iDiv Conference 2016

Abstracts Talks

T-Adam Adam, Nora Biodiversity Functions Monday, 7 November 2016, 11:00 Past I - Thomas Eisner 10 min

Nora Adam (MPI CE) Sex ratio of mirid populations shifts in response to hostplant co-infestation or altered cytokinin signaling

Herbivore species sharing a host plant often compete. In this study, we show that host plant-mediated interaction between two insect herbivores – a generalist and a specialist – results in a sex ratio shift of the specialist’s offspring. We studied demographic parameters of the specialist Tupiocoris notatus (Hemiptera: Miridae) when co-infesting the host plant Nicotiana attenuata (Solanaceae) with the generalist leafhopper Empoasca sp. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). We show that the usually female-biased sex ratio of T. notatus shifts toward a higher male proportion in the offspring on plants co-infested by Empoasca sp. This sex ratio change did not occur after oviposition, nor is it due differential mortality of female and male nymphs. Based on pyrosequencing and PCR of bacterial 16S rRNA amplicons, we concluded that sex ratio shifts were unlikely to be due to infection with Wolbachia or other known sex ratio- distorting endosymbionts. Finally, we used transgenic lines of N. attenuata to evaluate if the sex ratio shift could be mediated by changes in general or specialized host plant metabolites. We found that the sex ratio shift occurred on plants deficient in two cytokinin receptors (irCHK2/3). Thus, cytokinin- regulated traits can alter the offspring sex ratio of the specialist T. notatus.

Co-Authors

Theresa Erler, Mario Kallenbach, Martin Kaltenpoth, Grit Kunert, Ian T. Baldwin, and Meredith C. Schuman (MPI CE)

Keywords interspecific competition, sex ratio, jasmonic acid, cytokinin T-Ascen Ascensão, Fernando Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:35 Past I - Thomas Eisner 10 min

Fernando Ascensão (CIBIO-InBio) Predicting wildlife-vehicle collisions using occupancy models

1. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) are more expected where species are more likely to occur. However, in many studies, the information regarding species’ presence and abundance in road surroundings is absent. On the other hand, WVC may be undetected in roadkill surveys. When this information is absent, it may lead to biased conclusions that ultimately jeopardize conservation actions.

2. We suggest using occupancy models, assuming occupancy as the probability of individuals using the immediate vicinity of a road section or using it for crossing (road-kill risk); and detectability as the combination of the probability of an individual being hit by a vehicle and, if so, its carcass being detected during a roadkill survey. We used this approach to assess how habitat influences species occupancy probability along the road roads, while accounting for imperfect detection.

3. We conducted road surveys biweekly, between April 2010 and March 2015, over 114 km of nine different roads in Brasília FD, Brazil. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical occupancy model to assess spatial patterns of WVC occurrence for a collection of the six most road-killed taxa (n=1711).

4. We estimated a generally higher roadkill risk in road segments near urban areas and with higher cover of open habitat. Detectability tended to be higher for four- lane roads and rainy season. From a conservation perspective, our results highlight the need to upgrade road stretches near urban areas and with higher cover of open habitat.

5. Our results provide an insight into the influence of habitat on roadkill risk for a collection of species, while accounting for different detectability. Yet, further model development should integrate colonization-extinction episodes, as well be able to disentangling both detectability processes.

Co-Authors

Rodrigo A. L. Santos (University of Brasília-UnB, Brasília), Mário Ferreira (Universidade do Porto)

Keywords road ecology, conservation biology T-Backm Backmann, Pia Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:35 Present I - E.O. Wilson 10 min

Pia Backmann (iDiv) Attack my neighbour: Delayed induction of plant chemical defense can be an evolutionary stable strategy

In plants, time delays in the activation of defense against herbivory are thought to be the principal disadvantage of induced instead of constitutive defense. This suggests strong selection for fast induction. However, observed time delays between the onset of herbivory and defense induction vary considerably. We postulate that strong competition with conspecifics is an important co-determinant of the cost-benefit balance for induced responses. As damage caused by early instars of the herbivore might be tolerable, plants might rather wait until later instars are large enough to be both mobile and cause severe damage. Then, if expelled by chemical defense, larvae might attack neighbouring plants and thereby reducing the competitive pressure on the focal plant. To explore this idea quantitatively, we developed an individual-based model which is based on data from wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, and its specialized herbivore, larvae of the moth Manduca sexta. Plant competition was represented with the zone-of-influence (ZOI) approach. Chemical defense was assumed to be costly in terms of reduced plant growth, while herbivory reduced above-ground biomass. We used a genetic algorithm with the plant’s delay time as a heritable trait. We found that a stationary distribution of delay times emerged, which under high herbivore densities peaked at higher values.

We conclude that if plants grow in stands of dense cohorts, there is no strong selection pressure to minimize delay times for herbivore-induced responses.

Co-Authors

Nicole Van Dam (iDiv), Volker Grimm (UFZ), Ian T. Baldwin (MPI CE), Eckhard Finke, Gottfried Jetschke (FSU), Yue Lin (Northwest University, Xi'an city), Matthijs Vos (University of Oldenburg)

Keywords computer simulations, individual-based model, plant-herbivore interactions, induced defense, trait diversity, Monodominance, percolation, dispersal T-Banna Bannar-Martin, Katherine Biodiversity Functions Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:10 Past III - Rosalind Franklin 15 min

Katharine Bannar-Martin (sDiv/iDiv) Integrating community assembly into biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships- results from the sCAFE working group.

Over the past two decades, the biodiversity-ecosystem-function (BEF) research program has proliferated, linking changes in biodiversity to changes in ecosystem functions and services. However, the extent to which the results of BEF studies, focused on local experimental systems, can be extended to natural systems is the subject of much debate. Specifically, the applicability of the BEF framework is complicated by the fact that real-world biodiversity is an emergent property of (meta)community processes, which determine how communities assemble across environments through the dispersal, colonization, and extinction of species. Although these processes strongly affect the diversity, composition, stability, and function of ecosystems, their role is rarely considered in BEF research. Consequently, advancing the study of ecosystem function requires integrating the valuable discoveries of BEF research with (meta)community theory. In the sCAFE working group, we adapted and extended a novel approach to incorporating community assembly into diversity-ecosystem-function research (the CAFE approach) using the Price Equation. We use the Price Equation as an integrative tool allowing for a broader empirical examination of how community assembly (species gains and losses), together with changes in species number impact ecosystem function. We show how the CAFE approach can reveal important contributions of community composition and assembly to ecosystem function using empirical examples of grassland seed addition experiments, species invasions, and recovery of small mammal communities over time after a disturbance event. Considering the CAFE approach in studies of ecosystem function illustrates the importance of metacommunity processes for explaining the linkages between diversity, ecosystem function, and ultimately the ecosystem services on which we depend.

Co-Authors

Colin Kremer (Yale), S.K. Morgan Ernest (University of Florida), Mathew A. Leibold (University of Texas), sCAFE Working Group (iDiv)

Keywords biodiversity, ecosystem function, community assembly, metacommunity, dispersal, Price equation T-Benne Bennett, Joanne Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 12:05 Present VI - Georgina Mace 5 min

Joanne Bennett (iDiv) Global change drivers are increasing pollen limitation in wild plants

The majority of the world’s plants (~87%) rely on animal pollination at least to some degree for reproduction. Reports of global pollinator declines have raised concerns that wild and crop plants are facing a pollination crises. Pollinator declines are expected to lead to a reduction in the reproductive success of flowering plants, but a lack of suitable data has hampered attempts to assess whether this is occurring in nature. In plants the degree of pollen limitation (a reduction in fruit or seed set as a result of limited pollen supply) can be used as a direct assessment of plant reproductive success in relation to pollination services. We created a global pollen limitation dataset, containing over 3,000 experimental measures of pollen limitation for a ~1,200 wild plant species, over a 40 year period to document spatiotemporal changes in pollen limitation. We found an increase in pollen limitation through time that was more pronounced in areas experiencing rapid environmental change and with high biodiversity, where competition for pollinator services is likely to be high. Plants exclusively pollinated by obligate flower-feeding specialist bees were more affected through time than other plants. Our results support evidence of a global decline in the services of pollinators that is affecting the reproductive success of wild plants. Our results fuel concern over wild plant biodiversity under global anthropogenic change as bees are important pollinators globally.

Co-Authors

Prof. Tia-Lynn Ashman University of Pittsburgh), Prof. Janette Steets (Oklahoma State University), Prof. Tiffany Knight (UFZ, iDiv, MLU)

Keywords global change, pollination T-Bing Bing, Julia Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:00 Present I - E.O. Wilson 15 min

Julia Bing (MPI CE) Finding the best match: Comparing preferences of Nicotiana attenuata and its pollinators

The self-compatible wild tobacco plant Nicotiana attenuata grows in genetically diverse populations and is visited by a variety of pollinators, such as hummingbirds, hawkmoths and bees. These floral visitors show differences in their behavior and flower handling. They also vary in their response to floral traits, such as scent or nectar, which the plant uses to allure potential floral visitors. Pollinators choose based on their adaptations to different floral traits. But not only pollinators make a choice, tobacco does as well. If pollen of different paternal genotypes has been transferred to the stigma of N. attenuata, the plant is able to select its mates from this diverse pool of pollen.

For this, two questions have to be considered:

1.What floral traits are important for the different pollinators?

2. Which pollinators match the plant’s preferences?

To answer this, we conduct natural and semi-natural experiments with transgenic lines and native accessions that show differences in floral traits. Since ethylene plays an important role in the mate selection process we used transformed plants with silenced ethylene production (ACO) in comparison to empty vector control plants (EV). Seeds produced after pollinator visitation will be used for genotyping. The comparison of the seed set from both treatments will shed light on which pollen was brought by the pollinators (ACO plant) and what pollen was selected by the plant to set seeds (EV plant). This allows us to uncouple the events of pre- pollination sexual selection (pollinator choice) and post-pollination sexual selection (mate choice of plant) to finally get an idea if there are pollinators that transfer exactly the pollen genotypes to the flowers that also the plant would choose based on its mate selection pattern.

Co-Authors

Danny Kessler, Ian T. Baldwin (MPI CE)

Keywords pollination, wild tobacco, mate choice, plant-pollinator-interaction T-Blowe Blowes, Shane Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 10:05 Present V - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 10 min

Shane Blowes (Tel Aviv University / iDiv) Scale-dependent dissections of geographic diversity gradients

Biodiversity of the same taxa can vary by many orders of magnitude from place to place as a result of variation in environmental factors, such as climate, and historical biogeographic factors, such as variation in rates of diversification. Unfortunately, most analyses of global gradients in biodiversity focus on species richness, a notoriously scale-dependent variable made up of a number of varying components (including the total and relative abundances of individuals, and their spatial aggregations). Here we dissect two well-known species richness patterns to show that similar decreases in marine fish richness from the central Indo-Pacific biodiversity hotspot are associated with very different component changes along latitudinal and longitudinal gradients. Latitudinal richness is underpinned by complementary scale-independent patterns of total abundance and evenness, suggesting ecological constraints scale up to determine absolute and relative abundance within communities. In contrast, the longitudinal gradient was not detected at small scales, meaning local fish communities in the biodiversity hotspot and species poor islands are remarkably similar in terms of total and relative abundances, and species richness. Longitudinal richness only emerges at the largest scale, and a similar scale-dependent pattern of evenness indicates that species aggregation promotes regional coexistence, but that this does not trickle down to influence local-scale patterns. Dissecting species richness into components provides vital new insights into biodiversity patterns and the processes that shape them.

