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Abstract Mountain forests are biodiversity hotspots with competing hypotheses proposed to explain elevational trends in habitat specialization and species richness. The altitudinal-niche-breadth hypothesis suggests decreasing specialization with elevation, which could lead to decreasing species richness and weaker differences in species richness and beta diversity among habitat types with increasing elevation. Testing these predictions for bacteria, fungi, plants, arthropods, and vertebrates, we found decreasing habitat specialization (represented by forest developmental stages) with elevation in mountain forests of the Northern Alps – supporting the altitudinal-niche-breadth hypothesis. Species richness decreased with elevation only for arthropods, whereas changes in beta diversity varied among taxa. Along the forest developmental gradient, species richness mainly followed a U-shaped pattern which remained stable along elevation. This highlights the importance of early and late developmental stages for biodiversity and indicates that climate change may alter community composition not only through distributional shifts along elevation but also across forest developmental stages.

In temperate regions, larger mammalian carrion naturally occurs in terrestrial landscapes as a pulsed resource towards the end of the winter through enhanced ungulate mortality due to starvation or exhaustion. The return of large carnivores in Central Europe provides carrion more equally throughout the year and the active enhancement of carrion for biodiversity by game managers has increased, raising the question of how different scavengers respond to the temporal variation in carrion supply. To address this question, we experimentally deployed 106 cervid carcasses throughout the year in a temperate forest of south-eastern Germany on two types of plots: permanent (i.e., site with multiple subsequent deployments) or random (i.e., site with unique deployment), and reported vertebrate scavenger visitations by camera trapping. Deployment on random or permanent sites did not affect carrion use by any single species. Generalized additive modelling revealed that vertebrate scavenging peaked in the winter season and summer independent of carrion supply. Still, different scavenger species showed different temporal patterns. While wild boar as ungulate omnivores did not display any seasonal patterns, avian scavengers showed significant variation in visitation rates. The mesopredator red fox consumed carrion significantly more often from late winter to summer, while pine marten was present at carrion only during winter. Finally, the specialist large carnivore Eurasian lynx, visited carrion sites most frequently in late winter and early spring. Our results suggest that global warming might impact some groups of vertebrate scavengers more strongly than others by reducing carrion availability in late winter, while returning carnivores could mitigate these impacts.

Abstract While the succession of terrestrial plant communities is well studied, less is known about succession on dead wood, especially how it is affected by environmental factors. While temperate forests face increasing canopy mortality, which causes considerable changes in microclimates, it remains unclear how canopy openness affects fungal succession. Here, we used a large real-world experiment to study the effect of closed and opened canopy on treatment-based alpha and beta fungal fruiting diversity. We found increasing diversity in early and decreasing diversity at later stages of succession under both canopies, with a stronger decrease under open canopies. However, the slopes of the diversity versus time relationships did not differ significantly between canopy treatments. The community dissimilarity remained mainly stable between canopies at ca. 25% of species exclusively associated with either canopy treatment. Species exclusive in either canopy treatment showed very low number of occupied objects compared to species occurring in both treatments. Our study showed that canopy loss subtly affected fungal fruiting succession on dead wood, suggesting that most species in the local species pool are specialized or can tolerate variable conditions. Our study indicates that the fruiting of the fungal community on dead wood is resilient against the predicted increase in canopy loss in temperate forests.

Scavengers benefit from carrion and simultaneously provide essential ecosystem services. To assess benefits and risks that carrion might bring, it is crucial to understand ecosystem-specific scavenger communities. Carrion research has mostly focussed on ungulate carcasses and has rarely explored the effects of carnivore carcasses, which can be critical to understanding disease transmission pathways. Therefore, using red fox, roe deer and red deer carcasses, we investigated factors that affect facultative vertebrate scavenger assemblages visiting carnivore and herbivore carcasses in a temperate forest ecosystem. Due to potentially increased disease transmission risk associated with carnivore carrion, we predicted that carnivore carcasses would be visited less and have a reduced visiting species composition compared to herbivore carcasses. Further, we expected red foxes to exhibit less consumption behavior of conspecific carcasses. We placed 22 red fox and 22 herbivore carcasses in a temperate montane protected area in Central Europe, the Bavarian Forest National Park, and analyzed the visits of all species and the consumption behavior of red fox at carcasses to understand whether these depended on carcass type. We found no significant effects of carcass type on visitation rates, visiting species composition, or red fox behavior. Cannibalism of foxes was common and, when controlling for confounding factors, e.g., elevation, temperature, and scavenging seasonality, the predicted consumption rate of red fox at conspecifics was higher than at herbivore carrion. Foxes appeared to consume conspecifics earlier than herbivore carrion, but the difference was not significant. At the very least, our results show that carnivore carcasses and fox behavior, including cannibalism, could provide a pathway for disease transmission. We thereby provide a first impression of the patterns of vertebrate scavenger assemblages at different carcass types in a temperate ecosystem and show that red fox behavior might precipitate a disease transmission pathway.

Tree-related microhabitats (TreMs) describe the microhabitats that a tree can provide for a multitude of other taxonomic groups and have been proposed as an important indicator for forest biodiversity. So far, the focus of TreM studies has been on temperate forests, although the tropics provide a large forest area, with different types of forest and a high diversity of tree species, some of them with exceptionally high numbers of TreMs. In this study, TreMs in the lowland tropical forests of the Chocó (Ecuador) and in the mountain tropical forests of Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) were surveyed. Our results extend the existing typology of TreMs of Larrieu et al. (2018) to include tropical forests and enabled a comparison of the relative recordings and diversity of TreMs between tropical and temperate forests. A new TreM form, Root formations, and three new TreM groups, concavities build by fruits or leaves, dendrotelms, and root formations, were established. In total, 15 new TreM types in five different TreM groups were specified. The relative recordings of most TreMs were similar between tropical and temperate forests. However, ivy and lianas, and ferns were more common in the lowland rainforest than in temperate forests, and bark microsoil, limb breakage, and foliose and fruticose lichens in tropical montane forest than in lowland rainforest. Mountain tropical forests hosted the highest diversity for common and dominant TreM types, and lowland tropical forest the highest diversity for rare TreMs. Our extended typology of tree-related microhabitats can support studies of forest-dwelling biodiversity in tropical forests. Specifically, given the ongoing threat to tropical forests, TreMs can serve as an additional tool allowing rapid assessments of biodiversity in these hyperdiverse ecosystems.

