EXClAvE/University Marburg

The upcoming phase of the Biodiversity Exploratories is dedicated to the establishment of experimental approaches specifically testing the effects of land use intensity on ecosystems. Common garden experiments are used to reduce environmental heterogeneity to a minimum focusing on the effects of treatments. We are proposing to transplant grass sods harvested at n = 42 plots of the Biodiversity Exploratories to a common garden where they will be subjected to four land use treatments manipulating the intensity of mowing and fertilization. In the following three to 15 years, responses of plant and bacteria communities to treatments will be tracked.