Co-Authors

Jonathan Belmaker (Tel Aviv University), Jonathan M. Chase (iDiv)

Keywords biodiversity, macroecology T-Borda Borda-de-Água, Luís Biodiversity and Society Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:25 Past III - Rosalind Franklin 15 min

Luís Borda-de-Água (CIBIO-InBIO) On the identification of high mortality rate hotspots

One of the main tasks in road ecology is to identify hotspots of high mortality so that one can devise and implement mitigation measures. A common strategy to identify hotspots is to divide a road into several segments and determine when the number of collisions is above a given threshold, reflecting a desired significance level obtained assuming a probability distribution (often the Poisson). The problem of this approach when applied to each segment individually is that the probability of identifying false hotspots is very high, i.e., the probability of making a type I error is very high. For instance, if we establish the threshold based as the top of a 95% confidence interval, then one should expect to incorrectly identify just by chance five false hotspots in every 100 segments. Although one may argue that such overly cautionary approach may be beneficial from a biological conservation perspective, it may lead to the waste of resources and, probably worse, it may raise doubts on the methodology adopted and the credibility of those suggesting it. The problem of multiple comparison occurs in several scientific areas and several corrections have been suggested. Here, we apply three different approaches to the identification of hotspots: a method similar to that of the Bonferroni correction; the false discovery rate (FDR); and a a Bayesian approach that consists of a hierarchical Poisson model. The Bonferroni approach reduces the probability of type I errors, yet the probability of type II errors (rejecting a true hotspot), is very high and thus this procedure has low power. FDR method increases the power of the test while keeping the probability of identifying false hotspots low. The Bayesian approach uses the information obtained from all segments to infer the probability of a segment being a hotspot and avoids some of the problems inherent to the two previous approaches. We discuss the application of these three methods and give recommendations to the identification of hotspots with a view to providing a wide range of practitioners’ procedures that are reliable and simple to use in real situations.

Co-Authors

Rafael Barrientos (CIBIO), Henrique Miguel Pereira (iDiv)

Keywords road Ecology, impact of linear infrastructures T-Boy Boy, Thomas Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:55 Present IV - Simon Levin 5 min

Thomas Boy (iDiv) Track the smallest

Movement studies of animals are widely used in biological investigations. The present studies are mostly restricted on the size and the weight of the study objects. Around 70 Percent of all bird species and 65 percent of all mammal species could not be tracked today, because they are to small and lightweight (terrestrial animal tracking as an eye on life and planet, Roland Kays et. al. Nature June; 2015). In order to address these needs, we implemented a novel radio-frequency identification animal tracking system. The system is build of a parallel multi sensor network. First results of a comparison study with a image-based-tracking system are demonstrating future study possibilities.

Keywords technical systems, movement, animal tracking T-Bruel Bruelheide, Helge Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:10 Present IV - Simon Levin 15 min

Helge Bruelheide (MLU) sPlot – Current achievements and future plans

So far, global studies on trait composition of plant communities have only focused either on individual geo-located records or on coarse-grain species assemblages, while fine-grain functional composition of plant communities has been only available for very limited local spatial extents. We here show the recent progress and future plans for one of the iDiv platforms, the sPlot database, sPlot currently holds more than 1.1 million vegetation plots from more than 100 databases worldwide and has been linked to 18 key traits derived from the TRY database for 36,832 species. Our recent results showed that that the global community-weighted trait patterns closely follow those of individual species, with communities characterized by low vs. fast productivity and by low vs. high diaspore production. However, these trait axes were only marginally related to classical macroclimatic drivers, such as on mean annual temperature or precipitation, but depended on the mean diurnal temperature range and isothermality. A strong correlation was found between leaf N to P ratio and the length of the growing season, which points to phosphorus limitation being the most prominent driver of global trait patterns. This finding demonstrates that our previous conception that global vegetation is mainly determined by macroclimate has to be reconsidered.

We will also give an overview on ongoing projects and future ideas of how to use sPlot to address iDiv’s key questions, addressing the scaling issue in space (Patterns), functional diversity by climatic variability (Processes) or linking traits to global productivity maps to upscale Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning relationships to the global scale (Functions).

Co-Authors

Borja Jiménez-Alfaro (MLU, iDiv,Masaryk University), Jürgen Dengler (University of Bayreuth), Oliver Purschke (MLU, iDiv), Brody Sandel (Aarhus University), Milan Chytrý (Masaryk University), Valério D. Pillar (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), Jens Kattge (iDiv, MPI BGC), Florian Jansen (University of Greifswald), Stephan Hennekens (Alterra), Ute Jandt (MLU, iDiv), Marten Winter (iDiv), Jonathan Lenoir (Université de Picardie Jules Verne) & the sPlot Consortium

Keywords biodiversity-ecosystem functioning, biogeography, vegetation Ecology T-Ceaus Ceausu, Silvia Biodiversity and Society Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:10 Present III - Jane Goodall 10 min

Silvia Ceausu (iDiv/MLU) No ecosystem services left behind: reconnecting ecosystem services and biodiversity

The relationships between biodiversity and services are described in two ways: an indirect one in which biodiversity drives ecosystem functions, which then generate services, and a direct one in which biodiversity supplies services directly. Service assessments include frequently only the first type of services, named here biophysically-based services. As a result, conservation policies and decision-making are based on incomplete information. We provide here a comprehensive assessment at European level of the second type of services, named here biodiversity-based services. We use the concept of service providing units (SPU) and atlas data for vertebrates and plants to calculate estimates for nine biodiversity-based services. In an integrated assessment with biophysically-based services, we show that half of the areas prioritized based on biophysically-based services do not supply also a high levels of biodiversity-based services. The overlap decreases further when we consider a national scale perspective. Thus, policies and management can ensure better supply of all services if comprehensive assessments are conducted. Regardless of the type of services considered, the relationship between biodiversity and services becomes stronger the more services are included. In conclusion, considering a limited number of services leads to underestimation of the role of biodiversity in service supply.

Co-Authors

Amira Apaza (iDiv, MLU), Marlen Schmidt (iDiv, MLU), Berta Martín-López (Leuphana University), Ainara Cortés-Avizanda (CSIC, REFER, Universidade de Lisboa)), Joachim Maes, Lluís Brotons (EBCC, CREAF, CSIC), Cibele Queiroz, Henrique M. Pereira (iDiv, MLU, REFER)

Keywords biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, biodiversity contribution to ecosystem services T-Ceia Ceia-Hasse, Ana Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:55 Past I - Thomas Eisner 5 min

Ana Ceia-Hasse (iDiv/MLU/CIBIO-InBIO/CEABN-InBio) Population persistence in fragmented landscapes: disentangling isolation, road mortality, and the effect of dispersal

Linear infrastructures, one of several forms of land-use change, are a major driver of biodiversity loss. Roads impacts populations at many levels, with direct road mortality or road avoidance contributing to decreased population abundance, isolation and subdivision, and therefore to increased extinction risk. While species traits such as dispersal have been identified as playing a role in population level responses to land-use change, the influence of these factors on population persistence is still not fully understood. We used a spatially explicit process-based model of population dynamics to assess the effect of road mortality and road avoidance, and their interaction with dispersal, on population isolation, persistence and size, in landscapes fragmented by varying levels of road density. Both road mortality and road avoidance caused population isolation. While road mortality alone had stronger negative effects than road avoidance alone, avoidance also resulted in decreased population size. Yet, road avoidance could, in some cases, rescue populations from extinction. Populations with large dispersal distances were more negatively affected as road mortality increased. However, when there was no road mortality they maintained larger sizes than populations with a short dispersal distance. Results highlight the importance of knowing both the levels of road mortality and of road avoidance for effective long-term conservation management. Our model can be adapted to species-specific situations and to represent real landscape configurations, and can also be used in environmental impact assessments, and for conservation planning.

Co-Authors

Laetitita Navarro, Henrique Pereira (iDiv, MLU), Luís Borda-deÁgua (CIBIO, CEABAN)

Keywords biodiversity conservation, modeling, biodiversity responses to environmental change T-Curri Currie, David Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:10 Past I - Thomas Eisner 15 min

David Currie (sDiv/iDiv, University of Ottawa) Climate change is not a major driver of North American avian geographic distribution shifts

Many studies postulate that physiological tolerance of climatic variables imposes the primary limit on species' geographic distributions, that tolerances are constant through time, that climate has warmed, and that geographic distributions shift to maintain species in their thermal niches when climate changes. However, recent studies present evidence inconsistent with each of these propositions. We therefore asked: how strongly did avian species' entire geographic distributions (as opposed to their latitudinal extremes) in North America track temperature changes between 1979 and 2010? We found that temperatures did not systematically increase with the breeding ranges of many species. Most species' distributions shifted geographically, but the most frequent shift was westward, not northward. Most species' realized temperature niches changed detectably through time, mainly as a result of changing temperature (versus geographic shifts). In most cases where geographic distribution shifts occurred, they did not result in smaller changes in species' realized temperature niche than species would have experienced by not moving at all. In sum, we found only faint evidence that North American passeriform birds' geographic distributions tracked temperature change. Among factors that have driven recent shifts in North American avian species' geographic distributions, temperature change is probably minor.

Co-Authors

Simon Venne (University of Ottawa)

Keywords climate change, species ranges, geographic distributions T-Eiche Eichenberg, David Biodiversity and Society Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:05 Future - Noonien Soong 10 min

David Eichenberg (UL) Balance between ecosystem diversity and biogas production: a case for trait based ecology?

Biogas is the best known source of renewable energy, next to solar and wind energy. However, unlike the latter two, biogas is stored easily in gas containers and thus its provision is less dependent on short term environmental conditions. In spite of the clear benefits of biogas, its popularity has recently decreased. Furthermore, power plants that use biogas rely on monocultures of extremely productive plant species.

From the perspective of ecosystem research, biogas production is one of many ecosystem services. Managing ecosystems for biogas production, however comes at a cost for other ecosystem services. These costs often affect ecosystem functions such as the maintenance of high levels of biodiversity. To date, the balance between service and cost in biogas production is clearly on the side of the service, affecting the sustainability and functionality of these ecosystems.

Trait based ecology has frequently been used to evaluate the state of ecosystems and their potential to provide ecosystem functions. However, trait based ecology can also be used to assess the potential of such a system to provide a certain service. Surprisingly, very little is known about the connection between plant traits and biogas production.

As an expert in trait based biodiversity research I am looking for partners in microbiology to investigate these relations. One of the primary goals of this project will be to establish diverse plant communities that allow for a high biogas yield, while at the same time maintaining other ecosystem functions such as providing bee pasture.

From a commercial perspective, such ecosystems are unlikely to produce sufficient biogas to compete with biogas plants utilizing highly productive monocultures. Thus, I am also looking for collaborations with engineers specialized in biogas production. I hope that with the help of engineers we can carry out research on the development of biogas fermenters for mixed substrates and small scale biogas production to be used in private households. Leipzig, with the iDiv, the UFZ and the DBFZ is an ideal place to establish such a collaboration.

Keywords biodiverstiy ecosystem functions, biodiversity ecosystem services T-Engst Engst, Karina Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:50 Past III - Rosalind Franklin 10 min

Karina Engst (MLU) Assessment of restoration success of semi-natural grasslands applying functional traits

Species-poor grasslands in Saxony-Anhalt were restored by applying four different methods of species introduction: hay transfer and application of threshing material, combined with and without additional sowing of a regional seed mixture, starting in 2009. We assessed the restoration success by focusing on the development of species composition and diversity calculating the number and cover of target species. Furthermore, we explored the potential to additionally use functional community composition to assess restoration success as community weighted means (CWM) and functional diversity (FD) of species traits might offer mechanistic insights into restoration processes not captured by traditional evaluation criteria.

Transfer of hay and the sowing of threshing material increased the target species number. However, there were only slight differences with respect to the establishment of target species between hay transfer and sowing of threshing material. However, additional sowing had a positive effect on target species’ number and cover.

We found that the analysed meadow was also restored functionally. Comparing the CWMs of the restoration site with a local reference, most of the trait values approached the reference indicating a positive trajectory. Furthermore, we found steadily increasing FDs.

The species newly introduced to the restoration site differed in establishment success. We asked to which degree the establishment success depends on species traits and whether there are traits that are relevant for particular restoration methods We found that in particular traits related to dispersal had an important influence on the establishment success. For various traits, we found significant trait-by-method and trait-by-year interactions, indicating that different traits promoted establishment under different conditions.

