Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research: the core project

为了推进德国的生物多样性研究，我们建立了三个示范性的大规模和长期研究平台(生物多样性探索)。它们正在提供科学基础设施(在管理、研究地块、设施、基线监测和实验以及数据库方面)和智力框架(在研究设计方面)，以研究土地利用对生物多样性的影响，并评估这些变化对生态系统过程的影响。探索实验室正在合并生物多样性和生态系统研究；这两个学科到目前为止主要是分开运作的。在每个探索中，我们实施了一个共同的研究设计，包括分布在景观中的1000、100和18个地块。每套地块由等量的草地和森林地块组成，每套地块涵盖广泛的土地利用强度。除了建立探索实验室外，核心项目还侧重于示范研究，包括对选定的分类群(植物、真菌、动物和微生物)和选定的过程进行观测监测，以及实验操作。2008年2月，德国各地研究人员提出的另外26个捐助项目纳入了该项目，2009年2月，还有8个项目正在跟进。对于未来20个月的核心项目阶段，我们提出了五个工作包，继续管理、数据库和研究活动，提供重要的基线数据，进行有助于平台的示范性实验操作，并强调整合创新方法的必要性。

To advance biodiversity research in Germany, we established three exemplary large-scale and long-term research platforms (Biodiversity Exploratories). They are providing the scientific infrastructure (in terms of management, research plots, installations, baseline monitoring and experimentation, and data base) and intellectual framework (in terms of study design) to study land-use effects on biodiversity and to evaluate the impacts of those changes for ecosystem processes. The Exploratories are merging biodiversity and ecosystem research; two disciplines which so far mainly operated separately. In each Exploratory we implemented a common study design consisting of 1000, 100, and 18 plots distributed in the landscape. The sets of plots consist of equal numbers of grassland and forest plots and each set covers a wide range of land-use intensities. In addition to setting up the Exploratories, the core project is focusing on exemplary research including observational monitoring of selected taxa (of plants, fungi, animals and microorganisms) and selected processes, and experimental manipulation. In February 2008, 26 further contributing projects proposed by researchers all over Germany integrated into the project and in February 2009, 8 more are following. For the coming 20-month-phase of the core project we propose five work packages continuing the management, data base, and research activities, providing important baseline data, undertaking exemplary experimental manipulations contributing to the platform, and underlining the need for integrating innovative methods.