Newest publications
A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification
(2024) Neyret, Margot; Le Provost, Gaëtane; Boesing, Andrea Larissa; Schneider, Florian D.; Baulechner, Dennis; Bergmann, Joana; de Vries, Franciska T.; Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria; Geisen, Stefan; Goldmann, Kezia; Merges, Anna; Saifutdinov, Ruslan A.; Simons, Nadja K.; Tobias, Joseph A.; Zaitsev, Andrey S.; Gossner, Martin M.; Jung, Kirsten; Kandeler, Ellen; Krauss, Jochen; Penone, Caterina; Schloter, Michael; Schulz, Stefanie; Staab, Michael; Wolters, Volkmar; Apostolakis, Antonios; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boch, Steffen; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Bolliger, Ralph; Bonkowski, Michael; Buscot, François; Dumack, Kenneth; Fischer, Markus; Gan, Huei Ying; Heinze, Johannes; Hölzel, Norbert; John, Katharina; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Marhan, Sven; Müller, Jörg; Renner, Swen C.; Rillig, Matthias C.; Schenk, Noëlle V.; Schöning, Ingo; Schrumpf, Marion; Seibold, Sebastian; Socher, Stephanie A.; Solly, Emily F.; Teuscher, Miriam; van Kleunen, Mark; Wubet, Tesfaye; Manning, Peter; Neyret, Margot; Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany; Le Provost, Gaëtane; INRAE, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, ISVV, SAVE, Villenave d’Ornon, France; Boesing, Andrea Larissa; Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany; Schneider, Florian D.; Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany; Baulechner, Dennis; Justus Liebig University, Department of Animal Ecology, Giessen, Germany; Bergmann, Joana; Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany; de Vries, Franciska T.; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria; Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany; Geisen, Stefan; Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Goldmann, Kezia; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Soil Ecology Department, Halle/Saale, Germany; Merges, Anna; Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany; Saifutdinov, Ruslan A.; A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Simons, Nadja K.; Ecological Networks, Technical University Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany; Tobias, Joseph A.; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK; Zaitsev, Andrey S.; Justus Liebig University, Department of Animal Ecology, Giessen, Germany; Gossner, Martin M.; Forest Entomology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Jung, Kirsten; Institut of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany; Kandeler, Ellen; Department of Soil Biology, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Krauss, Jochen; Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Penone, Caterina; Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Schloter, Michael; Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis, Oberschleissheim, Germany; Schulz, Stefanie; Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis, Oberschleissheim, Germany; Staab, Michael; Ecological Networks, Technical University Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany; Wolters, Volkmar; Justus Liebig University, Department of Animal Ecology, Giessen, Germany; Apostolakis, Antonios; Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany; Birkhofer, Klaus; Department of Ecology, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, Germany; Boch, Steffen; Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Department of Soil Biology, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Bolliger, Ralph; Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Bonkowski, Michael; Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany; Buscot, François; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Soil Ecology Department, Halle/Saale, Germany; Dumack, Kenneth; Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany; Fischer, Markus; Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Gan, Huei Ying; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironments Tübingen (SHEP), Tübingen, Germany; Heinze, Johannes; Department of Biodiversity, Heinz Sielmann Foundation, Wustermark, Germany; Hölzel, Norbert; Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; John, Katharina; Justus Liebig University, Department of Animal Ecology, Giessen, Germany; Klaus, Valentin H.; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Kleinebecker, Till; Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany; Marhan, Sven; Department of Soil Biology, Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Müller, Jörg; Department of Nature Conservation, Heinz Sielmann Foundation, Wustermark, Germany; Renner, Swen C.; Ornithology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Autria, Germany; Rillig, Matthias C.; Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Biology, Berlin, Germany; Schenk, Noëlle V.; Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Schöning, Ingo; Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany; Schrumpf, Marion; Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany; Seibold, Sebastian; Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Life Sciences, Freising, Germany; Socher, Stephanie A.; Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Department Environment and Biodiversity, Salzburg, Austria; Solly, Emily F.; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Computation Hydrosystems Department, Leipzig, Germany; Teuscher, Miriam; University of Göttingen, Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, Göttingen, Germany; van Kleunen, Mark; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, China; Wubet, Tesfaye; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle - Jena-, Leipzig, Germany; Manning, Peter; Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany
Organismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for >2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a ‘slow-fast’ axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification.