Co-Authors

Prof. Dr. Annett Baasch (Anhalt University of Applied Sciences), Prof. Dr. Helge Bruelheide (iDiv, MLU)

Keywords grasland restoration, species diversity, functional diversity T-Feng Feng, Yanhao Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:00 Present II - Paul Ehrlich 15 min

Yanhao Feng (iDiv/UFZ) Multiple mechanisms of species coexistence as a basis for biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem functioning

Explaining the mechanisms underlying species coexistence is fundamental for understanding the maintenance of biodiversity at local scale and the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning. In this subproject we will analyse the time course of population dynamics in the plant communities of the Jena Experiment to test for multiple mechanisms of species coexistence. (1) We will apply competitive network theory by analysing whether the possibility to predict species` competitive ranks from pair-wise competition matrices decreases with increasing plant diversity and by evaluating how it relates to the functional traits of the involved species. (2) Based on recent coexistence theory, we will test for negative frequency-dependence of population growth as an indicator of stabilizing niche differences. We will explore the single and cumulative effects of various predictors related to stabilizing mechanisms such as functional trait differences among species as indicator for niche complementarity in resource use, frequency-dependent attack of natural enemies (herbivores, fungal pathogens) and species-specific responses to environmental variation as well as the importance of relative fitness differences derived from seed and seedling demographic rates. (3) We will explore the consequences of intransitivity in competition networks and mean rank shifts in species abundances for multiple ecosystem functions and their temporal variability. (4) Finally, we will study how plant-soil feedback affects plant performance and invasion resistance of the plant communities by contributing to the new DeLT-BEF with a phytometer study focusing on species with low and high performance, respectively, in the communities of the long-term main experiment and studying the composition of the spontaneously colonizing species in the different treatments of the DeLT-BEF. In summary, the synthesis analyses of the long time series of population dynamics, together with a unique compilation of data related to different mechanisms potentially explaining species coexistence and the new experimental data obtained in this subproject, will advance our understanding of the maintenance of biodiversity in local species assemblages and its consequences for ecosystem functioning.

Co-Authors

PD Dr. Christiane Roscher (iDiv, UFZ), Prof. Dr. Markus Fischer (University of Bern)

Keywords biodiversity T-Gaikw Gaikwad, Jitendra Biodiversity Functions Monday, 7 November 2016, 3:45 Present IV - Simon Levin 15 min

Jitendra Gaikwad (FSU) Multimedia Data Management and Retrieval System: A Case-Study of Trait- Based Image Retrieval System for Plant Specimens

Technologies for the creation of all kinds of multimedia data have developed tremendously over the last decade – they have become more powerful and at the same time cheaper. Because of this, multimedia data is playing an increasingly important role in biodiversity science; examples range from the growing use of images gained from satellites to camera traps and acoustic. However, the ability to manage and in particular to efficiently and effectively retrieve the data lacks behind. Often, it is stored in file systems and access requires familiarity with the data and the storage structure. This hampers usage and in particular reuse of this data significantly and slows scientific progress.

In the MAMUDS (Managing Multimedia Data for Science) project, we therefore aim at developing a multimedia data management and retrieval system geared towards biodiversity science, which will be integrated into the open source research data management platform BEXIS 2.

To demonstrate the ability of this platform to retrieve relevant image information based on their content, digitized type specimens from FSU’s Herbarium Haussknecht will be used. From the digitized images, plant traits associated with leaf such as area, shape, length and width will be extracted using automatized image recognition methods. The extracted trait data will be used to annotate the specimen images facilitating content-based retrieval of relevant information. Further, our novel approach does not only complement international trait data compilation efforts such as TRY (https://www.try-db.org) in minimising data gaps, but will also be used to address broader biodiversity research questions.

MAMUDS is a joint project between Sfax University, Tunisia and the Biodiversity Informatics Unit of iDiv, at FSU Jena, funded by BMBF and the Tunisian Science Ministry. The collaborative partners are TRY Trait database from the Max-Planck- Institute for Biogeochemistry and the Herbarium Haussknecht.

Co-Authors

Bassem Bouaziz (Sfax University, Tunisia), Abdelaziz Triki (Sfax University, Tunisia), Martin Hohmuth (FSU Jena), Birgitta König-Ries (FSU Jena), Faeiz Gargouri (Sfax University, Tunisia), Joern Hetschel (FSU Jena),Jens Kattge (MPI- BGC Jena),Frank Hellwig (FSU Jena)

Keywords biodiversity informatics; computer science; functional biodiversity; biodiversity conservation T-Germa Germany, Markus Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 11:45 Present II - Paul Ehrlich 15 min

Markus Germany (MLU) Janzen-Connell effects in experimental forest stands: The role of density- and distance-dependence for juvenile tree survival in the subtropics

While coexistence in plant communities is frequently explained by effects of resource niche partitioning, the Janzen-Connell (J-C) hypothesis is an alternative approach that has been assumed as a major ecological mechanism explaining high species richness levels, in particular, in tropical forest ecosystems.

Central components of the J-C hypothesis are non-competitive effects of density- and distance-dependence, thereby two drivers that contribute independently to species coexistence, but that are ultimately linked in the field. Here, we make use of the forest Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning project in subtropical China (BEF- China) to estimate density and distance dependence effects by means of a reciprocal tree seedling transplant experiment. Using monocultures of ten and seven tree species, respectively planted at two different sites, juveniles of all species were grown in their own (home) and in all other monocultures (away), thereby testing for distance effect, just as in three different levels of planting density, testing for density effects.

While we found sapling density to reduce the individual growth (i.e. sapling height and number of leaves) growth was increased when saplings were grown in foreign monocultures, thus displaying significant home × away effects. In addition, across all species, leaf damage was significantly reduced when saplings were grown away from conspecific trees, thereby supporting the hypothesis of reduced pathogen and herbivore load at larger distances. Following these first results, we are now further interested in time-series and species-specific analyses using biomass data and implementing new statistical approaches (e.g. Bayesian statistics or Structural equation modeling).

Co-Authors

Prof. Dr. Alexandra Erfmeier (Institute for Ecosystem Research), Helge Bruelheide (iDiv, MLU)

Keywords experimental research platform of BEF-China, maintenance of diversity, density- and distance-dependence survival, subtropical forest T-Gerst Gerstner, Katharina Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:15 Future - Noonien Soong 10 min

Katharina Gerstner (iDiv) Making biodiversity meta-analyses meaningful

Meta-analyses are increasingly used to generalize effects of environmental drivers on biodiversity. However, as biodiversity scales with sampling grain in a non-linear decelerating fashion the widespread assumption that biodiversity can be distilled into single values at a single spatial scale and that these values can be compared between different studies seriously limits the value of these meta-analyses. Commonly used biodiversity effect sizes in meta-analyses are based on Hedges’ d which enables comparison of absolute differences, response ratios for comparing relative differences, and Fishers’ z for correlations. How these standard effect sizes are affected by the scale-dependence of biodiversity metrics is not yet completely understood but may determine the validity of results from published meta- analyses. The reason for the scale-dependence of biodiversity effect sizes is that the form of the species-accumulation curves (SACs) of different communities is changed anytime an ecological driver changes the total abundances, the relative abundances, and/or the degree of intraspecific spatial aggregation of species in the community. We use the simulation software ‘MoBspatial’ to illustrate how biodiversity effect sizes are changing across spatial scales and advocate the use of various biodiversity indices that explicitly embraces scale-dependence: observed species richness, rarefied species richness, observed abundance of individuals, and the probability of an interspecific encounter (PIE). These variables measure diversity in different parts of the SAC, and thus effectively capture different spatial scales as more individuals are accumulated. These variables are further associated with the proximate forces controlling species richness: the density of individuals, the proportion of rare species, and the dominance of common species, thus enable insights into ecological mechanisms.

Co-Authors

Felix May, Jonathan M. Chase

Keywords land use, biodiversity, meta-analysis T-Gilin Giling, Darren Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:55 Present V - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 10 min

Darren Giling (iDiv) Plant diversity alters the dominance of stable and unstable food-web motifs in complex trophic networks

Plant communities provide food and habitat resources that support a wide range of interacting consumer populations. Patterns in the structure of these interactions are thought to influence the stability and persistence of consumer species. For example, some well-studied motifs (i.e. omnivory and apparent competition) are thought to be more stable than others (trophic cascades). These motifs are the building blocks of food webs, but how changes in plant diversity influence their dominance remains unclear, in part because we lack detailed information about species interactions in naturally complex communities. We examined the prevalence of three-species motifs across a plant diversity gradient, expecting that networks with high plant diversity would contain a higher frequency of stable omnivory motifs compared to destabilising tri-trophic chains. This hypothesis was tested in a long-term field experiment consisting of 80 grassland plots with controlled plant diversity (1-60 species per plot). Sampling of >350 above- and belowground invertebrate taxa was used to compile a well-resolved trophic network, with feeding links assigned from literature accounts and trait-based rules. Motifs within each web were counted and the significance of their representation was assessed by comparison to random networks and food-web models that maintain only basic network properties (connectivity). The frequency of omnivory and trophic cascade motifs in empirical webs was similar at low plant species richness. However, there were relatively more trophic cascade motifs at high plant species richness, refuting our initial hypothesis. Compared to the simulated networks, the representation of trophic cascades in empirical webs generally increased across the plant diversity gradient, while the dominance of omnivory varied ambiguously among the null models. These results suggest that the smaller interaction networks found in areas with low plant diversity do not maintain unstable motifs, and may persist by assembling with a greater representation of stabilising structures.

Co-Authors

Anne Ebeling (FSU), Andrew Barnes (iDiv), Annabell Berger (iDiv), Roeland Cortois (Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie ), Gerlinde De Deyn5, Nico Eisenhauer (iDiv, UL), Alison Iles (iDiv), Jessy Loranger (CEFE), Sebastian Meyer (TU München), Christiane Roscher UFZ), Michael Rzanny (MPI BGC), Stefan Scheu (University of Göttingen), Katja Steinauer (iDiv), Wim van der Putten (Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie) Winfried Voigt (FSU), Wolfgang W. Weisser (FSU, iDiv) & Jes Hines (iDiv, UL)

Keywords ecological networks, community stability, ecosystem function T-Grimm Grimm-Seyfarth Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:25 Past I - Thomas Eisner 10 min

Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth (UFZ) Earlier breeding, lower success: does the spatial scale of climatic conditions matter in a migratory passerine bird?

Following over 20 years of research on the effects of climate on biodiversity, we now have strong evidence that climate change affects phenology, fitness, and distribution range of different taxa, especially birds. Although scale-related effects are common in ecology, the vast majority of studies analysing effects of climate change were accomplished using climatic information at a single spatial scale. Using data from a migratory passerine, the double-brooded barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) from Eastern Germany, we investigated the scale dependent sensitivity to climate change of the breeding phenology and performance. We investigated effects of the local weather (small scale) and the North-Atlantic-Oscillation-index (NAO) (large scale) on the breeding timing and success of both annual broods. In line with previous studies in migratory birds, we found that these barn swallows bred progressively earlier but showed reduced breeding success over time in response to recent climate changes. Responses were observed on both small and large climatic scales, but they differed with respect to the ecological process considered. Specifically, we found that breeding timing was primarily influenced by the large- scale NAO variations and to a lesser extent by local weather on the breeding ground. Conversely, breeding success of both broods was exclusively driven by climatic conditions on the local scale. The temporal decrease of the breeding success is likely a consequence of mismatches between climatic conditions and different breeding phases resulting from diverging scaling processes. Our findings corroborated numerous evidences of previous studies dealing with biodiversity response to climate change. However, by disentangling climatic conditions acting at different scales, we emphasise that responses of ecological processes to climate change need to be studied in the context of scaling in order to better understand the complexity of climate change effects on biodiversity.

