How does land use affect the architecture of plant-insect interactions in managed grasslands?

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Land use intensification leads to a loss of species but also alters the phylogenetic and thus the functional composition of communities. An understanding of the factors that influence the phylogenetic and functional composition of communities is important to forecast how changes in land use will affect ecosystems functioning. In the proposed project we will analyse the phylogenetic diversity and structure of three trophic groups (plants, herbivores and predators) in local grassland communities across land use intensification gradients in three regions in Germany (biodiversity exploratories: Schorfheide-Chorin, Hainich-Dün, Schwäbische Alb). Molecular sequences and supertree algorithms will be used to construct phylogenetic trees for each local community. These data will be used to explore the following questions: (1) Does land use intensification cause a phylogenetic homogenisation of plant, herbivore and predator communities? (2) Do interactions among trophic groups influence the phylogenetic diversity of local communities? The results of our study will provide important insights about how communities assemble and how land use intensification changes the phylogenetic composition of local communities. Therefore, the expected results will be an important step towards a reliable understanding of the relationship between biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems.