Landscape simplification filters species traits and drives biotic homogenization

Sagrario Gámez-Virués, David J. Perović (), Martin M. Gossner, Carmen Börschig, Nico Blüthgen, Heike de Jong, Nadja K. Simons, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Jochen Krauss, Gwen Maier, Christoph Scherber, Juliane Steckel, Christoph Rothenwöhrer, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Christiane N. Weiner, Wolfgang Weisser, Michael Werner, Teja Tscharntke and Catrin Westphal
Additional contact information
Sagrario Gámez-Virués: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
David J. Perović: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Martin M. Gossner: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Center for Food and Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich
Carmen Börschig: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Nico Blüthgen: Ecological Networks, Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt
Heike de Jong: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Nadja K. Simons: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Center for Food and Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich
Alexandra-Maria Klein: Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg
Jochen Krauss: University of Würzburg
Gwen Maier: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Christoph Scherber: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Juliane Steckel: University of Würzburg
Christoph Rothenwöhrer: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter: University of Würzburg
Christiane N. Weiner: Ecological Networks, Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt
Wolfgang Weisser: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Center for Food and Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich
Michael Werner: Ecological Networks, Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt
Teja Tscharntke: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Catrin Westphal: Agroecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Biodiversity loss can affect the viability of ecosystems by decreasing the ability of communities to respond to environmental change and disturbances. Agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss and has multiple components operating at different spatial scales: from in-field management intensity to landscape-scale simplification. Here we show that landscape-level effects dominate functional community composition and can even buffer the effects of in-field management intensification on functional homogenization, and that animal communities in real-world managed landscapes show a unified response (across orders and guilds) to both landscape-scale simplification and in-field intensification. Adults and larvae with specialized feeding habits, species with shorter activity periods and relatively small body sizes are selected against in simplified landscapes with intense in-field management. Our results demonstrate that the diversity of land cover types at the landscape scale is critical for maintaining communities, which are functionally diverse, even in landscapes where in-field management intensity is high.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9568

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