@phdthesis{Mayr2021,
  author    = {Mayr, Antonia Veronika},
  title     = {Following Bees and Wasps up Mt. Kilimanjaro: From Diversity and Traits to hidden Interactions of Species},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-18292},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-182922},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Chapter 1 - General Introduction One of the greatest challenges of ecological research is to predict the response of ecosystems to global change; that is to changes in climate and land use. A complex question in this context is how changing environmental conditions affect ecosystem processes at different levels of communities. To shed light on this issue, I investigate drivers of biodiversity on the level of species richness, functional traits and species interactions in cavity-nesting Hymenoptera. For this purpose, I take advantage of the steep elevational gradient of Mt. Kilimanjaro that shows strong environmental changes on a relatively small spatial scale and thus, provides a good environmental scenario for investigating drivers of diversity. In this thesis, I focus on 1) drivers of species richness at different trophic levels (Chapter 2); 2) seasonal patterns in nest-building activity, life-history traits and ecological rates in three different functional groups and at different elevations (Chapter 3) and 3) changes in cuticular hydrocarbons, pollen composition and microbiomes in Lasioglossum bees caused by climatic variables (Chapter 4). Chapter 2 - Climate and food resources shape species richness and trophic interactions of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera Drivers of species richness have been subject to research for centuries. Temperature, resource availability and top-down regulation as well as the impact of land use are considered to be important factors in determining insect diversity. Yet, the relative importance of each of these factors is unknown. Using trap nests along the elevational gradient of Mt. Kilimanjaro, we tried to disentangle drivers of species richness at different trophic levels. Temperature was the major driver of species richness across trophic levels, with increasing importance of food resources at higher trophic levels in natural antagonists. Parasitism rate was both related to temperature and trophic level, indicating that the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down forces might shift with climate change. Chapter 3 - Seasonal variation in the ecology of tropical cavity-nesting Hymenoptera Natural populations fluctuate with the availability of resources, presence of natural enemies and climatic variations. But tropical mountain seasonality is not yet well investigated. We investigated seasonal patterns in nest-building activity, functional traits and ecological rates in three different insect groups at lower and higher elevations separately. Insects were caught with trap nests which were checked monthly during a 17 months period that included three dry and three rainy seasons. Insects were grouped according to their functional guilds. All groups showed strong seasonality in nest-building activity which was higher and more synchronised among groups at lower elevations. Seasonality in nest building activity of caterpillar-hunting and spider-hunting wasps was linked to climate seasonality while in bees it was strongly linked to the availability of flowers, as well as for the survival rate and sex ratio of bees. Finding adaptations to environmental seasonality might imply that further changes in climatic seasonality by climate change could have an influence on life-history traits of tropical mountain species. Chapter 4 - Cryptic species and hidden ecological interactions of halictine bees along an elevational Gradient Strong environmental gradients such as those occurring along mountain slopes are challenging for species. In this context, hidden adaptations or interactions have rarely been considered. We used bees of the genus Lasioglossum as model organisms because Lasioglossum is the only bee genus occurring with a distribution across the entire elevational gradient at Mt. Kilimanjaro. We asked if and how (a) cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC), which act as a desiccation barrier, change in composition and chain length along with changes in temperature and humidity (b), Lasioglossum bees change their pollen diet with changing resource availability, (c) gut microbiota change with pollen diet and climatic conditions, and surface microbiota change with CHC and climatic conditions, respectively, and