Abstract Silphinae (Staphylinidae; carrion beetles) are important contributors to the efficient decomposition and recycling of carrion necromass. Their community composition is important for the provision of this ecosystem function and can be affected by abiotic and biotic factors. However, investigations are lacking on the effects of carrion characteristics on Silphinae diversity. Carrion body mass may affect Silphinae diversity following the more individuals hypothesis (MIH). The MIH predicts a higher number of species at larger carrion because higher numbers of individuals can be supported on the resource patch. Additionally, biotic factors like carrion species identity or decomposition stage, and the abiotic factors elevation, season and temperature could affect Silphinae diversity. To test the hypotheses, we collected Silphinae throughout the decomposition of 100 carcasses representing 10 mammal species ranging from 0.04 to 124 kg. Experimental carcasses were exposed in a mountain forest landscape in Germany during spring and summer of 2021. We analysed Silphinae diversity using recently developed transformation models that considered the difficult data distribution we obtained. We found no consistent effect of carrion body mass on Silphinae species richness and, therefore, rejected the MIH. Carrion decomposition stage, in contrast, strongly influenced Silphinae diversity. Abundance and species richness increased with the decomposition process. Silphinae abundance increased with temperature and decreased with elevation. Furthermore, Silphinae abundance was lower in summer compared to spring, likely due to increased co‐occurrence and competition with dipteran larvae in summer. Neither carrion species identity nor any abiotic factor affected Silphinae species richness following a pattern consistent throughout the seasons. Our approach combining a broad study design with an improved method for data analysis, transformation models, revealed new insights into mechanisms driving carrion beetle diversity during carrion decomposition. Overall, our study illustrates the complexity and multifactorial nature of biotic and abiotic factors affecting diversity.

Conservation programs need improved tools to measure the recovery of animal diversity across restoration gradients. We used soundscapes and expert identifications of bird species to calculate niche position (i.e., mean of environmental conditions across all areas a species occupies) and niche breadth (i.e., the standard deviation of the species distribution) along a recovery gradient; from agriculture to early (up to 20 yrs) and late (up to 38 yrs) recovery, to old-growth forests. Our survey included 323 bird species and was conducted in 66 plots in the lowland Chocoan tropical rainforest in Ecuador where less than 11% of the forest remains intact, and large areas are currently undergoing regeneration post-abandonment. First, we validated our niche metrics by contrasting them against independent global categories of forest density dependency. We then explained the niche metrics of the bird species with different ecological traits, gathered from the literature, reflecting species-specific primary diet, morphology and distribution, and accounting for the phylogenetic relatedness of species. Finally, we explored the phylogenetic signal present in bird species’ ecological traits and recovery niche metrics. Niche position and breadth across the recovery gradient closely followed global categories of forest density dependency. However, our approach provided a more fine-scaled sorting of bird species in forest plots categorized as late recovery and old-growth. Granivorous birds occupied niche positions in active cacao and pasture plots and were replaced by frugivorous birds in older regeneration plots. Along the recovery gradient, tail length and handwing index decreased with niche position, supporting previous observations that birds in old-growth forests are less mobile. Birds in old-growth forests had smaller global distribution ranges than birds in agricultural plots. Finally, the latitudinal distribution of birds in the study area averaged south of the equator, with birds in old-growth plots averaging latitudinal centroids in wet forests north of the equator, whereas birds in agriculture plots averaged latitudinal centroids further south of the country, towards the dry and open Tumbesian forest. Frugivores, invertivores and vertivores had broader niche breadths, but these decreased (marginally) with tail length. We suggest these recovery niche metrics as a potentially powerful tool for the rapid assessment of the recovery process, which might support conservation strategies such as biodiversity credits, compensation payments, and strategic land purchases. With the increasing availability of information-intensive models for bird species identification, such as deep learning artificial intelligence, our new niche metrics open the avenue for rapid assessment of tropical biodiversity and new conservation areas at larger scales.

Abstract Novel methods for sampling and characterizing biodiversity hold great promise for re-evaluating patterns of life across the planet. The sampling of airborne spores with a cyclone sampler, and the sequencing of their DNA, have been suggested as an efficient and well-calibrated tool for surveying fungal diversity across various environments. Here we present data originating from the Global Spore Sampling Project, comprising 2,768 samples collected during two years at 47 outdoor locations across the world. Each sample represents fungal DNA extracted from 24 m3 of air. We applied a conservative bioinformatics pipeline that filtered out sequences that did not show strong evidence of representing a fungal species. The pipeline yielded 27,954 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Each OTU is accompanied by a probabilistic taxonomic classification, validated through comparison with expert evaluations. To examine the potential of the data for ecological analyses, we partitioned the variation in species distributions into spatial and seasonal components, showing a strong effect of the annual mean temperature on community composition.

Abstract In the face of climate change, the European Spruce Bark Beetle (Ips typographus) breeding predominantly in Norway spruce (Picea abies) led to exceptional amounts of damaged timber in European forests. Up to now, if pest control is applied, damaged or weakened P. abies trees are either extracted by salvage logging or, when quantities are low, made unsuitable for breeding by manual debarking techniques. Both pest control interventions are costly, are often limited by the short timeframe of effectiveness and come with negative impacts on the non‐target biodiversity. As alternatives for timely removal, a debarking head for harvesters for large scale disturbances and a bark gouging device for motor‐manual treatment have been developed in recent years to make breeding material unsuitable for bark beetles and reduce existing larvae. Based on data from an experimental design with infested Norway spruce logs, we show that the harvester debarking head and the motor‐manual bark gouging regulate I. typographus populations efficiently, whereas a conventional harvester did not reduce the emerging bark beetles. Species assemblages of non‐target beetles living in the infested Norway spruce logs were altered from the natural species assemblages in control logs by processing logs with the debarking head or the bark gouging device but not by the conventional harvester. None of the bark treatments reduced non‐target beetle species richness in this experiment. Practical implication. We endorse the debarking head and bark gouging as alternatives to salvage logging and manual debarking. This uncouples pest control from in‐time dependencies on the availability of transport capacities. The debarking head and bark gouging open up the opportunity to retain dead wood biomass in the forest, supporting ecological benefits and conservation goals. Particularly for protected areas these two new management options better balance requirements of pest control and biodiversity conservation.

Abstract The hyperdiverse wood‐inhabiting fungi play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, but often are threatened by deadwood removal, particularly in temperate forests dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis). To study the impact of abiotic drivers, deadwood factors, forest management and biogeographical patterns in forests of both beech species on fungal composition and diversity, we collected 215 deadwood‐drilling samples in 18 forests from France to Armenia and identified fungi by meta‐barcoding. In our analyses, we distinguished the patterns driven by rare, common, and dominant species using Hill numbers. Despite a broad overlap in species, the fungal composition with focus on rare species was determined by Fagus species, deadwood type, deadwood diameter, precipitation, temperature, and management status in decreasing order. Shifting the focus on common and dominant species, only Fagus species, both climate variables and deadwood type remained. The richness of species within the deadwood objects increased significantly only with decay stage. Gamma diversity in European beech forests was higher than in Oriental beech forests. We revealed the highest gamma diversity for old‐growth forests of European beech when focusing on dominant species. Our results implicate that deadwood retention efforts, focusing on dominant fungi species, critical for the decay process, should be distributed across precipitation and temperature gradients and both Fagus species. Strategies focusing on rare species should additionally focus on different diameters and on the conservation of old‐growth forests.

Abstract Organismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for >2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a ‘slow-fast’ axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification.

This commentary on the collected essays brings into sharper focus some of the key advances, lessons learned but also continued challenges for tackling gender inequality in R&D. Adopting a comparative perspective across countries but also across analytical levels (micro-, meso-, and macro) demonstrates once more the widespread nature of gender inequality. Drawing on the provided insights from cases in Europe and the US regarding gender equality in R&D, it argues for the importance of building broader alliances beyond gender equality practitioners in science to unite against illiberal, anti-democratic tendencies within Europe and beyond.