Impact of plastic rain shields and exclusion netting on pest dynamics and implications for pesticide use in apples
(2025) Bischoff, Robert; Piepho, Hans-Peter; Scheer, Christian; Petschenka, Georg
Apple production is among the most pesticide-intensive cultures. Recently, plastic rain shields and pest exclusion netting have emerged as potential measures to reduce the heavy reliance on chemical pesticides in apple, due to their inhibitory effect on pathogen and pest infestations. In a field trial, we compared yields, pest, and pathogen abundance in an orchard consisting of four plots, where two plots were covered with anti-hail net covers, one with plastic rain shields only, and one with plastic rain shields and exclusion netting. Pests and pathogens were assessed visually, and beating tray samples were collected to compare overall arthropod diversity between plots. We observed virtually no scab infections in both plastic rain shield plots, despite a more than 70% reduction of fungicides applied, when compared to anti-hail plots. Although no codling moth insecticides were sprayed in the plot with exclusion netting we found significantly reduced damage here, when compared to the anti-hail plots. However, likely due to microclimatic changes, we observed an increase of powdery mildew, woolly apple aphids, and spider mites under plastic rain shields. Modeling of metabolic rates of arthropod herbivores and predators revealed that there is an increased potential of herbivory under plastic rain shields. However, in terms of plant protection, the net effect of plastic rain shields and exclusion netting was a substantial reduction in chemical pesticide use, demonstrating that they represent a promising approach to minimize the use of chemical pesticides in apple production.
Determining the footprint of breeding in the seed microbiome of a perennial cereal
(2024) Michl, Kristina; David, Christophe; Dumont, Benjamin; Mårtensson, Linda-Maria Dimitrova; Rasche, Frank; Berg, Gabriele; Cernava, Tomislav; Michl, Kristina; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, 8010, Graz, Austria; David, Christophe; Department of Agroecosystems, Environment and Production, ISARA, 23 rue Jean Baldassini, 69364, Lyon Cedex 07, France; Dumont, Benjamin; Plant Sciences Axis, Crop Science lab, ULiege - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, B- 5030, Gembloux, Belgium; Mårtensson, Linda-Maria Dimitrova; Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 103, Lomma, Alnarp, Sweden; Rasche, Frank; Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of Hohenheim, 70593, Stuttgart, Germany; Berg, Gabriele; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, 8010, Graz, Austria; Cernava, Tomislav; Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, 8010, Graz, Austria
Background: Seed endophytes have a significant impact on plant health and fitness. They can be inherited and passed on to the next plant generation. However, the impact of breeding on their composition in seeds is less understood. Here, we studied the indigenous seed microbiome of a recently domesticated perennial grain crop (Intermediate wheatgrass, Thinopyrum intermedium L.) that promises great potential for harnessing microorganisms to enhance crop performance by a multiphasic approach, including amplicon and strain libraries, as well as molecular and physiological assays. Results: Intermediate wheatgrass seeds harvested from four field sites in Europe over three consecutive years were dominated by Proteobacteria (88%), followed by Firmicutes (10%). Pantoea was the most abundant genus and Pantoea agglomerans was identified as the only core taxon present in all samples. While bacterial diversity and species richness were similar across all accessions, the relative abundance varied especially in terms of low abundant and rare taxa. Seeds from four different breeding cycles (TLI C3, C5, C704, C801) showed significant differences in bacterial community composition and abundance. We found a decrease in the relative abundance of the functional genes nirK and nifH as well as a drop in bacterial diversity and richness. This was associated with a loss of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in Actinobacteria , Alphaproteobacteria , and Bacilli , which could be partially compensated in offspring seeds, which have been cultivated at a new site. Interestingly, only a subset assigned to potentially beneficial bacteria, e.g. Pantoea, Kosakonia , and Pseudomonas , was transmitted to the next plant generation or shared with offspring seeds. Conclusion: Overall, this study advances our understanding of the assembly and transmission of endophytic seed microorganisms in perennial intermediate wheatgrass and highlights the importance of considering the plant microbiome in future breeding programs.