Co-Authors

Brigitte M. Weiß (UL, MPI EVA), Lars Kulik (UL, MPI EVA), Jean-Baptiste Mihoub (UFZ), Roger Mundry (MPI EVA), Ulrich Köppen (Landesamt für Umwelt-, Naturschutz und Geologie Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Tomas Brueckmann (Grüne LIGA Kohrener Land), Ruth Thomsen( UL, MPI EVA, UC London), and Anja Widdig (UL, MPI EVA)

Keywords conservation biology T-Hansj Hansjürgens, Bernd Biodiversity and Society Monday, 7 November 2016, 3:45 Present III - Jane Goodall 15 min

Bernd Hansjürgens (UFZ) Justifying social values of nature: Economic reasoning beyond self- interested preferences

Demonstrating that conservation is not only beneficial for nature but also for human well-being is as much desirable as it is challenging. Undoubtedly, using economic numbers hold some great promises, there is, however, a considerable number of critical reflections on using economic thinking to promote nature conservation. A recent aspect within these critics is that economic theory has failed on appreciating the multiple values (not only ‘individual’, but also ‘shared’ and ‘social’ values) of nature. Against this background, we will firstly show that the total economic value-concept covers a broad range of value dimension and that preferences of self-interested rational individuals may well cover also social or group values, although unclear to what degree. Secondly, we will highlight that economic theories on ‘merit goods’ developed by Richard A. Musgrave or the constitutional economics approach related to James M. Buchanan and others provide an as yet neglected but useful strand of arguments for the existence of values beyond individual preferences and that discourse ethics calls for deliberation to disclose those value dimensions. We will thirdly demonstrate how economic valuation methods could be improved by integrating deliberative elements in order to capture social value components in valuation exercises. As methods strongly shape valuation outcomes, it is a question of the practical purpose and of the ethical context of the valuation exercise that should determine which approach to choose.

Co-Authors

Christoph Schröter-Schlaack, Augustin Berghöfer, Nele Lienhoop (UFZ)

Keywords economics of biodiversity, biodiversity valuation, instruments T-Herrm Herrmann, Martina Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:25 Present V - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 10 min

Martina Herrmann (FSU) Be small and find a host – do oligotrophic subsurface environments support symbiotic and parasitic relationships among bacteria?

Traditional research of subsurface microbiology has mostly focused on interactions between microorganisms and predatory protists or consequences of viral attack on microbial populations. In contrast, symbiotic or parasitic interactions have so far received less attention due to the pore size dependent absence of larger host organisms in subsurface environments. Studies of groundwater environments recently reported the occurrence of ultra small bacteria belonging to Candidate phyla for which parasitic or symbiotic life styles were predicted as a consequence of genome size reduction and loss of metabolic functions. Within the framework of the CRC AquaDiva, we analyzed samples from two superimposed limestone aquifer assemblages to (i) assess the fraction of ultra-small bacteria in the groundwater populations and (ii) infer potential (symbiotic or parasitic) interactions within microbial networks based on co-occurrence patterns of microbial taxa across filter size fractions. Groundwater samples were processed by filtration through 0.2 μm and subsequently through 0.1 μm filters. Quantitative PCR and MiSeq Illumina amplicon sequencing indicated that 0.6-54% of the total bacterial population was passing through the 0.2 μm filter and that the 0.1 µm filter fraction harbored a high fraction of members of Candidate phylum OD1 including potential symbionts or parasites. Our findings suggest that microbes smaller than 0.2 µm may constitute a considerable fraction of the groundwater microbial community, representing yet poorly characterized microbial diversity with unknown metabolic capacities. Ongoing work on co-occurrence of microbial groups will identify potential partners of symbiotic relationships or likely combinations of hosts and parasites.

Co-Authors

Patricia Lange, Martin Taubert, Lena Carstens, Christine Hess, Cassandre Sara Lazar, Kai-Uw Totsche, Jirsten Küsel (FSU Jena)

Keywords microbial ecology T-Herz Herz, Katharina Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:25 Present I - E.O. Wilson 10 min

Katharina Herz (MLU) Linking root exudates to functional plant traits in natural grassland communities

Root exudates are primary and secondary metabolites which can be involved in nutrient acquisition, plant defence or stimulation of growth of mycorrhizal fungi. So far, root exudate patterns are only known from model plants. Our aim was to asses root exudate patterns for common Central European grassland plant species and relating root exudates to plant functional traits. We conducted an experiment in the three regions of the German Biodiversity Exploratories where we planted 10 common grassland species (5 grasses and 5 forbs) as phytometers into 54 natural grassland community plots. The plant species composition of the local neighbourhood was recorded in 15 cm radius around each phytometer. Three month after planting we dug out the phytometers in order to extract root exudates and measure root, shoot and leaf functional traits. Our results show that root exudation patterns of primary metabolites as well as plant traits were species- specific and differed between grass and forb species. Using variance partitioning, we found that 21% of the total variance of root exudate composition could be explained by species identity of the phytometer, soil variables, climate and land use intensity, and local neighbourhood composition. Using plant traits in addition to species identity and plot characteristics as predictors for primary metabolites, we were able to account for 32% of the variation in exuded compounds. Our study is the first to demonstrate this species-specificity of root exudates for a large range of plant species, which gives a completely new perspective on community assembly in grasslands and complementarity of root traits. Moreover, we also could show to which degree root exudate patters are regulated by the abiotic environment and by the local neighbourhood.

Co-Authors

Sophie Dietz and Dierk Scheel (IPB Halle), Ute Jandt, Sylvia Haider and Helge Bruelheide from Geobotanik (MLU, Halle)

Keywords root exudates, plant functional traits, biodiversity exploratories T-Holzw Holzwarth, Frederic Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:10 Past II - Rachel Carson 15 min

Frederic Holzwarth (UL) Biodiversity effects vary with context – Case studies spanning experiments, observations and models

Over the past decades carefully manipulated experiments demonstrated that biodiversity positively affects many ecosystem functions. However, studies carried out across natural contexts showed that the relevance of biodiversity for ecosystem function is highly idiosyncratic. We present evidence that the results of biodiversity- ecosystem function research depend on the context of the study. We address varied contexts from theoretical modelling to spatial scales as well as natural vs experimental setups. We present work that challenges biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in five important ways:

1. We first show that the effect of functional diversity and functional identity differs across 43 ecosystem functions in a grassland experiment.

2. We contrast the biodiversity-productivity curve from the well-trodden experiments at Cedar Creek with that of a nearby natural grassland.

3. Further, we demonstrate that, within the context of tree plantations and natural forests and across a topographical gradient, the effect of tree species diversity on wood decomposition is small compared to environmental effects.

4. Moreover, we show that richness, composition, and identity differ in their relative importance for roe deer browsing depending on spatial scale.

5. Finally, we use a vegetation model to assess via which pathways biodiversity may affect forest biomass balance. Testing these pathways in a natural forest, we find that diversity effects almost vanish.

We demonstrate across a wide variety of ecosystems, scales, experiments, and functions, that putting biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships into context provides dramatically different results from highly manipulated experiments.

Co-Authors

Frédéric Holzwarth, Katherina Pietsch, Kathryn Barry, David Eichenberg, Bettina Ohse, Thomas Schröder-Georgi, Christian Wirth (UL)

Keywords biodiversity-ecosystem function, ecosystem function, functional diversity and functional identity, spatial scale, grassland, forest, vegetation model, biodiversity experiment, roe deer browsing

T-Jenki Jenkins, Christina Biodiversity Processes Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:05 Present VI - Georgina Mace 15 min

Christina Jenkins (MLU) Identifying genomic regions that lead to infection: Applying theory to understand coevolution of parasite-host interactions

Understanding genotype x genotype interaction that determines the ability of parasites to infect hosts is key to understanding the outcome of host-parasite coevolution. Additionally, the genes for virulence in the parasite and resistance in the host are obvious targets for preventing future epidemics and spread of disease. However, despite the potential importance of identifying these genomic regions that underlie host-parasite interactions, there are very few host-parasite systems for which they are known. Theory has demonstrated that host-parasite local adaptation is simply the spatial covariance between host and parasite genotypes. Thus the genomic regions involved in the coevolutionary interaction can be most straightforwardly identified as those that are significantly correlated across populations. I tested the robustness of this technique to various evolutionary constraints by modeling the evolutionary dynamics of simulated populations of hosts and parasites. Overall, I found that in order to consistently identify the genomic regions involved in infection using spatial correlations, one must sample a large (>6) number of populations for which the parasite is locally adapted. During my postdoc at MLU I will empirically test this approach by looking for genomic regions involved in resistance in bumble bee species to Deformed wing virus (DWV). DWV has been associated with the decline of bee populations across Europe, demonstrating that is poses a strong selective pressure within and between populations. However, the degree to which it is feasible to find genomic regions involved in resistance is dependent on the virus being locally adapted to host populations. I will discuss the challenges to overcome in implementing my theoretical technique in the real world problem facing bees in natural populations.

Keywords host-parasite coevolution, bee conservation T-Joswi Joswig, Julia Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:35 Present II - Paul Ehrlich 10 min

Julia Joswig (MPI BGC) What it needs to make plant function explainable

Broad biogeographic patterns of plant trait identity and diversity across large spatial scales are strongly related to and shaped by environmental drivers.

Therefore, estimations of plant function from environmental drivers bear many promises for a better understanding of biosphere responses to global change.

This study proposes a comprehensive framework to assess the contribution of environmental filtering of trait identity and diversity. Consequently we assess requirements in terms of information needed to make plant traits predictable like the type of environmental factor or its relationship to plant function.

Therefore we link plant trait data (TRY www.try-db.org) on community level to atmosphere (EarthSystemDataCube, earthsystemdatacube.net) and soil data (ISRIC, isric.org).

The main difficulties in our study arise from the low ratio of the number of samples to the number of predictors, also known as Hughes phenomenon and the high degree of multicollinearity. Our goal is to provide a statistical approach for satisfying the demands of having parsimonious and stable models and still having a high accuracy of prediction. Hence, we combined PLS optimisation based on AIC with the computationally efficient variable selection procedure “competitive adaptive reweighted sampling” (CARS).

We i) analyze the relative importance of environmental filtering for each trait, ii) compare the dominant type of relationship with expected relationships in the literature and iii) analyze the relative importance of environmental factors.

We show that environmental filtering is of different relevance for trait function. Well-explained traits, mostly match the expected trait-environment relationship.

Generally, atmospheric factors explained trait identity and diversity better than soil- related predictors. Additionally, the relevant type of relationship selected was mostly non-linear or an envelope. Overall, this framework facilitates disentangling global drivers of plant function.

Co-Authors

Björn Reu (Universidad Industrial de Santander), Jens Kattge (MPI BGC), Ronny Richter (UL), Nadja Rüger, Christian Wirth, University of Leipzig (UL, iDiv), Miguel Mahecha (MPI BGC, iDiv)

Keywords functional biogeography, plant function T-Kahnt Kahnt, Belinda Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 10:55 Present VI - Georgina Mace 10 min

Belinda Kahnt (MLU) Pollinator evolution and adaptation in South Africa: phylogenetics and co- phylogenetics of the bizarre Rediviva buzzer bee and its associated host plants

Understanding evolutionary relationships between closely interacting species has fascinated scientists since Darwin. Here we investigate a particularly interesting case of a presumably co-evolved bee and host plant pair that has resulted in a bizarre morphological adaptation in the pollinator; bees of the South African genus Rediviva have evolved extremely elongated front legs as an adaptation to the oil- producing spurs of its major host plant genus Diascia.

I present the first phylogeny of the genus Rediviva and then compare the phylogeny with that of its host plants in order to detect co-speciation events between the two actors. My analyses suggest Rediviva to be paraphyletic, strongly supporting five major clades within the genus. While the origin of Rediviva seems to be around 29 MYA, the first origin of long legs seems to be more recent (12-17) MYA. Interestingly, long legs seem to have arisen independently at least two times within Rediviva. Phylogenetic analyses indicate co-speciation between Rediviva and its host Diascia. This is the first phylogenetic support to the hypothesized co- evolutionary association between this bee genus and its host plants and represents the essential basis for further investigating this highly remarkable and fascinating system.