Heterogeneity in forests might promote biodiversity not only through an increase in niche volume but also through other processes, such as an increase in resources and their spatial distribution. However, negative relationships between heterogeneity and biodiversity have also been observed, which may indicate that heterogeneity acts as a filter for some species. This study examined the effects of different facets of heterogeneity in forest stands, i.e. deadwood, plant diversity, forest stand structure, and micro-scale topography, on the ecological (functional-phylogenetic) diversity and redundancy of nine animal groups: moths, true bugs, different functional groups of beetles, spiders, birds, and bats. Overall, we found positive effects of heterogeneity on ecological diversity and redundancy. Although the effect of heterogeneity at the local scale was moderate compared with the general effect of region, greater heterogeneity could be beneficial to some species groups and lead to more resilient species communities.

Abstract Urbanization and agricultural intensification are considered the main causes of recent insect decline in temperate Europe, while direct climate warming effects are still ambiguous. Nonetheless, higher temperatures advance spring leaf emergence, which in turn may directly or indirectly affect insects. We therefore investigated how Sentinel-2-derived start of season (SOS) and its spatial variability (SV-SOS) are affected by spring temperature and whether these green-up variables can explain insect biomass and richness across a climate and land-use gradient in southern Germany. We found that the effects of both spring green-up variables on insect biomass and richness differed between land-use types, but were strongest in forests. Here, insect richness and biomass were higher with later green-up (SOS) and higher SV-SOS. In turn, higher spring temperatures advanced SOS, while SV-SOS was lower at warmer sites. We conclude that with a warming climate, insect biomass and richness in forests may be affected negatively due to earlier and more uniform green-up. Promising adaptation strategies should therefore focus on spatial variability in green-up in forests, thus plant species and structural diversity.

Abstract Tropical forest recovery is fundamental to addressing the intertwined climate and biodiversity loss crises. While regenerating trees sequester carbon relatively quickly, the pace of biodiversity recovery remains contentious. Here, we use bioacoustics and metabarcoding to measure forest recovery post-agriculture in a global biodiversity hotspot in Ecuador. We show that the community composition, and not species richness, of vocalizing vertebrates identified by experts reflects the restoration gradient. Two automated measures – an acoustic index model and a bird community composition derived from an independently developed Convolutional Neural Network - correlated well with restoration (adj-R² = 0.62 and 0.69, respectively). Importantly, both measures reflected composition of non-vocalizing nocturnal insects identified via metabarcoding. We show that such automated monitoring tools, based on new technologies, can effectively monitor the success of forest recovery, using robust and reproducible data.

We report efficiencies of >24% being consistently achieved in mass-production of passivating-contact solar cells. Furthermore, the certified efficiency of cells from our pilot line has reached 25.3% with 730 mV open-circuit voltage. An analysis of the cell performance, including simulations, shows that the cells’ rear-side is nearly ideal, while there remains potential for further optimization of the front emitter and passivation.

Abstract The decay process of animal carcasses is a highly complex succession driven by abiotic and biotic variables and their interactions. As an underexplored ecological recycling process, understanding carrion decomposition associated with pandemics such as African swine fever is important for predicting the rate and post‐mortem interval (PMI) variation of wild animal carcasses to improve disease management. To model PMIs of wild boar, we deployed 73 wild boar carcasses in four different forest habitat types throughout a year and monitored the decomposition process, carrion beetles and blow fly larval populations. The 601 single observations were split randomly into 501 training data and 100 validation data. A linear additive mixed model for log‐transformed PMI values using the training data identified the decay stage, day of year, ambient temperature during sampling, habitat and prevalence of Oiceoptoma thoracicum (Silphidae) as predictive variables for time since death, but neither the initial body mass nor if a fresh or previous frozen carcass was used. Using the validation data, this model showed a high predictive power for log‐transformed PMI values (R2 = 0.80). This study aimed at improving the methodology of estimating the PMI of wild boar carcasses based on important abiotic and biotic environmental factors that can be easily assessed in the field. Using only a small set of predictors, including a conspicuous beetle species, allowed prediction of the mean, minimum and maximum PMI of wild boar carcasses. The strong effects of a few surrogates on PMI in our model suggest that this model can easily be transferred to wider regions of Central Europe by retraining the model with data from a broader environmental space and can thus be instrumental in assessing timing of disease introduction in areas newly affected by emerging diseases such as African swine fever.

In recent decades, climatic pressures have altered the forested landscape of Bavaria. Widespread loss of trees has unevenly impacted the entire state, of which 37% is covered by forests (5% more than the national average). In 2018 and 2019—due in large part to drought and subsequent insect infestations—more tree-covered areas were lost in Bavaria than in any other German state. Moreover, the annual crown condition survey of Bavaria has revealed a decreasing trend in tree vitality since 1998. We conducted a systematic literature review regarding the remote sensing of forests in Bavaria. In total, 146 scientific articles were published between 2008 and 2023. While 88 studies took place in the Bavarian Forest National Park, only five publications covered the whole of Bavaria. Outside of the national park, the remaining 2.5 million hectares of forest in Bavaria are understudied. The most commonly studied topics were related to bark beetle infestations (24 papers); however, few papers focused on the drivers of infestations. The majority of studies utilized airborne data, while publications utilizing spaceborne data focused on multispectral; other data types were under-utilized- particularly thermal, lidar, and hyperspectral. We recommend future studies to both spatially broaden investigations to the state or national scale and to increase temporal data acquisitions together with contemporaneous in situ data. Especially in understudied topics regarding forest response to climate, catastrophic disturbances, regrowth and species composition, phenological timing, and in the sector of forest management. The utilization of remote sensing data in the forestry sector and the uptake of scientific results among stakeholders remains a challenge compared to other heavily forested European countries. An integral part of the Bavarian economy and the tourism sector, forests are also vital for climate regulation via atmospheric carbon reduction and land surface cooling. Therefore, forest monitoring remains centrally important to attaining more resilient and productive forests.

Abstract Functional trait approaches are common in ecology, but a lack of clear hypotheses on how traits relate to environmental gradients (i.e., trait–niche relationships) often makes uncovering mechanisms difficult. Furthermore, measures of community functional structure differ in their implications, yet inferences are seldom compared among metrics. Community‐weighted mean trait values (CWMs), a common measure, are largely driven by the most common species and thus do not reflect community‐wide trait–niche relationships per se. Alternatively, trait–niche relationships can be estimated across a larger group of species using hierarchical joint species distribution models (JSDMs), quantified by a parameter Γ. We investigated how inferences about trait–niche relationships are affected by the choice of metric. Using deadwood‐dependent (saproxylic) beetles in fragmented Finnish forests, we followed a protocol for investigating trait–niche relationships by (1) identifying environmental filters (climate, forest age, and deadwood volume), (2) relating these to an ecological function (dispersal ability), and (3) identifying traits related to this function (wing morphology). We tested 18 hypothesized dispersal relationships using both CWM and Γ estimates across these environmental gradients. CWMs were more likely than Γ to show support for trait–niche relationships. Up to 13% of species' realized niches were explained by dispersal traits, but the directions of effects were consistent with fewer than 11%–39% of our 18 trait–niche hypotheses (depending on the metric used). This highlights the difficulty in connecting morphological traits and ecological functions in insects, despite the clear conceptual link between landscape connectivity and flight‐related traits. Caution is thus warranted in hypothesis development, particularly where apparent trait–function links are less clear. Inferences differ when CWMs versus Γ estimates are used, necessitating the choice of a metric that reflects study questions. CWMs help explain the effects of environmental gradients on community trait composition, whereas the effects of traits on species' niches are better estimated using hierarchical JSDMs.

