Project Details
Projekt
Effects of enhanced structural complexity on dead-wood microbial diversity and wood decomposition
Applicant
Professor Dr. Claus Bässler
Subject Area
Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
Forestry
Ecology of Land Use
Forestry
Ecology of Land Use
Term
since 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 459717468
The diversity of wood-dependent organisms suffers strongly from forest management, particularly due to the removal of diverse dead-wood resources. Wood-inhabiting fungi and bacteria are among the most species-rich lineages and contribute substantially to forest ecosystem functioning. However, our understanding of the drivers of the microbial diversity in dead wood across taxa and subsequent ecosystem processes is still rudimentary. We here take advantage of a large collaborative experimental framework to ask whether and how the Enhancement of Structural Alpha (ESC) and Beta (ESBC) Complexity in forests by silviculture or natural disturbances increases microbial diversity and modifies ecosystem processes (decomposition) in former homogeneous production forests. More specifically, we will disentangle the factors provided by ESB/ESBC, that is, variability in resource characteristics and microclimate conditions driving microbial diversity at patch level and particularly how this translates into beta diversity at district level. This will allow us to (i) gain a deeper mechanistic understanding of microbial diversity patterns and related assembly processes and (ii) concrete recommendations to maintain microbial diversity and subsequent decomposition processes in production forests at the relevant spatial scale at which forest management operates. Finally, the large collaborative framework will boost further ideas and study questions beyond microbial dead-wood research via linking ecosystems compartments (e.g., dead-wood and soil) and /or taxa (e.g., microbes, insects, bryophytes).
DFG Programme
Research Units