Co-Authors

Wesley Hattingh (University of the Witwatersrand), Graham Montgomery (Cornell University), Elizabeth Murray (Cornell University), Michael Kuhlmann (NHM London), Anton Pauw (Stellenbosch University), Denis Michez (University de Mons), Robert Paxton (MLU), Glynis Goodman (University of the Witwatersrand), Bryan Danforth (Cornell University)

Keywords evolutionray genetics, phylogenetics, coevolution, pollinators T-Keil Keil, Petr Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:25 Past II - Rachel Carson 10 min

Petr Keil (iDiv) Biodiversty patterns emerge in the universe of computer operating systems

Comparing biodiversity with other complex systems can help exchange theories between disciplines and identify key system processes and constraints. Here, computer operating systems seem promising, due to structural and functional analogies to biological systems, coupled with good data availability. Employing analogies between species and GNU/Linux operating systems (distros), we demonstrate quantitative similarities in established macroecological and macroevolutionary patterns: Distro abundance shows a lognormal distribution, power law mean-variance scaling of temporal fluctuations, and a significant positive relationship with niche breadth (no. of software packages). Phylogenetic lineage diversity increases linearly through time, with clear per-distro diversification and extinction slowdowns, while functional trait (software package) composition exhibits significant phylogenetic signal. Such similar patterns might emerge from common system-level properties, independent of system identity, offering empirical arguments for non-biological explanations for fundamental biodiversity patterns.

Co-Authors

Joanne M Bennett (iDiv), Andrew M MacDonald (CESAB), Carsten Meyer (iDiv), Kelly S Ramirez (Netherlands Institute of Ecology), Benjamin Yguel ( Sorbonne Universités-MNHN-CNRS-UPMC), Gabriel E García-Peña (UNAM), Bérenger Bourgeois (CESAB)

Keywords macroecology, cultural evolution, model systems, phylogeny, diversification, power law, macroevolution, niche breadth, log-normal, extinction T-Kiont Kiontke, Andreas Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 10:45 Future - Noonien Soong 10 min

Andreas Kiontke (UL) Development of mobile chemical analysis for application in field experiments

GC-MS and LC-MS as standardized analytical methods to assess the chemical background of biological diversity to describe it on the molecular basis demonstrate excellent analytical performance but require time-consuming sample preparation including extraction and, depending on requirements, derivatization. In addition, tedious sampling strategies have to be developed and applied to use equipment depending on lab supplies for analysis of samples collected in the field.

In contrast, ambient ionization techniques for mass spectrometry enable an greatly simplified way to perform analysis by requiring almost no sample preparation, readily ionize compounds even from living tissue and do not require vacuum conditions during ionization. In combination with mobile detection devices they enable the operator to approach the research object of interest and collect required samples. Therefore, ambient techniques experience an enormous interest within analytical research and developed dramatically in the recent past. Among the ambient techniques, low temperature plasma ionization (LTPI) in particular provides an excellent potential for portability and field-applicability due its easy setup and solvent-free operation. We explain the excellent usability features of this particular techniques for mobile analysis and the advantages but also potential drawbacks when using this analytical strategy in the field.

Co-Authors

Andreas Kiontke, Claudia Birkemeyer (UL)

Keywords mobile analysis, ambient ionization, low temperature plasma T-Knapp Knapp, Sonja Biodiversity Functions Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 10:00 Past III - Rosalind Franklin 15 min

Sonja Knapp (UFZ) Can we enhance ecosystem services by protecting biodiversity in urban areas or do we just hope it is that easy?

In both scientific literature and policy, a positive relationship between biodiversity and urban ecosystem services (UES) is often assumed and that enhancing green infrastructure will automatically improve both. In light of the rather scarce body of knowledge behind this, we conducted a quantitative review of studies published between 1990 and 2015 analysing urban biodiversity-ecosystem service (BES) relationships. In total, we reviewed 256 publications dealing with measurements of biodiversity and urban ecosystem services as well as BES-relationships. Slightly less than a half of the studies reported positive BES-relationships. Our review showed that mostly measures of taxonomic diversity and abundance as proxies for biodiversity were considered, leaving vast knowledge gaps for functional components of biodiversity possibly involved in UES. Similarly, the role of particular species, including non-natives, on the provision of UES cannot be judged, as analyses comparing the provision of UES by native versus non-native species are scarce; in spite of urban areas being hotspots for the occurrence of non-native species. Finally, we found a lack of quantitative- and mechanistic-based tests underpinning urban BES-relationships. As urban planning increasingly focusses on ecosystem service delivery, researchers need to close these knowledge gaps in order to take potential trade-offs and synergies among and between UES and biodiversity conservation into account.

Co-Authors

Nina Schwarz (UFZ), Marco Moretti (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL), Miguel N. Bugalho (CEABN-InBio), Zoe Davies (University of Kent), Dagmar Haase (UFZ), Jochen Hack (Technische Universität Darmstadt), Angela Hof (Paris Lodron University of Salzburg), Yolanda Melero ((CREAF), Tristan Pett (DICE)

Keywords biodiversity, urbanisation, ecosystem services T-Kolor Kolora, Rohit Biodiversity Processes Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:35 Present VI - Georgina Mace 15 min

Rohit Kolora (iDiv) Drivers of genome evolution contributing to speciation in European green lizards

The European green lizards, namely Lacerta viridis (distributed from Slovenia to Turkey in the east and to Greece in the south) and Lacerta bilineata (distributed from Western France covering the Italian peninsula) are parapatric sister-species which have split in the post-glacial period of the Pleistocene. These species are known to produce infertile offsprings over generations of inter-breeding though their F1 hybrids are known be viable. The suppressed recombination models (SRM) suggest that the genomic rearrangements are responsible for barriers of gene-flow. We de novo assembled the genomes of these two Lacertid species and performed a comparative genomic and transcriptomic analysis. The comparison of gene expression and splicing patterns compared from their transcriptomes showed changes in genes mostly involved in regulation and spliceosomes. Inversions tend to influence the gene expression highly compared to other structural variants (SVs). Genes occurring on the assembled contigs of the putative W-chromosome have accumulated SVs which might be responsible for species-specific differences between our species, supported by the Haldane’s rule of heterogametic incompatibility. Thus, a combination of genomic and transcriptional changes which in-turn influence gene expression might be responsible for speciation in the Lacertid lizards.

Co-Authors

Prof. Dr. Martin Schlegel (iDiv), Prof. Dr. Peter Stadler (UL), Dr. Katja Nowick (UL), Dr. Rui Faria (CIBIO), Prof. Klaus Henle (UFZ), Dr. Chirsoph Bleidorn (Spanish National Research Council), Dr. Anne Weigert (MPI-EVA), Prof. Dr. Jorg Overman (DSMZ), Dr. Boyke Bunk (DSMZ), Gero Doose (Bioinformatik, Universität Leipzig)

Keywords evolutionary biology, comparative genomics, transcriptomics T-König1 König-Ries, Birgitta Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 10:55 Future - Noonien Soong 10 min

Birgitta König-Ries (FSU) An Opportunity for Cooperation: Introducing the Michael-Stifel-Center for Data Driven and Simulation Science Jena

The Michael-Stifel-Center for Data Driven and Simulation Science Jena (MSCJ) brings together researchers from seven departments of FSU and two Max-Planck- Institutes. It is an interdisciplinary hub for the establishment of joint research and teaching endeavors. Its three strongly interlinked focus areas are data-driven science (“from data to knowledge”), simulation science (“from knowledge to data”), and model-data-integration (bringing the first two areas together). The MSCJ has strong ties to iDiv: quite a number of scientists are members in both centers. This is not a coincidence: Data-intensive and simulation science play a key role at iDiv. In our talk, we will provide a brief overview of the MSCJ, highlight existing links to iDiv (i.e. the recent autumn school co-sponsored by iDiv), and invite a discussion on possible future cooperation. More information about the MSCJ can be found on its web page: http://www.mscj.uni-jena.de/

Co-Authors

Joachim Denzler (FSU)

Keywords computer science, biodiversity informatics, data integration, semantic web, research data management T-König2 König-Ries, Birgitta Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:00 Present IV - Simon Levin 10 min

Birgitta König-Ries (FSU) Automatic Annotation of Functional Biodiversity Data with EASE

Over the last decade or so, functional biodiversity research has turned into a data intensive science. Huge amounts of diverse data have been collected that potentially can be synthezised to answer important overarching scientific questions. iDiv scientists have contributed tremendously to this “treasure trove”, e.g., in the BEFChina, FunDivEurope, Jena Experiment, and Exploratories projects. Most of this data is stored in open repositories. However, it is often hard to find data relevant to a specific question. This is mostly due to the fact, that existing metadata descriptions are not optimized for search. The Essential Annotation Scheme for Ecology (EASE) developed in the GFBio project (see poster by Claas-Thido Pfaff) promises to ameliorate this situation. It proposes 8 dimensions (time, place, sphere, biome, organism, process, chemical, method) for annotation. Currently, a tool for interactive creation of EASE annotations is being developed. Once annotations are available, portals like GFBio, the iDiv Biodiversity Data Portal and the home portals of these datasets can take advantage of them during search thereby improving query results. While this will work for new datasets, it does not seem realistic to manually annotate all existing datasets. We therefore plan to investigate, whether semantic web and modern machine-learning techniques can be meaningfully combined and extended to create a tool for (semi-)automatic creation of EASE annotations. This tool will be highly nnovative from the computer science point of view and at the same time help iDiv scientists and the biodiversity research community at large to use the existing data to its full potential.

Co-Authors

Joachim Denzler (FSU), Helge Bruelheide (MLU), Christian Wirth (UL)

Keywords computer science, biodiversity informatics, data integration, semantic web, research data management T-Kraem Krämer, Roland Biodiversity and Society Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:35 Future - Noonien Soong 30 min

Roland Krämer (UFZ, iDiv) LivingAtlas

A Living Atlas - Nature Germany aims to respond to the urgent need for supporting and synthesizing biodiversity observation and conservation practice in Germany by strengthening volunteer work and organizations, harmonizing standards along the data “life cycle”, providing technical and consulting services, increasing educational capacities, and most fundamentally integrating scattered players and data, likewise making them more visible. It is projected to achieve these goals by creating a Living Atlas platform, comprising a network and an online portal, that brings together the multiple organizations, projects and data sources and allows for data harmonization, interoperability, and open access to foster relevant analysis for research and conservation. The first and foremost objective of the Atlas platform is to build up a network of cross-taxonomic experts, natural history expert societies and conservation organizations, scientists, authorities and citizens to enhance communication, coordination and knowledge exchange, as well as training in biodiversity. At the same time we account for integration into existing national and international databases and platforms such as GFBio, GBIF and GEO BON. Thus, the Atlas should be developed towards a National BON to serve as a hub or coordinator between national and international stakeholders and networks. The talk wants to initiate a brainstorming and a discussion about national and iDiv expectations and needs for the Living Atlas on the one hand and requirements for an integration in GEO BON and other existing platforms on the other hand.

Co-Authors

Roland Krämer (UFZ, iDiv), Carlos António Guerra (iDiv, MLU), Volker Grescho (UFZ, iDiv), Susanne Hecker (UFZ, iDiv), Laetitia Navarro (iDiv, MLU), Birgitta König-Ries (FSU, iDiv), Josef Settele (UFZ, iDiv), Aletta Bonn (UFZ, iDiv, FSU)

Keywords ecosystem services, geoinformatics, nature conservation, remote sensing T-Levin Levin, Sam Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 10:45 Present VI - Georgina Mace 10 min

Sam Levin (MLU) Phylogenetic novelty alters the strength of biotic interactions for exotic plant species

Patterns of phylogenetic relatedness within communities have been widely used to infer the importance of different ecological and evolutionary processes during community assembly and invasion processes. Novel exotic plants are expected to have less niche overlap with resident plant species and have novel defense traits. Therefore, the population dynamics of exotic plant species are expected to be less influenced by competitors and enemies. However, novel exotic plant species might also interact less strongly with resident mutualists, and this is expected to reduce the observed population growth rate of exotic plant species. While many studies have examined the relationships between phylogenetic novelty (or functional trait novelty) and invasiveness of exotic plant species, much fewer have examined the mechanisms that might underlie these patterns. Here we provide a comprehensive test of the relationship between phylogeny, the strength of biotic interactions, and population dynamics for fourteen exotic plant species occurring at a single field site near St. Louis, Missouri, USA. We collected demographic data for each plant species and projected per capita growth rates under the following experimental treatments: above-ground competitor removal, above-ground insect herbivore removal, below- ground fungi removal, below-ground insect herbivore removal. We found the strongest correlation among phylogenetic relatedness and competitor removal, in a way that more closely related species benefited more strongly from release of aboveground competition compared to novel (distantly related) species. The effects of other treatments were more idiosyncratic, being highly important for one or two plant species but not showing general effects or patterns with phylogeny. This result indicates that more novel species compete less strongly with resident species in the community, and highlights the importance of competitive interactions for community and invasion dynamics.