Most European forests are used for timber production. Given the limited extent of unmanaged (and especially primary) forests, it is essential to include commercial forests in the conservation of forest biodiversity. In order to develop ecologically sustainable forest management practices, it is important to understand the management impacts on forest-dwelling organisms. Experiments allow testing the effects of alternative management strategies, and monitoring of multiple taxa informs us on the response range across forest-dwelling organisms. To provide a representative picture of the currently available information, metadata on 28 multi-taxa forest management experiments were collected from 14 European countries. We demonstrate the potential of compiling these experiments in a single network to upscale results from the local to continental level and indicate directions for future research. Among the different forest types, temperate deciduous beech and oak-dominated forests are the best represented in the multi-taxa management experiments. Of all the experimental treatments, innovative ways of traditional management techniques (e.g., gap cutting and thinning) and conservation-oriented interventions (e.g., microhabitat enrichment) provide the best opportunity for large-scale analyses. Regarding the organism groups, woody regeneration, herbs, fungi, beetles, bryophytes, birds and lichens offer the largest potential for addressing management–biodiversity relationships at the European level. We identified knowledge gaps regarding boreal, hemiboreal and broadleaved evergreen forests, the treatments of large herbivore exclusion, prescribed burning and forest floor or water manipulations, and the monitoring of soil-dwelling organisms and some vertebrate classes, e.g., amphibians, reptiles and mammals. To improve multi-site comparisons, design of future experiments should be fitted to the set-up of the ongoing projects and standardised biodiversity sampling is suggested. However, the network described here opens the way to learn lessons on the impact on forest biodiversity of different management techniques at the continental level, and thus, supports biodiversity conservation in managed forests.

Abstract Key message Authors have analyzed the possible correlation between measurements/indicators of forest structure and species richness of many taxonomic or functional groups over three regions of Germany. Results show the potential to use structural attributes as a surrogate for species richness of most of the analyzed taxonomic and functional groups. This information can be transferred to large-scale forest inventories to support biodiversity monitoring. Context We are currently facing a dramatic loss in biodiversity worldwide and this initiated many monitoring programs aiming at documenting further trends. However, monitoring species diversity directly is very resource demanding, in particular in highly diverse forest ecosystems. Aims We investigated whether variables applied in an index of stand structural diversity, which was developed based on forest attributes assessed in the German National Forest Inventory, can be calibrated against richness of forest-dwelling species within a wide range of taxonomic and functional groups. Methods We used information on forest structure and species richness that has been comprehensively assessed on 150 forest plots of the German biodiversity exploratories project, comprising a large range of management intensities in three regions. We tested, whether the forest structure index calculated for these forest plots well correlate with the number of species across 29 taxonomic and functional groups, assuming that the structural attributes applied in the index represent their habitat requirements. Results The strength of correlations between the structural variables applied in the index and number of species within taxonomic or functional groups was highly variable. For some groups such as Aves, Formicidae or vascular plants, structural variables had a high explanatory power for species richness across forest types. Species richness in other taxonomic and functional groups (e.g., soil and root-associated fungi) was not explained by individual structural attributes of the index. Results indicate that some taxonomic and functional groups depend on a high structural diversity, whereas others seem to be insensitive to it or even prefer structurally poor stands. Conclusion Therefore, combinations of forest stands with different degrees of structural diversity most likely optimize taxonomic diversity at the landscape level. Our results can support biodiversity monitoring through quantification of forest structure in large-scale forest inventories. Changes in structural variables over inventory periods can indicate changes in habitat quality for individual taxonomic groups and thus points towards national forest inventories being an effective tool to detect unintended effects of changes in forest management on biodiversity.

Saproxylic beetles play a vital role in conservation as indicators of the status of unmanaged forests. In light of the concern regarding the adverse impact of anthropogenic pressure on biodiversity, an essential step in forest conserva-tion strategy is the identification of saproxylic beetles. The Hyrcanian forests are a unique remnant of natural broadleaf temperate forests, with an evolutionary history that can be traced to the Tertiary and a high diversity tree species. Here we present the first checklist of saproxylic beetles in the Hyrcanian forests, including 398 species of saproxylic beetles, belonging to 207 genera and 46 families, identified by us. Based on our results and literature data, at least 670 saproxylic beetles occur in the Hyrcanian forests. The bias in our results towards some families supports the view that the detection of additional species can be expected, particularly from the forests with a greater diversity of tree species.

Abstract Habitat destruction and deterioration of habitat quality caused a severe decline of biodiversity, such as insect diversity. In this study, we analyze insect diversity and biomass across agro-environments. We collected flying insects with 20 malaise traps across a landscape mosaic consisting of organic (eight traps) and conventional (four traps) farmland, as well as across agricultural land that has been recently converted from conventional to organic farming (eight traps). Sampling was conducted over 2 years, in 2019 and 2020, with in total 340 sampling events. We measured the dry weight of the captured organisms and identified species diversity by analyzing Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) and Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) via metabarcoding. The results obtained show temporal dynamics. The number of OTUs were always higher than the number of BINs. OTUs and BINs were moderately to highly correlated, while the number of OTUs and BINs were only moderately positively correlated with dry biomass. OTUs and BINs as well as biomass were highest in the recently transformed farmland if compared with pure organic and conventional farmland sites, which showed no significant differences in respect of insect diversity. OTU and BIN numbers but not the OTU/BIN ratio significantly decreased with increasing distance from the nearest forest fringe. The numbers of OTUs, BINs and the OTU/BIN proportion, as well as OTU and BIN/biomass proportions varied strongly over seasons, irrespective of agricultural practice. Based on our findings, we suggest to combine data on insect species richness and biomass measured over a period of time, to derive a largely complete and meaningful assessment of biodiversity for a specific region.

Abstract Wood decomposition is a central process contributing to global carbon and nutrient cycling. Quantifying the role of the major biotic agents of wood decomposition, i.e. insects and fungi, is thus important for a better understanding of this process. Methods to quantify wood decomposition, such as dry mass loss, suffer from several shortcomings, such as destructive sampling or subsampling. We developed and tested a new approach based on computed tomography (CT) scanning and semi-automatic image analysis of logs from a field experiment with manipulated beetle communities. We quantified the volume of beetle tunnels in wood and bark and the relative wood volume showing signs of fungal decay and compared both measures to classic approaches. The volume of beetle tunnels was correlated with dry mass loss and clearly reflected the differences between beetle functional groups. Fungal decay was identified with high accuracy and strongly correlated with ergosterol content. Our data show that this is a powerful approach to quantify wood decomposition by insects and fungi. In contrast to other methods, it is non-destructive, covers entire deadwood objects and provides spatially explicit information opening a wide range of research options. For the development of general models, we urge researchers to publish training data.

