Changes in the biodiversity of algae in soils along land use gradients within the German Biodiversity Exploratories: community structures and functional roles

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Changes in the genetic diversity of algae from various terrestrial habitats within the Biodiversity Exploratories will be studied. Because algae are very susceptible to environmental factors, we hypothesize that different management intensities are reflected in the algal community structures. This will be tested with an expanded sample of 150 forest and 150 grassland experimental plots covering various soil types and different management regimes and, at a smaller scale, coarse woody debris (dead wood) colonized by algae. In close collaboration with various groups focusing on soil and dead wood co-occurence of algae with other (micro-) organismal groups and correlations with abiotic factors will be assessed. With a disturban-ce/exclosure experiment in the soil and PCR-based investigation of microarthropods from dead wood and litter a functional correlation with microarthropods (potential consumers of algae) will be explored, i.e. in as much microarthropods facilitate the dispersal of algae. The spatial variation of the algal communities will be assessed and also how stable they are over time. In addition, Tag-encoded pyrosequencing will be employed to test previously employed clone library- and culture-based methods. Altogether this will provide a more comprehensive picture of the terrestrial algal diversity of the Biodiversity Exploratories.