if changes are rather influenced by turnover in Lasioglossum species along the elevational gradient. We found physiological adaptations with climate in CHC as well as changes in communities with regard to pollen diet and microbiota, which also correlated with each other. These results suggest that complex interactions and feedbacks among abiotic and biotic conditions determine the species composition in a community. Chapter 5 - General Discussion Abiotic and biotic factors drove species diversity, traits and interactions and they worked differently depending on the functional group that has been studied, and whether spatial or temporal units were considered. It is therefore likely, that in the light of global change, different species, traits and interactions will be affected differently. Furthermore, increasing land use intensity could have additional or interacting effects with climate change on biodiversity, even though the potential land-use effects at Mt. Kilimanjaro are still low and not impairing cavity-nesting Hymenoptera so far. Further studies should address species networks which might reveal more sensitive changes. For that purpose, trap nests provide a good model system to investigate effects of global change on multiple trophic levels and may also reveal direct effects of climate change on entire life-history traits when established under different microclimatic conditions. The non-uniform effects of abiotic and biotic conditions on multiple aspects of biodiversity revealed with this study also highlight that evaluating different aspects of biodiversity can give a more comprehensive picture than single observations.},
  subject      = {land use},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{Drenckhahn2021,
  author    = {Drenckhahn, Detlev},
  title     = {Zur Vegetation der Seedeiche der Nordseek{\"u}ste Schleswig-Holsteins - Implikationen f{\"u}r die Umsetzung des Generalplans K{\"u}stenschutz},
  series = {Forum Geobotanicum},
  volume    = {10},
  journal   = {Forum Geobotanicum},
  issn      = {1867-9315},
  doi       = {10.3264/FG.2021.0825a},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-243795},
  pages     = {28-37},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Bis zum Jahr 2100 prognostiziert der Weltklimarat (IPCC 2021) einen Anstieg des Meeresspiegels von bis zu 63-101 cm gegen{\"u}ber heutigen Wasserst{\"a}nden. Im Rahmen des Generalplans K{\"u}stenschutz Schleswig-Holstein(GKSH) soll als Klimafolgeanpassung eine Erh{\"o}hung und Profil{\"a}nderung der meisten Nordseedeiche und Elbedeiche erfolgen (zusammen 363,3 km mit einer Vegetationsfl{\"a}che von 3.500 ha). Diese Maßnahmen werden mit einem vollst{\"a}ndigen Verlust der alten Deichvegetation einhergehen und zur Freisetzung von großen Mengen an CO₂ aus dem Bodenkohlenstoff f{\"u}hren. Die Seedeiche der Nordseek{\"u}ste (262 km) z{\"a}hlen zu den artenreichen, semi-nat{\"u}rlichen und von Schafen beweideten Grasl{\"a}ndern (Fl{\"a}che von 2600 ha) in Schleswig-Holstein mit bis zu 18 Gras- und 64 zweikeim-bl{\"a}ttrigen Bl{\"u}tenpflanzen und an die Vegetation gebundene 800-1000 Arten von Invertebraten (darunter 200 K{\"a}ferarten). Auf die Außenb{\"o}schung dringen Pflanzen der Salzwiesengesellschaften vor. Die steileren, w{\"a}rmeexponierten ({\"u}berwiegend nach Osten und S{\"u}den ausgerichtet) und durch Vertritt l{\"u}ckigen Innenb{\"o}schungen der Seedeiche sind wertvolle Refugien w{\"a}rmeliebender, konkurrenzschwacher Arten von Magerstandorten und Trittgesellschaften wie die folgenden mediterran-subatlantischen Arten: Knotenklettenkerbel (Torilis nodosa), Zwergklee/Armbl{\"u}tiger Klee (Trifolium micranthum) und Vogelfußklee (Trifolium ornithopodioides). F{\"u}r die Erhaltung beider Kleearten (die aktuelle Verbreitung wird dokumentiert) besitzt Schleswig-Holstein eine nationale und nordwest-europ{\"a}isch-kontinentale Verantwortlichkeit. Folgende Maßnahmen zum Schutz der reichhaltigen Deichvegetation und Teilen seiner Invertebratenfauna bei der Deichverst{\"a}rkung im Rahmen des GKSH werden vorgeschlagen: 1. Abheben der Grasnarbe mit Wurzelraum und zeitnahe Wiederverlegung der alten Grasnarbe (Soden) auf das neue Deichprofil; das ist auch wichtig zum Erhalt des Bodenkohlenstoffs (Klimaschutz). 2. Einsaat von neuen Deichprofilen mit Saatgut von artenreichen Deichabschnitten. 3. Aufnahme substanzieller Forschungsprogramme/Forschungsf{\"o}rderung zur {\"O}kologie der Seedeiche. Weiterhin sollte auf den Einsatz von Herbiziden auf Deichen zur Bek{\"a}mpfung von Disteln verzichtet werden.},
  subject      = {Seedeich},
  language  = {de}
}