The massive declines in terrestrial arthropods reported across Europe call for effective methods to monitor and promote biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes. Previous studies vary in their support for the suitability of plants as indicators of arthropod diversity, while the potential of subsets of conservation-relevant plant species to estimate arthropod richness remains to be tested. Moreover, the relative importance of plant species richness compared to other factors driving arthropod richness, such as land-use intensity, habitat amount and landscape configuration, is poorly understood. We conducted a multi-scale field study in Southern Germany, sampling vascular plants and terrestrial arthropods in four local land-use types (forest, grassland, arable field, settlement) across large-scale gradients of climate and land-use intensity. We obtained an extensive arthropod dataset using Malaise traps as sampling method and DNA metabarcoding for species identification. We compared the correlation of three sets of plant species richness (total, red-listed and biotope-indicator plants) with arthropod richness, including different trophic and taxonomic groups. Using mixed-effect models, we assessed the partial effects of plant species richness, habitat amount and landscape configuration on local arthropod richness while controlling for climate and land-use effects, and explored the environmental drivers of plant species richness. Arthropod species numbers of all trophic groups strongly responded to species numbers of plants that indicate protected habitats, while red-listed plant species richness was a key determinant for the richness of red-listed arthropods and butterflies. In most cases, plant species richness and temperature were stronger drivers of arthropod richness than the amount of surrounding semi-natural habitat and landscape configuration. While total plant species richness was highest in settlements, the richness of biotope-indicator plants was highest in forests and positively influenced by the amount of semi-natural habitat and edge density. The number of red-listed plant species increased with edge density at the landscape scale but was independent of habitat amount. We conclude that the richness of conservation-relevant plant species provides a powerful indicator of arthropod diversity, and underpins the potential of such plant lists for monitoring habitat quality. Our study highlights the importance of openings in forests for conservation of plants and arthropods as well as of preserving and restoring fragments of high-quality biotopes in agricultural and urban areas where the amount of semi-natural habitat is limited.

Abstract eDNA metabarcoding has become a standard method for assessing wood‐inhabiting fungi and bacteria, yet determination of dead‐wood‐inhabiting beetles still relies on time‐consuming collection of beetle specimens. We thus tested whether beetle species can be identified by eDNA sequencing of wood in a mesocosm experiment that manipulated species assemblages. Dead wood samples were taken at exit holes of beetles and DNA was extracted and analyzed using two comparative methods: (i) metabarcoding with standard arthropod primers (421 bp) and (ii) using short species‐specific primers (120–264 bp) with Sanger sequencing. Results showed that beetle DNA was amplified by each of the two approaches, however, with (i) we detected only one non‐target saproxylic beetle species. In addition, we identified 80 different OTUs with four non‐targeted species of arthropods. For (ii) we detected the targeted species in two fresh beetle exit holes out of 20 samples. We suggest that, in contrast to fungi and bacteria, this eDNA metabarcoding approach is not able to reliably detect saproxylic beetles from wood samples, likely due to rapid degradation of their target DNA. Adapting such an approach for large‐scale analyses thus requires a better knowledge of degradation processes affecting DNA quality and quantity in wood.

Sire et al. examine the effects of climate-induced forest dieback and salvage logging on insect diversity in silver fir Pyrenean forests using metabarcoding. Although no consistent variation in species richness was found, forest dieback cause massive changes in community composition particularly affecting rare species.

Abstract Forest species are affected by macroclimate, however, the microclimatic variability can be more extreme and change through climate change. Fungal fruiting community composition was affected by microclimatic differences. Here we ask whether differences in the fruiting community can be explained by morphological traits of the fruit body, which may help endure harsh conditions. We used a dead wood experiment and macrofungal fruit body size, color, and toughness. We exposed logs of two host tree species under closed and experimentally opened forest canopies in a random-block design for four years and identified all visible fruit bodies of two fungal lineages (Basidio- and Ascomycota). We found a consistently higher proportion of tough-fleshed species in harsher microclimates under open canopies. Although significant, responses of community fruit body size and color lightness were inconsistent across lineages. We suggest the toughness-protection hypothesis, stating that tough-fleshed fruit bodies protect from microclimatic extremes by reducing dehydration. Our study suggests that the predicted increase of microclimatic harshness with climate change will likely decrease the presence of soft-fleshed fruit bodies. Whether harsh microclimates also affect the mycelium of macrofungi with different fruit body morphology would complement our findings and increase predictability under climate change.

Land use is a key control of insect communities. Here the authors investigate relationships of insect biomass and richness with land use along a climate gradient, finding evidence of urbanisation and agriculture as drivers of decline, and of biomass and species richness not being suitable as mutual surrogates.

Abstract Dung beetles are important actors in the self‐regulation of ecosystems by driving nutrient cycling, bioturbation, and pest suppression. Urbanization and the sprawl of agricultural areas, however, destroy natural habitats and may threaten dung beetle diversity. In addition, climate change may cause shifts in geographical distribution and community composition. We used a space‐for‐time approach to test the effects of land use and climate on α‐diversity, local community specialization (H2′) on dung resources, and γ‐diversity of dung‐visiting beetles. For this, we used pitfall traps baited with four different dung types at 115 study sites, distributed over a spatial extent of 300 km × 300 km and 1000 m in elevation. Study sites were established in four local land‐use types: forests, grasslands, arable sites, and settlements, embedded in near‐natural, agricultural, or urban landscapes. Our results show that abundance and species density of dung‐visiting beetles were negatively affected by agricultural land use at both spatial scales, whereas γ‐diversity at the local scale was negatively affected by settlements and on a landscape scale equally by agricultural and urban land use. Increasing precipitation diminished dung‐visiting beetle abundance, and higher temperatures reduced community specialization on dung types and γ‐diversity. These results indicate that intensive land use and high temperatures may cause a loss in dung‐visiting beetle diversity and alter community networks. A decrease in dung‐visiting beetle diversity may disturb decomposition processes at both local and landscape scales and alter ecosystem functioning, which may lead to drastic ecological and economic damage.

From March to September 2020, researchers working at a biomedical scientific campus in Spain faced two lockdowns and various mobility restrictions that affected their social and professional lifestyles. The working group “Women in Science,” which acts as an independent observatory of scientific gender inequalities on campus launched an online survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on scientific activity, domestic and caregiving tasks, and psychological status. The survey revealed differences in scientific performance by gender: while male researchers participated in a larger number of scientific activities for career development, female researchers performed more invisible scientific tasks, including peer review or outreach activities. Mental impact was greater in researchers caring for children or dependents, and this was aggravated for women. Results spot a disproportionate impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on female scientific career development, and urges for equity measures to mitigate the consequences of an increase in the gender gap in biomedical sciences for current and future pandemics.

