Responses of plant performance and functional diversity along a climate and land-use gradient in Mongolia

Project: Research

Project participants

  • von Wehrden, Henrik (Project manager, academic)
  • Wesche, Karsten (Project manager, academic)
  • Römermann, Christine (Project manager, academic)
  • Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz

Description

Understanding responses of ecosystem processes to climate and land use change is a key challenge in ecology under both theoretical and applied aspects. So far it is not fully understood, however, how climate and land-use jointly affect ecosystem processes and services such as biomass production. The few available multi-site comparisons use species and functional trait diversity as predictors of ecosystem processes, but focus either on climate or land-use gradients. Here we propose to quantify the joint effect of land-use and climate on ecosystem processes and services. We chose the rangelands of Mongolia as study system, where precipitation gradients cover a wide range of environmental conditions. Work will be conducted at 15 localities from deserts to forest steppes, with local grazing gradients running perpendicular. We will analyse more than twenty selected focal plant species representing dominant and characteristic taxa, and measure their response to climate and land-use. The focus will be on a range of performance traits relevant for biomass productivity as the key ecosystem service in the region. This will be supplemented by a community level approach, where diversity, plant community composition and diversity of selected key traits is studied to capture responses of entire communities. We will use environmental variables and proxies for grazing as predictors for responses of both individual traits to be analysed in a Bayesian framework, as well as community responses such as species and functional diversity to be analysed with multivariate statistics. Both approaches will be combined in a synthetic modelling approach. This leads to an improved understanding of ecosystem responses with on-going global change, and represents a basis for management recommendations with respect to land-use intensity under different climate conditions in semi-arid to arid landscapes.
StatusFinished
Period01.05.1431.08.19

Research outputs

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Researchers

  1. Insa Wippermann

Publications

  1. Differentiating forest types using TerraSAR–X spotlight images based on inferential statistics and multivariate analysis
  2. Mechanical properties and microstructures of nano SiC reinforced ZE10 composites prepared with ultrasonic vibration
  3. Does isolation affect phenotypic variability and fluctuating asymmetry in the endangered Red Apollo?
  4. Indicators for relational values of nature’s contributions to good quality of life
  5. Techno-economic assessment of non-sterile batch and continuous production of lactic acid from food waste
  6. Formative assessment in mathematics
  7. Ein un(mögliches) Programm
  8. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” – Exploring teachers’ technology readiness profiles and its relation to their emotional state during COVID-19 emergency remote teaching
  9. Daniel Fiott (ed.), The csdp in 2020: The EU’s legacy and ambition in security and defence
  10. Self-efficacy, self-regulation and mathematics performance of competitive junior rowers vs. regular students
  11. User Participation in the Quality Assurance of Requirements Specifications
  12. The relation of COVID-19 to the UN sustainable development goals
  13. Developing a die casting magnesium alloy with excellent mechanical performance by controlling intermetallic phase
  14. Corporate social responsibility performance, reporting and generalized methods of moments (GMM)
  15. High with low
  16. Long-term drought triggers severe declines in carabid beetles in a temperate forest
  17. Das Reflexivitätsproblem und die Kategorienlehre
  18. From Making to Displaying: The Role of Organizational Space in Showing Creative Coolness at the Volkshotel
  19. Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations
  20. Planning for Sea Spaces II
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  22. Facing complex crime
  23. Developments in Qualitative Mindfulness Practice Research
  24. Neue Lektürefreuden
  25. Microstructures and mechanical properties of a hot-extruded Mg−8Gd−3Yb−1.2Zn−0.5Zr (wt%) alloy
  26. Political parties in the new Europe
  27. Meta-analyses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)