Dramatic Losses of Arable Plant Vegetation in the German Lowlands – Lessons from Resampling Studies

K. Wesche – Senckenberg Görlitzwith Stefan Meyer, Benjamin Krause, Marlieb Dedek, Thomas Becker, Erwin Bergmeier, Christoph Leuschner

1

Biodiversity trends in the Anthropocene BUTCHART et al. (Science 2010) - Red List Index: Global losses in well known species groups

DIRZO et al. (Science 2014) – Population level declines of insects

2Re

dLi

st In

dex

Biodiversity trends in the Anthropocene MCGILL et al. (TREE 2015): „Substantial empirical data …amid

large variation” for trends in α-diversity (and much more evidence for species turnover)

3

Global red list

Regional floras, check lists

Community level changes

Regional species pools

Cultural landscapes of Germany Regional scale - Flora of Frankfurt 1800, 1900, 2000: Ø Losses of indigeneous species not compensated by invasions

(GREGOR et al. 2012 - Landscape Urban Planning)

4

Relatively strongestlosses in archeophytes

Cultural landscapes of Germany• Archeophytes: Often arable plants• Relevant for largest land cover type (37%)

5

Adonis aestivalis

Nigella arvensis

Consolida regalis

Fields Grasslands Forest

Settlements Roads etc. Waterbodies

Misc. Recreation IndustryData by BfN 2010

Cultural landscapes of GermanyØ Many arable plants have importance for pollination (from

KRAUTZER & GRAINS 2014)

6

SpeciesHoney bees

Wild bees Frequenc(1950er –nectare pollen

Daucus carota ++ + + -43%

Knautia arvensis +++ + ++ -100

Matricaria chamomilla + ++ ++ -53%

Myosotis arvensis +++ +++ ++ -65%

Papaver rhoeas - +++ +++ -57%

Biodiversity trends arable plantsCountry-scale: Threatened species in EU (STORKEY, MEYER et al.

2012 – Proceedings Royal Society B)Ø Share threatened species correlates with country-level mean

wheat yield

7

Biodiversity trends arable plantsMetacommunity scale – Saale region NW of Halle BAESSLER & KLOTZ (Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 2006)Ø Tremendous changes in the 1950/60sØ Grassland extent declined, field sizes increasedØ Flora decreased on regional and alpha level

8

1089

1

3

2

4

5

6 7

German lowlands: Sampling approachBiodiversity trends in the northern German cultural landscapeTrends over 4 -5 decades (before industrial agriculture)

9

Meyer et al. Div. Dist. 2013

• Changes in regional species pools?

• Changes in plot-level diversity?

• Interactions with substrate(sand, loam, lime)?

• Potential drivers?

1089

1

3

2

4

5

6 7

German lowlands: Sampling approach• Resampling relevés from 1950/60s (392 semi-permanent plots)• Harmonised taxonomy, cover scales, plot sizes

10

Sandy regions1. Reese (1951) 31 samples2. Berkhof (1955) 383. Nuthe-Nedlitz (1956) 464. Luckau (1960-61) 39Lime bed rocks5. Hainleite (1956-57) 396. Arnstadt (1959-62) 377. Saaletal (1959-61) 40Loess regions8. Göttingen (1960) 379. Erzhausen (1959) 4510. Halle (1958) 40 Meyer et al. Div. Dist. 2013

German lowlands: Regional species poolsSpecies counts across all 392 samples, and by substrate typeØ 25-50% losses in overall species pools

11

complete(n=392)

sand(n=154)

loam(n=122)

lime(n=116)

1950s/60s 242 200 178 1872009 166 160 143 95

Meyer et al. Div. Dist.2013

German lowlands: Regional species poolsØ Severe frequency declines in pollinator plants

12

SpeciesHoney bees

Wild bees Frequency trend(1950er – 2009)nectare pollen

Daucus carota ++ + + -43%

Knautia arvensis +++ + ++ -100%

Matricaria chamomilla + ++ ++ -53%

Myosotis arvensis +++ +++ ++ -65%

Papaver rhoeas - +++ +++ -57%

German lowlands: Regional species poolsØ Significant frequency losses in 131 species, gains in 18

species only

13

Meyer et al. Div Dist. 2013Anagallis foemina Anagallis arvensis Bupleurumrotundifolium