Abstract Among the infinite number of possible movements that can be produced, humans are commonly assumed to choose those that optimize criteria such as minimizing movement time, subject to certain movement constraints like signal-dependent and constant motor noise. While so far these assumptions have only been evaluated for simplified point-mass or planar models, we address the question of whether they can predict reaching movements in a full skeletal model of the human upper extremity. We learn a control policy using a motor babbling approach as implemented in reinforcement learning, using aimed movements of the tip of the right index finger towards randomly placed 3D targets of varying size. We use a state-of-the-art biomechanical model, which includes seven actuated degrees of freedom. To deal with the curse of dimensionality, we use a simplified second-order muscle model, acting at each degree of freedom instead of individual muscles. The results confirm that the assumptions of signal-dependent and constant motor noise, together with the objective of movement time minimization, are sufficient for a state-of-the-art skeletal model of the human upper extremity to reproduce complex phenomena of human movement, in particular Fitts’ Law and the $$\frac{2}{3}$$ 2 3 Power Law. This result supports the notion that control of the complex human biomechanical system can plausibly be determined by a set of simple assumptions and can easily be learned.

Abstract Most parasites and parasitoids are adapted to overcome defense mechanisms of their specific hosts and hence colonize a narrow range of host species. Accordingly, an increase in host functional or phylogenetic dissimilarity is expected to increase the species diversity of parasitoids. However, the local diversity of parasitoids may be driven by the accessibility and detectability of hosts, both increasing with increasing host abundance. Yet, the relative importance of these two mechanisms remains unclear. We parallelly reared communities of saproxylic beetle as potential hosts and associated parasitoid Hymenoptera from experimentally felled trees. The dissimilarity of beetle communities was inferred from distances in seven functional traits and from their evolutionary ancestry. We tested the effect of host abundance, species richness, functional, and phylogenetic dissimilarities on the abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity of parasitoids. Our results showed an increase of abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity of parasitoids with increasing beetle abundance. Additionally, abundance of parasitoids increased with increasing species richness of beetles. However, functional and phylogenetic dissimilarity showed no effect on the diversity of parasitoids. Our results suggest that the local diversity of parasitoids, of ephemeral and hidden resources like saproxylic beetles, is highest when resources are abundant and thereby detectable and accessible. Hence, in some cases, resources do not need to be diverse to promote parasitoid diversity.

Abstract Background Forests perform various important ecosystem functions that contribute to ecosystem services. In many parts of the world, forest management has shifted from a focus on timber production to multi-purpose forestry, combining timber production with the supply of other forest ecosystem services. However, it is unclear which forest types provide which ecosystem services and to what extent forests primarily managed for timber already supply multiple ecosystem services. Based on a comprehensive dataset collected across 150 forest plots in three regions differing in management intensity and species composition, we develop models to predict the potential supply of 13 ecosystem services. We use those models to assess the level of multifunctionality of managed forests at the national level using national forest inventory data. Results Looking at the potential supply of ecosystem services, we found trade-offs (e.g. between both bark beetle control or dung decomposition and both productivity or soil carbon stocks) as well as synergies (e.g. for temperature regulation, carbon storage and culturally interesting plants) across the 53 most dominant forest types in Germany. No single forest type provided all ecosystem services equally. Some ecosystem services showed comparable levels across forest types (e.g. decomposition or richness of saprotrophs), while others varied strongly, depending on forest structural attributes (e.g. phosphorous availability or cover of edible plants) or tree species composition (e.g. potential nitrification activity). Variability in potential supply of ecosystem services was only to a lesser extent driven by environmental conditions. However, the geographic variation in ecosystem function supply across Germany was closely linked with the distribution of main tree species. Conclusions Our results show that forest multifunctionality is limited to subsets of ecosystem services. The importance of tree species composition highlights that a lack of multifunctionality at the stand level can be compensated by managing forests at the landscape level, when stands of complementary forest types are combined. These results imply that multi-purpose forestry should be based on a variety of forest types requiring coordinated planning across larger spatial scales.

Abstract It has been shown that mere observation of body discontinuity leads to diminished body ownership. However, the impact of body discontinuity has mainly been investigated in conditions where participants observe a collocated static virtual body from a first-person perspective. This study explores the influence of body discountinuity on the sense of embodiment, when rich visuomotor correlations between a real and an artificial virtual body are established. In two experiments, we evaluated body ownership and motor performance, when participants interacted in virtual reality either using virtual hands connected or disconnected from a body. We found that even under the presence of congruent visuomotor feedback, mere observation of body discontinuity resulted in diminished embodiment. Contradictory evidence was found in relation to motor performance, where further research is needed to understand the role of visual body discontinuity in motor tasks. Preliminary findings on physiological reactions to a threat were also assessed, indicating that body visual discontinuity does not differently impact threat-related skin conductance responses. The present results are in accordance with past evidence showing that body discontinuity negatively impacts embodiment. However, further research is needed to understand the influence of visuomotor feedback and body morphological congruency on motor performance and threat-related physiological reactions.

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. Beavers are important engineers in freshwater ecosystems and reintroduction programs have enabled the recovery of beaver populations in several European countries, but the impact on biodiversity conservation is still unclear. We studied the effects of beavers on the terrestrial biodiversity of eight taxonomic groups by comparing beaver ponds with river and forest habitats in a mountain forest ecosystem in Central Europe. Among the 1,166 collected species, 196 occurred exclusively at beaver ponds, 192 in plots at the river, and 156 in the forest plots. More species of conservation concern were found at the beaver ponds (76) than on the river (67) and forest (63) plots. Abundances of bats and birds were higher at the beaver ponds than at the river or forest sites. The number of bird species at the beaver ponds was higher than at the river. The community composition of birds, beetles, and true bugs differed significantly between the beaver ponds and river plots, and for seven taxonomic groups it differed significantly between the beaver ponds and forest plots. An indicator species analysis revealed eight indicator species for the beaver pond but none for the river and forest plots. Our results demonstrate that beavers, as ecological engineers, increase habitat heterogeneity in mountain forests and thereby promote biodiversity. The expansion of beaver populations into these ecosystems should thus be supported, as it may serve as a biotic restoration tool.

Fine woody debris (FWD) represents the majority of the deadwood stock in managed forests and serves as an important biodiversity hotspot and refuge for many organisms, including deadwood fungi. Wood decomposition in forests, representing an important input of nutrients into forest soils, is mainly driven by fungal communities that undergo continuous changes during deadwood decomposition. However, while the assembly processes of fungal communities in long-lasting coarse woody debris have been repeatedly explored, similar information for the more ephemeral habitat of fine deadwood is missing. Here, we followed the fate of FWD of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba in a Central European forest to describe the assembly and diversity patterns of fungal communities over 6 years. Importantly, the effect of microclimate on deadwood properties and fungal communities was addressed by comparing FWD decomposition in closed forests and under open canopies because the large surface-to-volume ratio of FWD makes it highly sensitive to temperature and moisture fluctuations. Indeed, fungal biomass increases and pH decreases were significantly higher in FWD under closed canopy in the initial stages of decomposition indicating higher fungal activity and hence decay processes. The assembly patterns of the fungal community were strongly affected by both tree species and microclimatic conditions. The communities in the open/closed canopies and in each tree species were different throughout the whole succession with only limited convergence in time in terms of both species and ecological guild composition. Decomposition under the open canopy was characterized by high sample-to-sample variability, showing the diversification of fungal resources. Tree species-specific fungi were detected among the abundant species mostly during the initial decomposition, whereas fungi associated with certain canopy cover treatments were present evenly during decomposition. The species diversity of forest stands and the variability in microclimatic conditions both promote the diversity of fine woody debris fungi in a forest.