Co-Authors

Claudia Stein (Washington University in St. Louis), Tiffany Knight (UFZ, iDiv, MLU)

Keywords

Invasive species, functional traits, phylogeny, Darwin's Conundrum T-Li Li, Yin Biodiversity Functions Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:15 Present II - Paul Ehrlich 10 min

Yin Li (The Chinese Acedemy of Sciences) Early positive effects of plant diversity on short-term soil carbon storage in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment

Global climate change and global warming have stimulated great interest in identifying potential mitigation strategies to remove CO2 from atmosphere and to buffer climate change. There is evidence that terrestrial ecosystems are potential large carbon pool for long-term carbon uptake, and over two-thirds of terrestrial carbon is stored in the soil. Especially, soil organic carbon stocks have great effects on mitigating greenhouse gas. Only a few investigations have studied the relationships between plant diversity and soil organic carbon storage or sequestration, most of which were conducted in experimental grasslands. Studies of the relationship between plant diversity and soil organic carbon storage in forest ecosystems are still very rare. Therefore, we intend to study the links between plant diversity and short-term soil carbon sequestration in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment. We aim at testing whether 1) plant diversity positively promotes the short-term soil carbon storage; 2) variation of litter-fall and fine root biomass under different diversity levels could affect the soil carbon storage. We are planning to use the soil samples from the Site A VIP plots in 2008 and 2015.Soil samples were taken to the depth of 30cm and divided into four layers: 0-5 cm, 5- 10cm, 10-20cm, 20-30cm. Soil organic carbon content was then measured. We intend to use linear mixed-effects models to explain soil organic carbon sequestration by plant species richness, topographic and plant-related variables. We also intend to conduct hierarchical structural equation modeling to analyse the effects of plant diversity, topographic and plant-related variables on soil organic carbon storage change. We expect to find the positive effects of plant diversity on fineroot and leaf-litter biomass that result in higher soil carbon sequestration.

Co-Authors

Keping Ma (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Helge Bruelheide (MLU), Thomas Scholten (Karls University Tübingen), Xiaojuan Liu, Naili Zhang, Zhenkai Sun (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Keywords plant diversity, ecosistem functioning, soil organic carbon sequestration T-Lienh Lienhoop, Nele Biodiversity and Society Monday, 7 November 2016, 11:00 Past II - Rachel Carson 15 min

Nele Lienhoop (UFZ) Valuing ecosystem services with deliberative choice experiments

Choice Experiments to elicit preferences for ecosystem services have gained considerable popularity. Commonly implemented in a one-shot survey the valuation task requires considerable cognitive effort on the part of respondents: Respondents have to discover their preferences for often unfamiliar and/or complex ecosystem services and express them in monetary units in a previously unknown hypothetical market situation. This paper presents a deliberative choice experiment design to generate legitimate and well-considered value estimates for public policy advice. Two aspects of deliberation – group discussion and time to reflect – are examined in terms of their effect on preferences refinement. In addition to econometric models qualitative data analysis helped to explore how respondents rationalise their preferences. We find that deliberation leads to preference adjustment, increased choice certainty and consideration of complex and holistic motives during the choice task.

Co-Authors

Dr. Marc Völker (UFZ)

Keywords environmental economics, valuing the environment T-Marci Marcillo, Andrea Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:15 Present I - E.O. Wilson 10 min

Andrea Marcillo (UL) On-Site Analysis of Volatile Substances by Modern Mobile Devices and Different Introduction Systems

During recent years, the on-site environmental and process analysis of VOCs has become a very demanding field for research, based on the necessity of reliable identification and accurate quantitation of volatiles in many different areas. While some volatiles are considered potentially hazardous to human health due to their long- and short-term adverse effects and the vast number of possible emission sources, others are naturally emitted by plants, animals, and humans and have a relevant biological meaning. Therefore, the analysis of VOCs has become a more complex task with a wide array of possible applications that should answer the multiple questions and consider, precisely, any kind of conditions during sampling and on-site analysis. Several mobile analytical devices can be found in the market with different devices for sampling or introduction of volatiles, such as thermal desorption, head space, and SPME. We explore the feasibility and performance of mobile mass spectrometry coupled with gas chromatography (GC/MS) for real-time analysis of a complex mixture of VOCs (in-house designed) introduced by solvent- free extraction techniques of high sensitivity like SPME. We show how mobile devices with different pre-concentration and sampling methods work in terms of sensitivity and reproducibility compared to the ones obtained on laboratory scale with more powerful detection systems. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of instruments qualification being fit-for-purpose and of appropriate method development to assure the quality of the results. In fact, by knowing the limitations of equipments and their intrinsic contribution to the variability of the measurements, remedial actions can be taken before wrong results can lead to biased conclusions.

Co-Authors

Dr. Claudia Birkemeyer (UL)

Keywords

VOCs, on-site analysis, mobile devices T-Marti Martins, Inês Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:20 Present III - Jane Goodall 10 min

Inês Martins (iDiv) Biodiversity response to sustainable pathways in Portugal

Future projections biodiversity are often assess using scenarios of land-use change. However, these scenarios often focus on the extend of land-use change and neglect how the intensity of the use affects biodiversity. Here we defined two alternative land-use scenarios (i.e. pathways) to a sustainable future. A pathway A, where sustainability is attained via technological improvement and a pathway B were sustainability is achieved via societal changes such as changes in behaviour and consumption patterns. In pathway A, extensive agriculture decreases and natural areas expand, whereas in Pathway B there is an increase in multifunctional landscapes. We use the countryside species-area relationship (cSAR) model to project for each land-use scenario (i.e. pathway A, B and 0 (the “business as usual” scenario)) both the total species richness and the species richness of the different functional groups in the Portuguese landscape. By 2050, we observed that pathway 0 leads to a decrease of biodiversity whereas in pathways A and B biodiversity increases after land-use change. While pathway A and B do not seem to have different impacts in total species richness the response of the different functional groups varies. In Pathway A, the increase of total species richness is led by an increase of forest and other natural species at the cost of farmland biodiversity, whereas in pathway B total species richness is mostly driven by an increase of farmland species. Our results highlight the importance of assessing how different patterns of land-use affect biodiversity. It is not necessary a question of each pathway to sustainability is better, different choices will affect different components of biodiversity.

Co-Authors

Inês S. Martins, Laetitia M. Navarro, Isabel M.D. Rosa, and Henrique M. Pereira (iDiv)

Keywords ecology, biodiversity change, species richness, land-use change T-May May, Felix Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:40 Present IV - Simon Levin 15 min

Felix May (iDiv) Towards synthesis of scale-dependent biodiversity changes in fragmented landscapes

Land use changes and the resulting fragmentation of natural habitats are among the main drivers of biodiversity loss. The response of species and communities to fragmentation is, however, a complex process that is interactively influenced by the extent and spatial configuration of habitat changes, as well as by attributes of the affected species. Furthermore, existing studies often measured biodiversity at a single scale although biodiversity responses to fragmentation exhibit inherent scale- dependence.

Our goals are to synthesize previous analysis of fragmentation effects on biodiversity with an explicit reference to scaling and to resolve exist conceptual existing controversies in the context fragmentation.

One long standing debate in ecology and conservation biology concerns the effects of habitat loss vs. changes in habitat configuration (fragmentation per se). We employ spatial simulations to resolve this debate. Our simulations clearly illustrate how different assumptions on species responses to fragmentation and different definitions of target scales results in contrasting answers to the habitat loss vs. fragmentation per se debate.

All biodiversity changes can be related to changes in (i) the total abundance of individuals, (ii) the relative abundances, and/or (iii) the spatial distribution of species. We investigate how fragmentation affects these three components of biodiversity. We show first results of a meta-analysis that disentangles changes in total abundance vs. changes in species relative abundances in habitat fragments of different sizes.

We discuss how to extent our meta-analysis to more complex study designs that address biodiversity changes at local and at the landscape scales. Finally, we seek for feedback how to consider matrix effects, edge effects and time delays within our framework. We believe that our framework will foster a deeper understanding of biodiversity responses to fragmentation and will provide relevant conclusions for conservation biology and management.

Co-Authors

Katharina Gerstner (iDiv), Tiffany Knight (UFZ, iDiv, MLU), Mario Liebergesell (iDiv), Jon Chase (iDiv)

Keywords fragmentation, biodiversity, scaling T-Needh Needham, Jessica Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:25 Present IV - Simon Levin 15 min

Jessica Needham (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center) Harnessing Demographic data for cross-scale analysis of forest dynamics

Forests are a critical biome but are under threat from unprecedented global change. The need to understand forest dynamics across spatial, temporal and biological scales has never been greater. Critical to this will be understanding how the demographic rates of individuals translate into patterns of species diversity, biomass and carbon turnover at much larger scales. I will introduce methods for translating forest inventory data into Integral Projection Models (IPMs) that account for the size-dependency of vital rates and persistent differences in individual performance. Collecting information on certain life cycle stages can be challenging and I therefore show how to inverse model parts of the life cycle for which data is scarce or missing. I will present two case studies. The first explores the impact of ash dieback on the community dynamics of a British woodland, linking IPMs with a spatially explicit individual based model that captures the effect of an opening of the canopy on local competitive interactions. In the second, I show how to infer the impact of historical deer herbivory on the juvenile survival of forest trees. The approach is generalisable and could be applied to any forest in which patterns of regeneration and community structure have been impacted by periodic disturbances, e.g. forest fires. Finding meaningful ways of incorporating species diversity into global vegetation models is increasingly recognised as a research priority. I will end by briefly describing a study exploring the diversity of demographic rates in a tropical forest community and how we can cluster species according to life history strategy. I will discuss the potential of integrating demographic and physiological traits as a way to aggregate species for inclusion in global models.

Keywords forest dynamics, tree communities T-Neves Neves, Tomé Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:20 Present VI - Georgina Mace 15 min

Tomé Neves (CIBIO-InBio, CEABN-InBio) Understanding the global distribution of the two major Soricidae subfamilies, Soricinae and Crocidurinae.

We analysed the two major subfamilies of Soricidae (Soricinae and Crocidurinae) considering three interesting traits: (i) there exists a clear turn-over in the distribution of one subfamily into the other at around the 40th parallel north, (ii) Crocidurinae are not present in America, and (iii) each subfamily represents a distinct physiological response to climatic extremes. For this study, we obtained data on climate from WorldClim and spatial data for each member of the subfamilies, 132 species of Soricidae and 170 of Crocidurinae, from IUCN Red List. We created two distance matrices, one of all the species and the other solely of the species present in Eurasia and Africa, based on the three most informative climatic variables. An analysis of these matrices indicated that there is a significant influence of climate in the distinct spatial distribution of the subfamilies. However, Species Distribution Modelling using MaxEnt showed that the Soricinae subfamily seems to occupy a bigger climatic niche in America than in Eurasia and Africa, giving rise to the possibility that competitive pressure between both subfamilies also plays an important role.

