Stephanie A. Socher
A5056865946- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Plant and animal studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Botany and Plant Ecology Studies
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies
- Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
- Forest Management and Policy
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Lichen and fungal ecology
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Forest Insect Ecology and Management
- Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism
- Pasture and Agricultural Systems
- Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology
- Ecology and biodiversity studies
- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Remote Sensing in Agriculture
- Gut microbiota and health
- Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
- Soil Geostatistics and Mapping
- Ecosystem dynamics and resilience
University of Salzburg
2016-2025
Technische Universität Braunschweig
2022
University of Bern
2010-2018
University of Potsdam
2013
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
2013
Biodiversity, a multidimensional property of natural systems, is difficult to quantify partly because the multitude indices proposed for this purpose. Indices aim describe general properties communities that allow us compare different regions, taxa, and trophic levels. Therefore, they are fundamental importance environmental monitoring conservation, although there no consensus about which more appropriate informative. We tested several common diversity in range simple complex statistical...
Significance Land-use intensification is a major threat to biodiversity. So far, however, studies on biodiversity impacts of land-use intensity (LUI) have been limited single or few groups organisms and not considered temporal variation in LUI. Therefore, we examined total ecosystem grasslands varying LUI with newly developed index called multidiversity, which integrates the species richness 49 different organism ranging from bacteria birds. Multidiversity declined strongly increasing LUI,...
Summary Recent declines in biodiversity have given new urgency to questions about the relationship between land‐use change, and ecosystem processes. Despite existence of a large body research on effects land use species richness, it is unclear whether richness are principally direct or indirect, mediated by concomitant changes Therefore, we compared (fertilization, mowing grazing) with indirect ones (mediated via grassland productivity) for grasslands central Europe. We measured above‐ground...
Abstract Intransitive competition networks, those in which there is no single best competitor, may ensure species coexistence. However, their frequency and importance maintaining diversity real‐world ecosystems remain unclear. We used two large data sets from drylands agricultural grasslands to assess: (1) the generality of intransitive competition, (2) intransitivity–richness relationships (3) effects major drivers biodiversity loss (aridity land‐use intensification) on intransitivity...
Abstract Organismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these at the entire community level unclear. Here, we combine trait data for >2800 above- belowground taxa 14 trophic guilds spanning disturbance gradient German grasslands. The results indicate that most consistently respond through both direct trophically mediated effects,...
Species diversity promotes the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality). However, relative functional importance rare and common species in driving biodiversity–multifunctionality relationship remains unknown. We studied between (according to their local abundances across nine different trophic groups), multifunctionality indices derived from 14 on 150 grasslands a land-use intensity (LUI) gradient. The above- below-ground had opposite effects, with above-ground being...
Land‐use intensification is a key driver of biodiversity change. However, little known about how it alters relationships between the diversities different taxonomic groups, which are often correlated due to shared environmental drivers and trophic interactions. Using data from 150 grassland sites, we examined land‐use (increased fertilization, higher livestock densities, increased mowing frequency) altered correlations species richness 15 plant, invertebrate, vertebrate taxa. We found that...
Abstract Ex situ living plant collections play a crucial role in providing nature-based solutions to twenty-first century global challenges. However, the complex dynamics of these artificial ecosystems are poorly quantified and understood, affecting biodiversity storage, conservation utilization. To evaluate management ex diversity, we analysed data comprising 2.2 million records, from meta-collection currently holding ~500,000 accessions 41% species diversity. Our study provides critical...
Abstract. Fine roots are the most dynamic portion of a plant's root system and major source soil organic matter. By altering plant species diversity composition, conditions nutrient availability, consequently belowground allocation dynamics carbon (C) inputs, land-use management changes may influence C storage in terrestrial ecosystems. In three German regions, we measured fine radiocarbon (14C) content to estimate mean time since tissues was fixed from atmosphere 54 grassland forest plots...
Intensive land use is a driving force for biodiversity decline in many ecosystems. In semi-natural grasslands, land-use activities such as mowing, grazing and fertilization affect the diversity of plants arthropods, but combined effects different drivers chain are largely unknown. this study we used structural equation modelling to analyse how arthropod communities managed grasslands respond whether these responses mediated through changes resource or quantity (biomass). Plants were...
Plant species richness of permanent grasslands has often been found to be significantly associated with productivity. Concentrations nutrients in biomass can give further insight into these productivity- plant relationships, e.g. by reflecting land use or soil characteristics. However, the consistency such relationships across different regions rarely taken account, which might compromise our potential for generalization. We recorded and measured above-ground concentrations 295 three Germany...