The role of genetic diversity in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships

• Applicants: Dr. Walter Durka; Professor Dr. Markus Fischer
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
• Term: from 2008 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 35758305

• Final Report Year: 2018

Final Report Abstract

This subproject showed that the genetic diversity of plant species is affected by the species diversity of their communities. In turn, genetic diversity also affected plant performance and therefore ecosystem functioning. These findings establish an important, and usually completely overlooked, role of genetic diversity in the biodiversity - ecosystem function relation.

Publications

• (2011). Isolation by elevation: genetic structure at neutral and putatively non-neutral loci in a dominant tree of subtropical forest, Castanopsis eyrei. Plos One 6: e21302
  Shi M, Michalski SG, Chen XY, Durka W
  
• (2012). Species diversity and population density affect genetic structure and gene dispersal in a subtropical understory shrub. Journal of Plant Ecology 5: 270-278
  Zeng X, Michalski SG, Fischer M, Durka W
  
• (2014). Phylogeography of a widespread Asian subtropical tree: East-west differentiation and climate envelope modelling suggest multiple glacial refugia Journal of Biogeography 41: 1710–1720
  Shi M, Michalski SG, Welk E, Chen XY, Durka W
  
• (2017) Gene flow in and mating system of Rhododendron simsii in a nature reserve in subtropical China. Nordic Journal of Botany 35: 1-7
  Hahn CZ, Michalski SG, Durka W
  
• (2017). Genetic diversity and differentiation follow secondary succession in a multi-species study on woody plants from subtropical China. Journal of Plant Ecology 10, 213-221
  Hahn CZ, Michalski SG, Fischer M, Durka W
  
• (2017). Heritability of early growth traits and their plasticity in 14 woody species of Chinese subtropical forest. Journal of Plant Ecology 10: 222-231
  Zeng X, Durka W, Welk E, Fischer M
  
• (2017). Opposing intraspecific vs. interspecific diversity effects on herbivory and growth in subtropical experimental tree assemblages. Journal of Plant Ecology 10: 242-251
  Hahn CZ, Niklaus PA, Bruelheide H, Michalski SG, Shi MM, Yang XF, Zeng XQ, Fischer M, Durka W
  
• (2017). Phylogenetic turnover during subtropical forest succession across environmental and phylogenetic scales. Ecology and Evolution 7: 11079–11091
  Purschke O, Michalski SG, Bruelheide H & Durka W
  
• (2017). Species-specific effects of genetic diversity and species diversity of experimental communities on early tree performance. Journal of Plant Ecology 10: 252-258
  Zeng X, Durka W, Fischer M