Co-Authors

Joaquim T. Tapisso (University of Lisbon), Miguel Porto (CIBIO/InBio), Henrique M. Pereira (CIBIO/InBio, iDiv), Maria L. Mathias (University of Lisbon), Luís Borda-de- Água (CIBIO, InBIO)

Keywords species distributions and the factors that control them T-Orth Orth, Lisa Biodiversity and Society Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:45 Present III - Jane Goodall 10 min

Lisa Orth (MPI EVA) Conservation evidence for primates

Although numerous studies on the effectiveness of conservation actions have been published, very few are used to inform conservation management decisions on the ground. In addition, the literature on conservation effectiveness appears to be biased towards specific geographical regions and taxa. As a result, millions of dollars of conservation funding have been invested into conservation strategies for which rigorous scientific data on their effectiveness were lacking. Furthermore, geographical regions and species that were underrepresented in the literature have thus far received little conservation attention. In this study, we aim to 1) describe geographical, taxonomic and thematic gaps in primate research on the effectiveness of conservation interventions, and 2) identify which species’ character traits, socioeconomic- and research conditions may be responsible for these gaps. To do this, we collated all published information on primate conservation effectiveness, distribution, morphology and ecology of all extant primate species, as well as the socio-economic conditions prevailing across each species’ range. Our preliminary results show that only 67 out of 435 primate species were represented in the literature, where studies on Neotropical primates were clearly underrepresented. In contrast, studies on African primates were overrepresented in the literature. Similarly, the literature was biased towards diurnal primates and great apes, probably because they can more easily be observed and the charisma of great apes. More than half of the interventions represented in the literature required intensive management input, such as primate reintroductions, translocations, and supplementary feeding schemes. Whereas only about 3% of the interventions aimed at protecting primates in their habitat, including creation or protection of habitat corridors and forest patches in highly fragmented landscapes. This study highlights the strong biases that currently exist in the conservation literature and will aid in guiding future conservation investors in financing effective conservation actions and supporting research on previously understudied species of high conservation priority.

Co-Authors

Lisa Orth (MPI EVA, iDiv, UL), Jessica Junker, Hjalmar S. Kühl (MPI EVA, iDiv)

Keywords primate conservation, conservation evidence T-Papad Papadopoulou, Galini Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:45 Present I - E.O. Wilson 5 min

Galini Papadopoulou (iDiv) Mechanisms and ecological implications of plant-mediated interactions between belowground and aboveground insect herbivores

Plant-mediated interactions between belowground (BG) and aboveground (AG) herbivores have received increasing interest recently. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying ecological consequences of BG-AG interactions are not fully clear yet. Herbivore-induced plant defenses are complex and comprise phytohormonal signaling, gene expression and production of defensive compounds (defined here as response levels), each with their own temporal dynamics. Jointly they shape the response that will be expressed. However, because different induction methods are used in different plant-herbivore systems, and only one or two response levels are measured in each study, our ability to construct a general framework for BG-AG interactions remains limited. We investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant-mediated interactions between BG-AG insect herbivores. Furthermore, we aim to link the molecular mechanisms with the ecological consequences of the BG-AG interactions on the AG insect herbivores. To do that, we take an ecogenomic approach, by integrating analysis of defense- related gene expression, phytohormone levels, glucosinolate levels (the most typical defensive compounds of Brassicaceae plants) and untargeted metabolomics combined with the performance analysis of aboveground herbivores. As a model system we use Brassica rapa plants exposed first to root fly larvae Delia radicum and subsequently to shoot herbivory by either one of the specialists Pieris brassicae or Plutella xylostella, or one of the generalists Spodoptera littoralis or Mamestra brassicae.

Co-Authors

Ainhoa Martínez-Medina, Nicole M. van Dam (iDiv, MLU)

Keywords plant defenses, below-aboveground interactions, plant-insect interactions T-Patoi Patoine, Guillaume Biodiversity Functions Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:25 Present II - Paul Ehrlich 10 min

Guillaume Patoine (iDiv / University of Bremen) Influence of tree functional diversity on litter decomposition and soil epigeic communities (BIOTREE)

Species richness has been found to influence ecosystem functions. But does an increase in functional diversity also promotes ecosystem processes and biodiversity in related communities? In BIOTREE-FD, the effects of tree functional diversity are studied in a temperate forest experiment using a constant species richness. Tree functional diversity is expected to positively influence litter decomposition, as well as the diversity and abundance of soil animal communities.

Co-Authors

Prof. Nico Eisenhauer (iDiv)

Keywords tree diversity, functional diversity, litter decomposition, soil animal communities, BIOTREE T-Perei Pereira, Henrique Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:45 Past I - Thomas Eisner 10 min

Henrique Pereira (iDiv) Teleconnections from the global economy drive impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Land use is a major driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. Because land-use drivers are often spatially separated from impacts, scrutinizing the links between consumption and distant environmental impacts is crucial. Here we map, at the global level, the land-use of 14 agricultural and forest activities, both for subsistence and market production. We assess the impacts of those activities on biodiversity, measured as bird species loss, and ecosystem services, measured as carbon sequestration loss. To assess the impacts from a consumption perspective, we use a multi-regional input-output model of the world’s economy. Globally, 80 bird species and 4 GtC of annual carbon sequestration are being lost. We found a high degree of spatial overlap of the areas with most impacts on biodiversity and on ecosystem services. Although subsistence activities are important in some regions, market related activities generate 70% of total impacts, of which almost 1/3 through international trade. Cattle farming has the highest impacts on biodiversity while forestry has the highest impact on carbon sequestration. Beef and food products consumption in households is driving many of these impacts, as well as some sectors of the economy including public services, manufacturing, construction, and hospitality. For biodiversity, most impacts from production occur in developing regions, but the distribution of the impacts from a consumption perspective is much more balanced across developing and developed countries. Europe and North America’s consumption is teleconnected to biodiversity impacts in Central and South America and in the Asia and Pacific region. We argue that environmental policies, should target the ecological restoration of areas receiving highest impacts on both biodiversity and ecosystem services, but also promote consumer behavioural change and distribute conservation costs more equitably nationally and internationally.

Co-Authors

Alexandra Marques, Inês S. Martins, Arnold Tukker, Karlheinz Erb

Keywords biodiversity conservation T-Perin Perino, Andrea Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:35 Present III - Jane Goodall 15 min

Andrea Perino (iDiv/MLU) Competitive exclusion between domesticated and feral ungulates in abandoned landscapes

In high-income countries, decreasing land cultivation leads to widespread land abandonment. Agricultural abandonment is associated with the transition from open areas to shrubland and forest. These transitions carry the risk of habitat homogenization but also have the potential to benefit biodiversity by providing habitats for species that have declined due to the reduction of their natural habitat. Restoring such landscapes to self-sustaining ecosystems that are maintained without human interaction is one aim of the ecological rewilding approach. One aspect of rewilding is the recolonisation of abandoned lands by large herbivores that promote heterogeneous habitats suitable for a wide range of species. However the patterns of recolonization, species distribution and habitat partition between remaining domesticated and feral ungulate species in abandoned landscapes are not well understood and little is known about the interaction between recolonizing feral ungulates and remaining domesticated species. Here we present first results of a camera-trapping study conducted in the Peneda-Gerês National Park in Portugal during the summer of 2015. We fit a multispecies occupancy model to detection/non-detection data of free-ranging cattle, horses, wild boar and roe deer to investigate habitat use of these species and to test the hypothesis that habitat partition between domesticated and feral ungulates underlies processes of competitive exclusion. Testing the influence of competitive exclusion and taking into account the different levels of herbivory pressure those species impose on the landscape we aim to better understand spatial patterns of succession trajectories across abandoned landscapes.

Co-Authors

Florian Wolf, Henrique Miguel Pereira (iDiv)

Keywords rewilding, camera trapping, landscape abandonment T-River Rivero Bravo, Javier Biodiversity Functions Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:10 Present V - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 15 min

Javier Rivero Bravo (CSIC) Impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on plant-insect dynamics

Plants live in close association with the microbes that inhabit the soil in which plants grow. Many of these microbes are beneficial to plants. Among the most widespread soil beneficial microbes are the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which have co- evolved with plants for 400 million years and form symbiosis with ~80% of all plant species. AMF-colonized plants usually benefit from improved water and nutrient uptake, showing increased plant size, vigour, and nutrient levels; which are important indicators of plant quality for insect herbivores. Root colonization by AMF also triggers a variety of molecular and biochemical responses in their host plants, including changes in the production of many allelochemicals, which can affect the performance of insect herbivores and, ultimately, insect population densities and the extent of herbivore damage received by plants. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that they also might have important effects on the chemical composition of herbivore-induced volatiles, thus altering interactions between plants and other community members. In our research, we study the main mechanisms by which the mutualistic AMF Rhizophagus irregularis and Funneliformis mosseae can affect plant interaction with insect herbivores. In our system we use the solanaceous species Solanum lycopersicum, as host plant, and the leaf chewing insects Manduca sexta (specialist) and Spodoptera exigua (generalist) as insect herbivores. We follow an integrative approach, including transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses, combined by performance and behavioral bioassays, to unravel molecular and phytochemical key elements underlying the impact of root symbionts on plant multitrophic interactions.

Co-Authors

Víctor Flors (Universitat Jaume I), María J Pozo (CSIC), Nicole van Dam (iDiv), Ainhoa Martínez-Medina (iDiv)

Keywords mycorrhiza, stress, ISR, HIPVs T-Rüger Rüger, Nadja Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:45 Present II - Paul Ehrlich 15 min

Nadja Rüger (iDiv) Beyond the growth-survival trade-off: Dgraphic dimensions of tropical trees

Life-history theory posits that allocation compromises, i.e. trade-offs, between different aspects of demography, such as growth, survival or reproduction, constrain the range of viable life-history strategies. The best established demographic trade-off is the growth-survival trade-off corresponding to a fast-slow continuum of life-histories. However, traditional analyses of demographic trade-offs typically neglect rare species, uncertainty in demographic rates, or intra-specific variation of demographic rates with size and/or resource availability. Moreover, we know surprisingly little about co-variation of growth and survival with measures of reproduction.

Data from long-term permanent sample plots and novel statistical methods now allow for addressing these challenges. In an analysis of demographic rates of 290 tropical tree and shrub species on BCI, Panama, we accounted for tree size and light availability by assigning each tree to one of four canopy layers based on the number of tree crowns above it. We estimated growth and survival rates for each species and canopy layer, and the number of sapling recruits.

Results from a weighted PCA confirmed the importance of the growth-survival trade-off (42% explained variation). Slow species had high wood density, seed mass and adult stature. The second dimension (21%) distinguished species with fast growth AND high survival in all canopy layers, but low recruitment, from the opposite. This axis corresponds to a continuum extending from “long-lived pioneer” to “short-lived breeder” syndromes. In line with the forest architecture hypothesis, high recruitment was associated with small stature. Functional traits explained about 50% of interspecific variation along axes 1 and 2.

Co-Authors

Richard Condit (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), Drew Purves (Google Deepmind), Benjamin Rosenbaum (iDiv), Christian Wirth (iDiv, UL), Joseph Wright (Google Deepmind)

Keywords demographic diversity, life-history strategies, tropical forests T-Sande van der Sande, Masha Biodiversity Functions Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:45 Past II - Rachel Carson 15 min

Masha van der Sande (iDiv) Biodiversity and the functioning of tropical forests

Tropical forests are the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, they remove and store large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, which makes them important for climate change mitigation. On the one hand, theories predict that high diversity in species and their traits is not only nice to have, but also increases carbon uptake and storage. On the other hand, it could be that the traits of the most dominant species, rather than the diversity in species, determine ecosystem processes.

During this presentation, I will show results from my past PhD research on the relationship between biodiversity attributes (including species diversity and community-mean functional traits) and carbon uptake and storage in tropical forests. I will show results at different spatial scales and in different forest types, and will discuss how this relationship may depend on spatial scale and environmental context.

