Featured
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New publication from Amyntas et al. in Journal of Animal Ecology: Shared community history strengthens plant diversity effects on below-ground multitrophic functioning
The relationship of plant diversity and several ecosystem functions strengthens over time. This suggests that the restructuring of biotic interactions in the process of a community’s assembly and the associated…
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New publication from De Giorgi et al. in Ecology and Evolution: Selection and Phenotypic Plasticity Shape Plant Performance in a Grassland Biodiversity Experiment
The increasing strength of positive biodiversity effects on plant community productivity, observed in long-term biodiversity experiments, relates to mixed responses at the species level. However, it is still not well…
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New Publication from Bassi et al. in New Phytologist: Plant species richness promotes the decoupling of leaf and root defence traits while species-specific responses in physical and chemical defences are rare
The increased positive impact of plant diversity on ecosystem functioning is often attributed to the accumulation of mutualists and dilution of antagonists in diverse plant communities. While increased plant diversity…
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New Publication from Buzhdygan et al. in Ecological Monographs: Plant diversity facets differentially affect energy dynamics in grasslands depending on trophic contexts
The strength of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships varies within and across studies, depending on the investigated ecosystem function and diversity facet (e.g., species richness or functional composition), limiting our ability…
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New Publication from Bonato Asato et al. in Journal of Ecology: Seasonal shifts in plant diversity effects on above-ground–below-ground phenological synchrony
The significance of biological diversity as a mechanism that optimizes niche breadth for resource acquisition and enhancing ecosystem functionality is well-established. However, a significant gap remains in exploring temporal niche…
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New Publication from Amyntas et al. in Nature Communications: Soil community history strengthens belowground multitrophic functioning across plant diversity levels in a grassland experiment
Biodiversity experiments revealed that plant diversity loss can decrease ecosystem functions across trophic levels. To address why such biodiversity-function relationships strengthen over time, we established experimental mesocosms replicating a gradient…
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New Publication from Hennecke et al. in Ecology Letters: Plant Species Richness and the Root Economics Space Drive Soil Fungal Communities
Trait-based approaches have been increasingly used to relate plants to soil microbial communities. Using the recently described root economics space as an approach to explain the structure of soil-borne fungal…
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Stellenausschreibung: Gärtner:in
Reg.-Nr. 253/2024 Fristende 31.12.2024 Die Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena ist eine traditionsreiche und forschungsstarke Universität im Zentrum Deutschlands. Als Volluniversität verfügt sie über ein breites Fächerspektrum. Ihre Spitzenforschung bündelt sie in den…
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New Publication from Bonato Asato et al. in Soil Biology and Biochemistry: Positive plant diversity effects on soil detritivore feeding activity and stability increase with ecosystem age
Increasing species diversity frequently enhances ecosystem functioning – a pattern strengthened with ecosystem age. It has been suggested that strengthened responses over time may be due to community assembly processes…
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New Publication from Hutengs et al. in Geoderma: Enhanced VNIR and MIR proximal sensing of soil organic matter and PLFA-derived soil microbial properties through machine learning ensembles and external parameter orthogonalization
Portable visible-to-near-infrared (VNIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy coupled with machine learning can provide detailed and inexpensive information on various key soil properties. However, on-site VNIR and MIR proximal sensing applications…
