Biology subjects

Linstaedter, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Linstaedter, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Land-use intensity effects on the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship in semi-natural grasslands at management-relevant spatial scales

ContextThere is a limited understanding of how land-use intensity influences the relationship between plant diversity and the ecosystem function of aboveground biomass production in semi-natural grasslands at the field and farm scale. However, these spatial scales are critical to be addressed since management practices are applied at larger spatial scales than biophysical characteristics are measured. ObjectivesWe aim to (1) examine the direct and indirect effects of land-use intensity on the spatial variability of biomass production, focusing on the role of plant species richness and its spatial variability at the field scale. We further aim to (2) compare the strength of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship across spatial scales under different land-use intensities. MethodsGoing beyond the plot scale, we investigate the field and farm scale in two German regions for the years 2020 and 2021. Statistical analyses are based on prediction maps for species richness, biomass and land-use intensity, upscaled using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, as well as on spectral dissimilarity (Raos Q) to account for environmental heterogeneity. ResultsHigh land-use intensity directly reduced species richness and its spatial variability, which acted as mediators, however, not as buffers for the spatial variability of biomass production at the field scale. The BEF relationship strengthened slightly with spatial scale at low land-use intensity, but is weakened under medium or even reversed under high intensity. ConclusionsOur study provides new insights into how land-use intensity shapes the BEF relationship at spatial scales relevant for management, addressing spatial mismatches in complex social-ecological systems.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Low land-use intensity buffers grasslands against future climate and inter-annual climate variability in a large field experiment

Climate and land-use change are key drivers of global change. Full-factorial field experiments in which both drivers are manipulated are essential to understand and predict their potentially interactive effects on the structure and functioning of grassland ecosystems. Here, we present eight years of data on grassland dynamics from the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF) in Central Germany. On large experimental plots, temperature and seasonal patterns of precipitation are manipulated by superimposing regional climate model projections onto background climate variability. Climate manipulation is factorially crossed with agricultural land-use scenarios, including intensively used meadows and extensively used (i.e. low-intensity) meadows and pastures. Inter-annual variation of background climate during our study years was high, including three of the driest years on record for our region. The effects of this temporal variability far exceeded the effects of the experimentally imposed climate change on plant species diversity and productivity, especially in the intensively used, species-poor grasslands. These changes in productivity and diversity in response to alterations in climate were due to immigrant species replacing the target forage cultivars. This shift from forage cultivars to immigrant species may impose additional economic costs in terms of a decreasing fodder value and the need for more frequent management measures. In contrast, the extensively used, species-rich grasslands showed weaker responses to both experimentally manipulated future climate and inter-annual climate variability, suggesting that these diverse grasslands are more resistant to climate change than intensively used, species-poor grasslands. We therefore conclude that an extensive management of agricultural grasslands, together with other measures to increase species diversity, can stabilize primary productivity under climate change.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Local adaptation of life-history traits within urban populations of Arabidopsis thaliana

O_LIThe challenges to which plants are exposed in urban environments represent, in miniature, the challenges plants face as a result of global environmental change. Hence, urban habitats provide a unique opportunity to assess whether processes of local adaptation are taking place despite the short temporal and geographical scales that characterize the Anthropocene. C_LIO_LIWe quantified the ecological diversity of urban habitats hosting A. thaliana populations. Using plant community indicators, we show that these patches differ in their levels of soil nutrient content and disturbance. Accordingly, plants in each patch displayed a range of flowering time, size and fitness. C_LIO_LIUsing a deep sampling approach coupled with reduced genome-sequencing, we demonstrate that most individuals can be assigned to a limited set of clonal lineages; the genetic diversity of these lineages is a sample of the diversity observed in western European populations of the species, indicating that established urban populations originate from a broad regional pool of lineages. C_LIO_LIWe assessed the genetic and phenotypic diversity of these lineages in a set of common garden experiments. We report marked genetic differences in life-history traits, including time of primary and secondary dormancy as well as of flowering. These genetic differences in life-history traits are not randomly distributed but sorted out by ecological differences among sites of origin. C_LIO_LISynthesis: Our study shows that the genetically diverse phenology of a regional A. thaliana gene pool is not randomly distributed but filtered by heterogeneity in the urban environment. To out knowledge, this report is the first to show a pattern indicative of environmental filtering enhancing local genetic adaptation within urban environments. We conclude that environmental filtering helps maintain functional diversity within species. C_LI

evolutionary biology↗