Co-Authors

Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, Alterra - Wageningen University

Keywords biodiversity, functional traits, productivity, tropical forests T-Schle Schlegel, Martin Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:25 Future - Noonien Soong 10 min

Martin Schlegel (UL) Spatial and temporal diversity of arthropods and protists in the canopy of an alluvial forest

The Leipzig floodplain forest belongs to one of the last great natural alluvial forests in Central Europe. Despite the designation as protected landscape and in part as natural reserve, various factors have negative effects on this area. Beside dehydration due to absence of annual flooding, climate change and invasion of new species can change the fauna and displace native species. To recognize and understand these processes we relaunched a comprehensive study on the diversity of arthropods in the canopy of the Leipzig floodplain forest this year. Our project is embedded in a network of research activities as part of the interdisciplinary Leipzig Canopy Crane facility within the natural reserve “Burgaue” of the Leipzig floodplain forest. The crane was built in 2001 and has a height of 40 meters. The jib spans 45 m and the whole crane is movable on a 120 m long railway line, which allows the examination of an area of about 1.6 hectares. In this project, we want to study the spatial and temporal arthropod diversity for three seasons (2016-2018) as a starter for long term monitoring with a special focus on xylobiont beetles. We will compare our new data with earlier studies in 2002/03 at the same location with the same experimental design to address changes in biodiversity, vertical zoning and temporal occurrence due to climate change. Further, we want to examine hints of a dramatic decrease of insect species and number of individuals of insects, as reported by recent long-term monitoring studies. Preliminary results from our studies in 2016 revealed a high diversity for e.g. xylobiont beetles with many rare and endangered species but also seem to confirm the dramatic loss of numbers of individuals in some taxa like bees. In another approach, we will undertake a deep molecular characterization of eukaryotic microorganisms´ diversity and community composition in soils and the canopy region in the Leipzig floodplain forest and compare it with a tropical site using a multiple barcoding approach.

Co-Authors

Dr. Detlef Bernhard (UL)

Keywords biodiversity, arthropods, protists, Leipzig canopy crane T-Schme Schmeller, Dirk Biodiversity and Society Monday, 7 November 2016, 4:00 Present III - Jane Goodall 10 min

Dirk Schmeller (UFZ) Essential Biodiversity Variables - what they are and what they are not

The concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) was proposed to improve harmonization and combination of biodiversity data into meaningful and interoperable metrics. With the EBV concept, reliable assessment of overall biodiversity change becomes possible. A diversity of interpretations exists in the biodiversity community, which has slowed the development and the implementation of EBVs globally. I will present an analogy of what an EBV is and present a workflow necessary to operationalize EBVs in the future

Keywords applied ecology, biodiversity monitoring T-Schmi Schmidt, Robin Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 11:45 Present I - E.O. Wilson 15 min

Robin Schmidt (UFZ/MLU/iDiv) What predicts disease pressure in plant communities: Host abundance, phylogeny or species origin?

Pathogens can play an important role in shaping diversity of local communities by stabilizing – or destabilizing – plant species coexistence. A continuing debate refers to the potential host-density dependence of pathogen infestation, producing a rare- species advantage. In our study we additionally ask if there is a link between the abundance-related aspect of disease pressure and the enemy release hypothesis, suggesting that the invasiveness of exotic species is related to the absence of natural enemies in their new environment. Furthermore, variation in pathogen infection among plant species may also be affected by their phylogenetic relatedness, e.g. because of pathogen spillover onto closely related species. Working in US-midwestern grasslands and forest edges, we recorded pathogen infestation on all aboveground plant parts of species in three different communities as percent tissue diseased. Using relative abundance data for plant species and phylogenies for all communities we are then able to study the relative importance of these three factors for the incidence and diversity of fungal pathogens. We will present first results of our analyses, showing differences between native and exotic species regarding pathogen infestation and no clear phylogenetic signal in the disease pattern.

Co-Authors

Dr. Harald Auge (UFZ), Dr. habil. Martin Schädler (UFZ), Prof. Dr. Isabell Hensen (MLU), Prof. Dr. Holger Deising (MLU), Asst. Prof. Dr. Scott Mangan (Washington University St. Louis), Dr. Claudia Stein (Washington University St. Louis), Prof. Dr. Tiffany Knight (UFZ, iDiv, MLU)

Keywords experimental interaction ecology T-Schul Schuldt, Andreas Biodiversity Patterns Monday, 7 November 2016, 10:35 Past II - Rachel Carson 10 min

Andreas Schuldt (iDiv) Multitrophic community composition predicts biotic interactions

The functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and human well-being are critically dependent on the multitude of interactions among organisms above- and belowground. Attempts to disentangle major interaction pathways among taxa at the ecosystem level are frequently based on analyses of simplified proxies, such as diversity or abundance. However, such proxies do not adequately account for the complexity of possible interactions in natural systems. We introduce an approach based on Procrustes correlation of principal components analyses and structural equation models, and we show that species compositional data of a highly diverse subtropical forest reveal strong interactions among plants, arthropods, and microorganisms. We found substantial bottom-up effects of plants on aboveground multitrophic interaction pathways, whereas the belowground compartment was characterized by top-down control. Alternative analyses based on traditional diversity patterns revealed much weaker interactions and were unable to account for many non-trophic links. Our study shows that the ecological consequences of species loss will be much more complex than assumed by studies based solely on diversity.

Co-Authors

Helge Bruelheide (MLU), Tesfaye Wubet (UFZ)

Keywords T-Thaku Thakur, Madhav P. Biodiversity Processes Monday, 7 November 2016, 12:50 Present I - E.O. Wilson 5 min

Madhav Thakur (iDiv) Do plant mutualists in soil promote the coexistence of congeneric plant species?

Niche theory predicts that species should be sufficiently different, such as in their resource requirements, to coexist. However, the coexistence of similar species is widespread, as is the case of congeneric plant species. We hypothesize that this is partly due to the presence of a variety of plant mutualists (organisms that promote plant growth and are benefitted by plants) in the soil. We would like to experimentally test this hypothesis with several pairs of congeneric herbaceous grassland species along a plant mutualist diversity gradient using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and trichoderma fungi as mutualist species. This experiment will allow us to test whether a greater diversity of plant mutualists begets the coexistence of evolutionarily similar plant species and help trace the underlying mechanisms.

Co-Authors

Ainhoa Martinez-Medina, Christiane Roscher,Nicole van Dam, Nico Eisenhauer (iDiv)

Keywords plant-soil interactions, plant mutualist, plant coexistence T-Thomp Thompson, Amibeth Biodiversity Processes Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:40 Past III - Rosalind Franklin 10 min

Amibeth Thompson (iDiv/MLU) Network connectance does not predict pollen limitation of exotic plant species

Most angiosperms require animal pollinators, at least to some degree, to successfully reproduce. Exotic plant species must integrate themselves into resident plant-pollinator networks and attract the services of resident pollinators. Because these species are new to these ecosystems and have not co-evolved with resident pollinators, exotic plants might poorly integrate into plant-pollinator networks and suffer from pollen limitation. Alternatively, exotic plants will receive adequate pollination if they are able to integrate well into plant-pollinator networks, or if they receive adequate services from the few pollinators that they do interact with. To test these ideas, we used a pollinator exclusion experiment to investigate the dependence of our ten focal exotic plant species on animal pollinators, and a pollen supplementation experiment to determine the extent to which our focal exotic species are pollen limited. Further, we collected a plant-pollinator network that includes 41 plant species and 141 pollinator species to determine the connectedness of each plant species. Two of our 10 focal exotic plant species (Kummerowia striata and Perilla frutescens) were completely autogamous and not requiring pollinators. Of the other eight species, only one species (Lonicera maakii) was significantly pollen limited. However, this species was well connected within the network. We found that exotic plants are able to successfully reproduce despite high reliance on pollinators and sometimes poor integration into plant-pollinator networks. Poorly connected plant species are receiving high quality service from generalized pollinators, such as Apis mellifera. Our study highlights the importance of simultaneously considering breeding system, network connectance and pollen limitation.

Co-Authors

Tiffany Knight (UFZ, iDiv, MLU)

Keywords pollination ecology of exotic plants T-Wang Wang, Shaopeng Biodiversity Processes Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:45 Present V - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 10 min

Shaopeng Wang (iDiv) What does dispersal do in meta-food webs?

Spatial dynamics play an important role in the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. I am currently using metacommunity models to examine how dispersal may affect the structure and functioning of food webs. In our models, food web dynamics are governed locally by size-dependent prey-predation interactions, and they are coupled spatially by dispersal of abiotic and/or biotic components. We investigate two questions: (i) do dispersals by different trophic levels (e.g. plant, herbivore/omnivory, and top predator dispersal) have different spatial cascading effects; (ii) does eutrophication alter the effect of dispersal on food web dynamics. Our preliminary results suggest that, compared to dispersal by other trophic levels, plant dispersal has stronger effects on the diversity and functioning of food webs. Moreover, while species diversity generally decrease with dispersal in low-nutrient landscapes, it peaks at intermediate dispersal rate in high- nutrient landscapes. To understand the mechanism of dispersal, we are exploring how it alters the energy flux between prey and predator species (both locally and regionally) and its homogenizing effects.

Co-Authors

Ulrich Brose (iDiv)

Keywords metacommunity, food web, biodiversity, ecosystem functioning T-Wohlw Wohlwend, Michael Biodiversity Patterns Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:35 Present V - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 10 min

Michael Wohlwend (iDiv/MLU)

Effects of the coverage of the invasive Lespedeza cuneata on the prairie community assembly and its manipulation

As a very new PhD student at iDiv, I am researching invasion processes and community assembly on the North American prairie.

There are tremendous efforts to restore this unique ecosystem, as less than 1% of remnant prairies remain in North America. This restoration is impended by exotic species that can dominate restored prairies. Lespedeza cuneata (Sericea lespedeza), an East-Asian legume, is considered the most problematic invasive species due to its high dominance, its ability to alter ecosystem processes, its resistance to management, and its low value in terms of forage and aesthetics. We ask whether adding nutrients or altering the community assembly process can influence the cover that Lespedeza cuneata can achieve and the composition of the resulting community (factorial manipulation). This was done in a long term (start: 2009) large scale (102 plots, each 10x10m) field experiment close to St. Louis, MO. Results of this study show, that there are main effects of the treatments on Lespedeza cuneata cover, resulting in a changed community assembly. Based on further findings, I will discuss my ideas for future directions in this research, such as considering the possibility of an “invasional meltdown”.

Co-Authors

Prof. Dr. Tiffany Knight (UFZ, iDiv, MLU)

Keywords biological invasion, community assembly, temporal changes in biodiversity, spatial changes in biodiversity, restoration, reconstruction, invasion management T-Yon Yon, Felipe Biodiversity Processes Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 11:50 Present VI - Georgina Mace 15 min

Felipe Yon (MPI CE) Synchronizing for pollination: a wild tobacco case study of how the circadian clock can regulate floral phenotypes

A large number of flowering plants depend on insect pollination for reproduction and gene flow, which is an ecological service of great importance and many times underestimated. Plants have adapted their floral traits to attract diverse pollinators based on efficiency and availability depending on location. The wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, inhabits a wide range in western North America particularly in the Great Basin Desert, a biogeographic area with contrasting weather and habitats. Its pollinator, the hawkmoth Manduca sexta, is a night active moth for which N. attenuata floral display is synchronized. These visual and olfactory floral traits are timely regulated by the circadian clock for display at night time at a known Utah population.

Due to N. attenuata's wide distribution, several other ecotypes exist with variations in the time of floral traits display, which are predicted to target different pollinator guilds. Thus, the circadian clock can be considered as a plastic intermediary on pollinator selection by regulating the timely display, and not necessarily targeting for hawkmoth interactions.

Hawkmoth range predictions using weather data from Utah population, predicts a reduced hawkmoth presence at increasing altitudes that matches with increasing differences in populations’ floral display. Wind tunnel behavior assays between hawkmoth and different ecotypes points out to a preferential trait choice, which will imply different ecological consequences either when ecotypes compete in an overlapping area or when pollinator diversity is changed. Therefore, this will alter reproduction as well as gene flow between populations by targeting different pollen vectors.

Co-Authors

Alexander Haverkamp (MPI CE)

Keywords pollination, synchronization, floral display, ecotypes, circadian clock, hawkmoth, Nicotiana attenuata, biogeography