diversity at the local scale was negatively affected by settlements and on a landscape scale equally by agricultural and urban land use. Increasing precipitation diminished dung-visiting beetle abundance, and higher temperatures reduced community specialization on dung types and γ-diversity. These results indicate that intensive land use and high temperatures may cause a loss in dung-visiting beetle diversity and alter community networks. A decrease in dung-visiting beetle diversity may disturb decomposition processes at both local and landscape scales and alter ecosystem functioning, which may lead to drastic ecological and economic damage.}, language = {en} } @article{LeverkusThornGustafssonetal.2021, author = {Leverkus, Alexandro B. and Thorn, Simon and Gustafsson, Lena and Noss, Reed and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Pausas, Juli G. and Lindenmayer, David B.}, title = {Environmental policies to cope with novel disturbance regimes-steps to address a world scientists' warning to humanity}, series = {Environmental Research Letters}, volume = {16}, journal = {Environmental Research Letters}, number = {2}, issn = {1748-9326}, doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/abdc5a}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254180}, year = {2021}, abstract = {No abstract available.}, language = {en} }