TY  - JOUR
A1  - Albrecht, Jörg
A1  - Classen, Alice
A1  - Vollstädt, Maximilian G.R.
A1  - Mayr, Antonia
A1  - Mollel, Neduvoto P.
A1  - Schellenberger Costa, David
A1  - Dulle, Hamadi I.
A1  - Fischer, Markus
A1  - Hemp, Andreas
A1  - Howell, Kim M.
A1  - Kleyer, Michael
A1  - Nauss, Thomas
A1  - Peters, Marcell K.
A1  - Tschapka, Marco
A1  - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf
A1  - Böhning-Gaese, Katrin
A1  - Schleuning, Matthias
T1  - Plant and animal functional diversity drive mutualistic network assembly across an elevational gradient
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Species' functional traits set the blueprint for pair-wise interactions in ecological networks. Yet, it is unknown to what extent the functional diversity of plant and animal communities controls network assembly along environmental gradients in real-world ecosystems. Here we address this question with a unique dataset of mutualistic bird-fruit, bird-flower and insect-flower interaction networks and associated functional traits of 200 plant and 282 animal species sampled along broad climate and land-use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro. We show that plant functional diversity is mainly limited by precipitation, while animal functional diversity is primarily limited by temperature. Furthermore, shifts in plant and animal functional diversity along the elevational gradient control the niche breadth and partitioning of the respective other trophic level. These findings reveal that climatic constraints on the functional diversity of either plants or animals determine the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down control in plant-animal interaction networks.
KW  - Traits-Environment Relationships
KW  - Species Traits
KW  - Ecological Networks
KW  - 4TH-Corner Problem
KW  - Multiple Traits
KW  - Bottom-up
KW  - Biodiversity
KW  - Community ecology
KW  - Ecological networks
KW  - Ecology
KW  - Ecosystem ecology
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-221056
VL  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Redlich, Sarah
A1  - Martin, Emily A.
A1  - Wende, Beate
A1  - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf
T1  - Landscape heterogeneity rather than crop diversity mediates bird diversity in agricultural landscapes
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Crop diversification has been proposed as farm management tool that could mitigate the externalities of conventional farming while reducing productivity-biodiversity trade-offs. Yet evidence for the acclaimed biodiversity benefits of landscape-level crop diversity is ambiguous. Effects may strongly depend on spatial scale and the level of landscape heterogeneity (e.g. overall habitat diversity). At the same time, contrasting within-taxon responses obscure benefits to specific functional groups (i.e. species with shared characteristics or requirements) if studied at the community level. The objectives of this study were to 1) disentangle the relative effects of crop diversity and landscape heterogeneity on avian species richness across five spatial scales ranging from 250 to 3000 m radii around focal winter wheat fields; and 2) assess whether functional groups (feeding guild, conservation status, habitat preference, nesting behaviour) determine the strength and direction of responses to crop diversity and landscape heterogeneity. In central Germany, 14 landscapes were selected along independent gradients of crop diversity (annual arable crops) and landscape heterogeneity. Bird species richness in each landscape was estimated using four point counts throughout the breeding season. We found no effects of landscape-level crop diversity on bird richness and functional groups. Instead, landscape heterogeneity was strongly associated with increased total bird richness across all spatial scales. In particular, insect-feeding and non-farmland birds were favoured in heterogeneous landscapes, as were species not classified as endangered or vulnerable on the regional Red List. Crop-nesting farmland birds, however, were less species-rich in these landscapes. Accordingly, crop diversification may be less suitable for conserving avian diversity and associated ecosystem services (e.g. biological pest control), although confounding interactions with management intensity need yet to be confirmed. In contrast, enhancement of landscape heterogeneity by increasing perennial habitat diversity, reducing field sizes and the amount of cropland has the potential to benefit overall bird richness. Specialist farmland birds, however, may require more targeted management approaches.
KW  - bird diversity
KW  - crop diversity
KW  - landscape heterogeneity
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177110
VL  - 13
IS  - 8
ER  -