SNMP1 is critical for sensitive detection of the desert locust aromatic courtship inhibition pheromone phenylacetonitrile
(2024) Lehmann, Joris; Günzel, Yannick; Khosravian, Maryam; Cassau, Sina; Kraus, Susanne; Libnow, Johanna S.; Chang, Hetan; Hansson, Bill S.; Breer, Heinz; Couzin-Fuchs, Einat; Fleischer, Joerg; Krieger, Jürgen; Lehmann, Joris; Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; Günzel, Yannick; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany; Khosravian, Maryam; Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; Cassau, Sina; Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; Kraus, Susanne; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany; Libnow, Johanna S.; Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; Chang, Hetan; Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany; Hansson, Bill S.; Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany; Breer, Heinz; Department of Physiology (190V), Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Couzin-Fuchs, Einat; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany; Fleischer, Joerg; Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; Krieger, Jürgen; Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
Background: Accurate detection of pheromones is crucial for chemical communication and reproduction in insects. In holometabolous flies and moths, the sensory neuron membrane protein 1 (SNMP1) is essential for detecting long-chain aliphatic pheromones by olfactory neurons. However, its function in hemimetabolous insects and its role for detecting pheromones of a different chemical nature remain elusive. Therefore, we investigated the relevance of SNMP1 for pheromone detection in a hemimetabolous insect pest of considerable economic importance, the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria , which moreover employs the aromatic pheromone phenylacetonitrile (PAN) to govern reproductive behaviors. Results: Employing CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene editing, a mutant locust line lacking functional SNMP1 was established. In electroantennography experiments and single sensillum recordings, we found significantly decreased electrical responses to PAN in SNMP1-deficient (SNMP1 −/− ) locusts. Moreover, calcium imaging in the antennal lobe of the brain revealed a substantially reduced activation of projection neurons in SNMP1 −/− individuals upon exposure to PAN, indicating that the diminished antennal responsiveness to PAN in mutants affects pheromone-evoked neuronal activity in the brain. Furthermore, in behavioral experiments, PAN-induced effects on pairing and mate choice were altered in SNMP1 −/− locusts. Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the importance of SNMP1 for chemical communication in a hemimetabolous insect pest. Moreover, they show that SNMP1 plays a crucial role in pheromone detection that goes beyond long-chain aliphatic substances and includes aromatic compounds controlling reproductive behaviors.
Exploring the impact of digitalization on sustainability challenges in German fruit production from the perspectives of stakeholders
(2025) Gaber, Kirsten; Rösch, Christine; Bieling, Claudia
Unique challenges exist in the fruit cultivation sector and, if not considered in the development and application of technologies, this sector is at risk of being left behind in the ongoing digital transformation of agriculture. While understanding perspectives of stakeholders is critical for technology acceptance, their knowledge and views are underrepresented in analyses on the impact of digitalization on fruit production. This research works to fill this knowledge gap by qualitatively analyzing semi-structured interviews on the impact of digitalization on sustainability challenges in fruit production with 34 stakeholders along the fruit value chain in the case study region of Lake Constance, Germany. Societal acceptance and understanding of fruit cultivation practices, restricted plant protection product use, labour availability, and biodiversity support were the main reported environmental and socio-economic challenges. Nearly all stakeholders (94%) were hopeful that digital technologies could effectively address environmental challenges in fruit production, particularly through increased efficiency, while greater uncertainties were reported for the socio-economic challenges. Perceptions of digitalization’s chances and challenges varied among individuals, fruit production systems, and farm sizes. Authors provide recommendations, including targeted support for small-scale fruit farmers and suggestions for future research activities, and emphasize the importance of factual knowledge dissemination on digitalization in fruit farming to support informed adoption choices for intended users. The results of this study offer critical viewpoints on the current challenges in fruit production and the potential for digitalization to increase sustainability in this sector.