Effects of forest management on forest biodiversity have received increasing attention in both research and forestry practice. Despite advances in technology, monitoring of biodiversity remains time and cost-intensive and requires specific taxonomic expertise. In forest management, however, there is increasing interest and need to integrate biodiversity monitoring into forest inventories efficiently to estimate the potential effects of forest management on biodiversity. Forest management systems can differ greatly depending on management goals and the intensity and frequency of the applied silvicultural interventions. To identify management effects on biodiversity, an estimation of biodiversity using forest structural attributes may be a reasonable approach. Forest structure can – compared to conventional species-based monitoring - easily be captured during forest inventories and does not require specific taxonomic expertise. The IBP (Index of Biodiversity Potential) is a composite index aiming to provide practitioners with an efficient tool for estimating biodiversity at the local level. We recorded the IBP on 147 plots in three regions of Germany, where detailed biodiversity monitoring had been conducted. This study quantified the relationship between changes in the IBP scores and changes in species richness for 13 taxonomic groups. To determine this, we analyzed estimated relationships between the IBP and species richness using a count regression model. We found positive estimated relationships with species richness of birds, fungi, true bugs, lichens, and moths in at least 3 of 5 examined forest types. However, for spiders, bats, carabids, necrophagous and saproxylic beetles, either no relationship with the IBP or estimated relationships with only one forest type were found. Changes in scores for the IBP’s factors number of vertical layers, large living trees, tree-related microhabitats, and proportion of gaps correlated with changes in the measured species richness in many cases. Even though the IBP is generally not adequate to predict actual presence or precise number of species, it can be utilized to depict a forest stand’s potential in terms of species richness. Due to its easy and time-efficient application, it could be a useful proxy used in combination with species-based monitoring approaches.

Salvage logging has become a common practice to gain economic returns from naturally disturbed forests, but it could have considerable negative effects on biodiversity. Here the authors use a recently developed statistical method to estimate that ca. 75% of the naturally disturbed forest should be left unlogged to maintain 90% of the species unique to the area.

Abstract Recent developments in high‐resolution ecosystem mapping using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) open up promising perspectives for the monitoring of fine‐scale vegetation patterns and ecological functioning. In this study, we examine the potential of UAV imagery to track the structural composition and related phenological traits of the dwarf shrub Calluna vulgaris on a former military training area. On a European Natura 2000 heathland site, habitat management is shown to be evaluated on the basis of flowering dynamics and reproductive recovery as a proxy of functional changes that are generated after fire destruction. In particular, we utilize true color camera information and digital surface models to determine the spatiotemporal evolution of Calluna life‐cycle phases and flowering phenology 2 years after controlled burning. A stepwise methodological framework is presented that extracts Calluna pixels, spatially separates juvenile and mature life‐cycle phases, differentiates between generative and vegetative shoot extension and finally quantifies proportions of flowers, fruits and vegetative growth in two consecutive peak flowering periods. We show that Calluna life‐cycle phases can be spatially differentiated in pioneer, building and mature phases in UAV imagery. In the juvenile phase, regeneration from germination is low (

Abstract Forest set‐aside is a commonly employed conservation strategy, but large‐scale disturbances regularly evoke discussions on its utility for biodiversity conservation in former production forests. In this study, we reconstructed the return of a primeval forest specialist, the beetle Peltis grossa (Linnaeus, 1758) of the family Trogossitidae, to two national parks after more than a century of absence. To illuminate historical processes and the role of potential refuges and species' size, we compared the beetle's current distribution collected in a large‐scale citizen science approach, with historical data and the current distribution of two closely related, smaller species. We quantified deadwood preferences and investigated the effect of benign neglect versus salvage‐logging management practices on P. grossa abundances. Our findings support the view that P. grossa survived in the southern Bohemian Forest, which enabled its recolonization of the landscapes. However, a build‐up of the population was dependent upon a massive supply of deadwood by bark beetles within the refuge area. In a large area in the north of the study region that >20 years ago contained ample amounts of deadwood, forest succession outpaced colonization by P. grossa. The current probability of the species' presence decreased with distance to the presumed refuge area from 70% to 5% at 40 km. In the present core distribution area of P. grossa, salvage logging reduced its abundance by the factor 20. These results provide three important lessons on the potential of natural disturbances as a biodiversity restoration tool in forest set‐asides: First, large supply of deadwood by disturbance can trigger the return of locally extinct primeval forest specialists. Second, the species must survive within a critical distance (for P. grossa

A Tree-related Microhabitat (TreM) is a distinct, well-delineated morphological singularity occurring on living or standing dead trees, which constitutes a crucial substrate or life site for various species. TreMs are widely recognized as key features for biodiversity. Current TreM typology identifies 47 TreM types according to their morphology and their associated taxa. In order to provide a range of resolutions and make the typology more user-friendly, these 47 TreM types have been pooled into 15 groups and seven forms. Depending on the accuracy required and the time available, a user can now choose to describe TreMs at resolution levels corresponding to type, group or form. Another way to more easily record TreMs during routine management work would be to use co-occurrence patterns to reduce the number of observed TreMs required. Based on a large international TreM database (2052 plots; 70,958 individual trees; 78 tree species), we evaluated both the significance and the magnitude of TreM co-occurrence on living trees for 11 TreM groups. We highlighted 33 significant co-occurrences for broadleaves and nine for conifers. Bark loss, rot hole, crack and polypore had the highest number of positive co-occurrences (N = 8) with other TreMs on broadleaves; bark loss (N = 4) had the highest number for conifers. We found mutually exclusive occurrences only for conifers: Exposed Heartwood excluded both dendrotelm and sap run. Among the four variables we tested for their positive contribution to significant co-occurrences, tree diameter at breast height was the most consistent. Based on our results and practical considerations, we selected three TreM groups for broadleaves, and nine for conifers, and formed useful short lists to reduce the number of TreM groups to assess during routine forest management work in the field. In addition, detecting potential similarities or associations between TreMs has potential theoretical value, e.g. it may help researchers identify common factors favouring TreM formation or help managers select trees with multiple TreMs as candidates for retention.

Satellite-borne radar systems are promising tools to obtain spatial habitat data with complete geographic coverage. Here the authors show that freely available Sentinel-1 radar data perform as well as standard airborne laser scanning data for mapping biodiversity of 12 taxa across temperate forests in Germany.

The functions of color in fungi are not well characterized. Here, Krah and colleagues investigate the color of mushroom assemblages across Europe and show relationships with climate, nutritional mode (saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal) and seasonality.

