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Abstract:
The functioning and service provisioning of ecosystems in the face of anthropogenic
environmental and biodiversity change is a cornerstone of ecological research. The last
three decades of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research have provided
compelling evidence for the significant positive role of biodiversity in the functioning of
many ecosystems. Despite broad consensus of this relationship, the underlying ecological
and evolutionary mechanisms have not been well understood. This complicates the
transition from a description of patterns to a predictive science. The proposed Research
Unit aims at filling this gap of knowledge by applying novel experimental and analytical
approaches in one of the longest-running biodiversity experiments in the world: the Jena
Experiment. The central aim of the Research Unit is to uncover the mechanisms that
determine BEF relationships in the short- and in the long-term. Increasing BEF
relationships with time in long-term experiments do not only call for a paradigm shift in the
appreciation of the relevance of biodiversity change, they likely are key to understanding
the mechanisms of BEF relationships in general. The subprojects of the proposed
Research Unit fall into two tightly linked main categories with two research areas each that
aim at exploring variation in community assembly processes and resulting differences in
biotic interactions as determinants of the long-term BEF relationship. Subprojects under
“Microbial community assembly” and “Assembly and functions of animal communities”
mostly focus on plant diversity effects on the assembly of communities and their feedback
effects on biotic interactions and ecosystem functions. Subprojects under “Mediators of
plant-biotic interactions” and “Intraspecific diversity and micro-evolutionary changes”
mostly focus on plant diversity effects on plant trait expression and micro-evolutionary
adaptation, and subsequent feedback effects on biotic interactions and ecosystem
functions. This unification of evolutionary and ecosystem processes requires collaboration
across the proposed subprojects in targeted plant and soil history experiments using
cutting-edge technology and will produce significant synergies and novel mechanistic
insights into BEF relationships. The Research Unit of the Jena Experiment is uniquely
positioned in this context by taking an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to capture
whole-ecosystem responses to changes in biodiversity and to advance a vibrant research field.
