Disentangling forest effects on grassland biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes

不同生态系统之间的过渡带具有不同的非生物梯度，这些梯度塑造了它们所在农业景观的生物多样性和生态系统服务(ES)格局。森林-草原界面是欧洲农业景观中常见的过渡带，它是由于土地利用的变化、农业集约化和破碎化的历史而演变的。草原是欧洲优先保护的地区，因为它们维持着地上和地下各种特有的动植物物种，这有助于支持和供应生态系统。草地管理对生物多样性-ES格局的影响已经得到了较好的研究，但景观尺度因素的影响还不是很清楚。拟议的研究项目旨在了解草原植物和土壤生物群落对管理和远离森林的反应。草地植物群落对土壤生物群具有级联效应，使得较高的植物多样性与更大、更复杂的蚯蚓和微生物群落联系在一起，并增强了ES。粗放的管理对植物多样性有积极的影响，因此对土壤生物群和ES也有积极的影响，但管理如何与远离森林的距离相互作用尚不清楚。检验了以下假设：(1)森林对草地生物多样性和生态系统的正效应随着距离森林边界的距离而减小；(2)放牧草地和修剪草地沿梯度方向植物群落和土壤生物群落的β多样性不同；(3)更复杂的植物群落和土壤生物群落将导致更多的分解、氮矿化和更高的牧草质量和数量；(4)土地使用者土地利用和草地管理的时间长短将与他们对物种的了解及其对生态系统的贡献有关；(5)过去的草地管理会影响原位生物多样性和ES关系的差异。植物、蚯蚓和土壤微生物群落将在德国东北部的草原田野中进行检查，沿着从森林内延伸到每一块田地的横断面进行。将对土壤进行碳、氮和矿化分析。腐烂程度将在田间用茶包进行评估。植物覆盖物将被收获、干燥和称重。将在访谈中收集土地使用者对过去和现在的管理知识以及他们对森林草原过渡带的看法的数据。植物、蚯蚓和微生物群落，以及它们所贡献的ES将根据管理和到森林的距离进行统计建模。该项目将展示生物多样性的格局如何与过渡区的生态系统相互作用，这可能有助于改变考虑农业景观的方式，并强调森林和草原之间的过渡区对生物多样性保护和生态系统的作用。

Transition zones between different ecosystems have distinct abiotic gradients that shape patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) for the agricultural landscapes they are embedded in. Forest-grassland interfaces are common transition zones in European agricultural landscapes that evolved due to a history of land use change, agricultural intensification and fragmentation. Grasslands are European priority areas for conservation as they sustain a diverse number of endemic plant and animal species, both above and below ground, which contribute to supporting and provisioning ES. Grassland management effects on biodiversity-ES patterns are well studied, but the effect of landscape-scale factors are less clear. The proposed research project aims to understand the response of grassland plant and soil biotic communities to management and distance-from-forest. Grassland plant communities have cascading effects on soil biota, such that higher plant diversity has been linked to more larger and more complex earthworm and microbial communities, and enhanced ES. Extensive management has a positive effect on plant diversity, and therefore on soil biota and ES, but how management interacts with the distance from forest is not understood. The following hypotheses are tested: (1) Positive forest effects on grassland biodiversity and ES will decrease with distance to forest boundary; (2) Beta-diversity of plant and soil biotic communities along gradients in forest-grassland transition zones will differ between grazed and mown grassland fields; (3) More complex plant and soil biotic communities will lead to increased decomposition, nitrogen mineralization, and higher quality and quantity of forage; (4) Land users’ length of time of land use and grassland management will be related with their knowledge of species and their contribution to ES; (5) Past grassland management will affect differences of in-situ biodiversity and ES relationships. Plant, earthworm, and soil microbial communities will be examined in grassland fields in north-eastern Germany, along transects reaching from within the forest into each field. Soils will be analyzed for carbon, nitrogen, and mineralization. Decomposition will be assessed in the field with teabags. Plant cover will be harvested, dried, and weighed. Data on land users’ knowledge of past and present management and their perceptions of forest-grassland transition zones will be collected in interviews. Plant, earthworm, and microbial communities, and the ES they contribute to will be statistically modeled in relation to management and distance to forest. This project will show how patterns of biodiversity interact with ES across transition zones, which could contribute to a shift in the way agricultural landscapes are considered, and underscore the role of transition zones between forests and grasslands for both biodiversity conservation and ES.