Abstract 1. Gypsy moth outbreaks cause severe defoliation in Holarctic forests, both in North America where it is invasive, and in its native range in Eurasia. Defoliation can hamper timber production and impact ecological communities and processes. Aerial insecticide applications are regularly performed in outbreak areas to mitigate economic losses. These operations can be financially costly and harmful to non‐target species and may disrupt species interaction networks. However, replicated studies of the relative impacts of gypsy moth outbreaks and insecticide application on forest growth and animal communities are rare and have yet to be carried out in the species' indigenous range. 2. Here, we review the pathways in which gypsy moth outbreaks and the chemical control of these outbreaks affect forest ecosystems. We then present an experimental design established in South Central Germany in early 2019, aiming to study the ecological and economic consequences of gypsy moth eruptions and insecticide application in oak forests. The study's full factorial design comprises forest stands at high and low defoliation risk, either treated with tebufenozide or left unsprayed, within 12 experimental blocks. Measurements of forest growth and structure, tree mortality, gypsy moth density, and composition of lepidopteran, bird, bat, ground beetle, and canopy arthropod communities will be conducted for several years. 3. One‐year intensive monitoring of gypsy moth populations and damage across the selected sites showed substantial differences in population density between plots at high and low defoliation risk and high efficacy of tebufenozide in suppressing gypsy moth populations in treated plots. In the first year of the experiment, gypsy moth density and defoliation in predicted outbreak plots differed strongly, confirming the importance of using many replicates and blocking to control spatial heterogeneity. The experiment will be running continuously during the coming years to produce short‐ and medium‐term economic and ecological data to improve our understanding and management of gypsy moth outbreaks.

Abstract Carrion plays an essential role in shaping the structure and functioning of ecosystems and has far‐reaching implications for biodiversity conservation. The change in availability and type of carcasses throughout ecosystems can involve negative effects for scavenging communities. To address this issue, there have been recent conservation management measures of carrion provision in natural systems. However, the optimal conditions under which exposing carcasses to optimize conservation outcomes are still limited. Here, we used camera traps throughout elevational and vegetational gradients to monitor the consumption of 48 deer carcasses over a study period of six years by evaluating 270,279 photographs resulting out of 15,373 trap nights. We detected 17 species visiting carcass deployments, including five endangered species. Our results show that large carcasses, the winter season, and a heterogeneous surrounding habitat enhanced the frequency of carcass visits and the species richness of scavenger assemblages. Contrary to our expectations, carcass species, condition (fresh/frozen), and provision schedule (continuous vs single exposure) did not influence scavenging frequency or diversity. The carcass visitation frequency increased with carcass mass and lower temperatures. The effect of large carcasses was especially pronounced for mesopredators and the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Lynx were not too influenced in its carrion acquisition by the season, but exclusively preferred remote habitats containing higher forest cover. Birds of prey, mesopredators, and top predators were also positively influenced by the visiting rate of ravens (Corvus corax), whereas no biotic or abiotic preferences were found for wild boars (Sus scrofa). This study provides evidence that any ungulate species of carrion, either in a fresh or in previously frozen condition, attracts a high diversity of scavengers especially during winter, thereby supporting earlier work that carcass provisions may support scavenger communities and endangered species.

Climate change may impact forest disturbances, though local variability is high. Here, Sommerfeld et al. show that disturbance patterns across the temperate biome vary with agents and tree traits, yet large disturbances are consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions.

Abstract Background Livestock grazing and ‘overabundance’ of large wild herbivores in forested areas have long been perceived as conflicting with the aims of both silviculture and forest conservation; however, certain kinds of herbivory can help to maintain habitat values in forest ecosystems. Management of mammalian herbivory in protected forests can, therefore, be a critical tool for biodiversity conservation. The primary aim of this systematic review was to examine how forest vegetation and invertebrates are affected by manipulation of the grazing/browsing pressure by livestock or wild ungulates. The ultimate purpose was to investigate whether such manipulation is useful for conserving or restoring biodiversity in forest set-asides. Methods We considered studies of manipulated ungulate herbivory in forests anywhere within the boreal and temperate zones, not only in protected areas but also in production forest. Non-intervention or alternative levels of intervention were used as comparators. Relevant outcomes included abundance, diversity and composition of plants and invertebrates, tree regeneration, and performance of focal/target species. Studies were mainly selected from a recent systematic map of the evidence on biodiversity effects of forest management relevant to protected areas. Additional studies were identified through updated searches online and in bibliographies of existing reviews. Relevant studies were critically appraised, and studies with low or unclear validity were excluded from the review. Quantitative outcomes were extracted from 103 articles, and summary effect sizes were derived by meta-analysis. Results Most of the 144 studies included in the review had been conducted in North America, Europe or Australia/New Zealand. The intervention most commonly studied was experimental exclusion (or enclosure) of wild and/or domestic ungulates by fencing. Other studies examined culling of wild ungulates or compared forests long grazed by livestock to ungrazed forests. Effects on vegetation and invertebrates were reported in 135 and 23 of the studies, respectively. We found negative responses to herbivory in the abundance of understorey vegetation as a whole, woody understorey and bryophytes, and also in the species richness of woody understorey vegetation, whereas the richness of forbs and bryophytes responded positively. Several effects depended on ungulate origins: Understorey abundance responded negatively to livestock and to ungulates introduced into the wild, but not to native ones. In contrast, understorey species richness responded positively to livestock but not to wild ungulates. The duration and intensity of herbivory had few significant effects on vegetation—exceptions included woody understorey abundance and richness, which decreased with increasing duration and intensity, respectively. Among invertebrates we found negative responses to herbivory in the abundance of lepidopterans and spiders, but no significant effects on species richness. Conclusions Our review revealed a large body of high-validity experimental studies on impacts of ungulate herbivory in forests. This evidence confirmed that manipulation of such herbivory is often highly influential on tree regeneration and on the abundance, diversity and composition of understorey vegetation. Nevertheless, we also identified important knowledge gaps—we found few studies of boreal areas, long-term herbivory effects, impacts on bryophytes, lichens and invertebrates, and effects of manipulation less radical than total exclusion of ungulates.

Abstract Plant functional traits reflect individual and community ecological strategies. They allow the detection of directional changes in community dynamics and ecosystemic processes, being an additional tool to assess biodiversity than species richness. Analysis of functional patterns in plant communities provides mechanistic insight into biodiversity alterations due to anthropogenic activity. Although studies have consi‐dered of either anthropogenic management or nutrient availability on functional traits in temperate grasslands, studies combining effects of both drivers are scarce. Here, we assessed the impacts of management intensity (fertilization, mowing, grazing), nutrient stoichiometry (C, N, P, K), and vegetation composition on community‐weighted means (CWMs) and functional diversity (Rao's Q) from seven plant traits in 150 grasslands in three regions in Germany, using data of 6 years. Land use and nutrient stoichiometry accounted for larger proportions of model variance of CWM and Rao's Q than species richness and productivity. Grazing affected all analyzed trait groups; fertilization and mowing only impacted generative traits. Grazing was clearly associated with nutrient retention strategies, that is, investing in durable structures and production of fewer, less variable seed. Phenological variability was increased. Fertilization and mowing decreased seed number/mass variability, indicating competition‐related effects. Impacts of nutrient stoichiometry on trait syndromes varied. Nutrient limitation (large N:P, C:N ratios) promoted species with conservative strategies, that is, investment in durable plant structures rather than fast growth, fewer seed, and delayed flowering onset. In contrast to seed mass, leaf‐economics variability was reduced under P shortage. Species diversity was positively associated with the variability of generative traits. Synthesis. Here, land use, nutrient availability, species richness, and plant functional strategies have been shown to interact complexly, driving community composition, and vegetation responses to management intensity. We suggest that deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms shaping community assembly and biodiversity will require analyzing all these parameters.