BELongDead - Multitrophic functional diversity in deadwood (BLD-MultiFuncDiv)

• Applicant: Dr. Julia Moll
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems ; Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology ; Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
• Term: since 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 252381912

Even after decades of deadwood research, we still suffer a deeper mechanistic understanding of the assemblages of hyper-diverse communities and their link to ecosystem processes over the course of succession and decomposition in anthropogenically disturbed forest environments. Three real-world experimental set-ups within the Biodiversity Exploratories and the complementary methodological and taxonomic-related expertise among PIs provide a unique opportunity to fill important knowledge gaps: (i) Based on the BESterile experiment, we will focus on the mechanisms of species colonization and related processes on forest plots under different forest management intensities in the early successional phase; (ii) The BELongDead experiment will allow us to illuminate mechanisms of species diversity and community structure during (partly) complete decomposition at a high temporal resolution, within the context of forest management intensity and forest structure; (iii) With the new FOX experiment, we expand our conceptual framework towards microclimate, which emerged recently as a pivotal factor for forest species diversity and processes in times of climate change. To address these knowledge gaps, we continue monitoring and assessing multitrophic species diversity using Illumina Sequencing (fungal ITS, prokaryotic 16S and 18S for nematodes) in combination with intense fungal sporocarp samplings and nematode cultivations. In addition, primary producers (bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants, all associated with deadwood) will be recorded. Species diversity will be linked to a sophisticated set of measured wood traits and properties, including lignin content, pH, elements and mass loss. We further assess fungal activity by measuring a broad set of extracellular lignocellulolytic enzymes. In total, we capture information on >600 different deadwood logs, comprising 13 different tree species, located at all three Exploratories. With this application, we will reach a more comprehensive and mechanistic understanding of deadwood decomposition. This allows for direct recommendations to conserve biodiversity while providing advice for commercial forestry.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1374: Biodiversity Exploratories