Consolidaregalis

hist heute hist heuteAdonis aestivalis 16 1 Tripleurospermum in. 11 28Anagallis arvensis 46 7 Geranium pusillum 12 17Anagallis foemina 5 1 Brassica napus 0 11Bupleurum rotund. 1 1 Hordeum vulgare 2 10Consolida regalis 22 3 Alopecurus myos. 2 8

German lowlands: Community level richness

Plot richnessØ Median historical: 24 species

recent: 7 (-71%)

Ø Time* substrate interactionhistorical: lime sites rich (29 sp.)recent: lime sites poor (7)

Ø Losses on sand more limited

14

histor. recent

010

2030

4050

No.

of s

peci

es

allsandloamlime

Meyer et al. Div. Dist.2013

German lowlands: Community level richnessØ Losses in archeophytesØ Neophytes declined from low level

15

German lowlands: Community compositionØ Turnover in plant species compositionØ Differences between substrates disappear(DCA; species with frequency < 3 deleted; transformation y = log[x + 1]; downweighting of rare species; Eigenvalues/length of gradient axis 1: 0.42/5.3, axis 2: 0.21/5.8, axis 3: 0.15/4.2).

16

Meyer et al. Div. Dist. 2013

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5 not

- - - - - - - - - -

1950s/60s

2009

A

German lowlands: Community compositionAssign relevés to established phytosociological communitiesØHistorical: 74% association level, 24% on level of alliancesØRecent: 5% association, 20% alliances, 75 % order/class, 7%

not even class

17

Meyer et al. Appl. Veg. Science 2015

German lowlands: DriversØ Crop cover increasedØ arable plant vegetation collapsed

18

Meyer et al. Div. Dist.2013

hist Y20090

2040

6080

100

Period

cove

r

cropsherbs

German lowlands: DriversØ Winter wheat became main crop, summer crops became rare

19

Meyer et al. Div. Dist. 2013

Ø Arable plant richness low under wheat and maize

0 20 40

W RyeW Wheat

RapePotato

W BarleyOat

MaizeS Barley

Beet rootS Wheat

Species numbers0 50 100 150

W RyeW Wheat

RapePotato

W BarleyOat

MaizeS Barley

Beet rootS Wheat

Field numbers

histor.

recent

German lowlands: DriversØ Ellenberg IVs for N increased in sand and lime regionsØ High EIVs N had negative effects on species richness in lime

regions, and in today‘s sand environments

20

Meyer et al. Div. Dist. 2013

Eastern Saxony: Resampling of historical data• Extensive historical survey by M. Militzer (1 relevé / km²)• 3 ordnance survey grids á 100 km² selected

21

• 177 historical relevés (interioronly)

• Georeferenced, 3 x 20 relevés resampled in 2015

MTB 4654 Mücka: Pleistocene sands

MTB 4855 Görlitz: Loess and sandy loess

MTB 4954 Löbau: Loess and sandy loess

Mücka

Eastern Saxony: Species poolsRarefaction to 3 x 20 samplesØ Tremendous losses in interior, especially on loam substratesØ Margins more diverse, but mostly non-specialists

22

complete(n=60)

Margin sand(n=20)

loam(n=40)

1950s/60s 1462009 100 152 86 40

Dedek in prep 2016

Eastern saxony: Plot-level changesØ Historical: Loam sites more diverseØ Interior: Richness losses sand 40%, losses loam >80%

23

Historisch Heute

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Arte

nzah

len

Spec

iesn

umbe

s

Historical Recentmargin/in margin/in margin/in

Mücka - sand

Görlitz -loess

Löbau - loess

Dedek in prep 2016

Historisch Heute

0

50

100

150

200

Eastern saxony: Plot-level changesØ Interior: arable plant cover historical 40-50%, current <3%Ø Margin: more weeds, often non-specialists

24

Sum

cove

rval

ues

Mücka - sand

Görlitz -loess

Löbau - loess

Dedek in prep 2016

Historical Recentmargin/in margin/in margin/in

Eastern saxony: Plot-level changesØ Winter wheat increased in frequency, harbours lowest diversity

of arable plant species

25

37 33 31 2822

2834

29 26

818

11 114 8

20

78

51 5362

88 89

33

0102030405060708090

100

Spec

ies n

umbe

rs /

ara

ble

plan

t cov

er Artenzahl historisch Artenzahl heute Deckung (%) heute

Dedek in prep 2016

Historicalrichness

Currentrichness

Currentcover

German lowlands: Summary resurveysØ Losses in regional species pools of arable plantsØ Strong losses in diversity of arable plant communitiesØ Interaction with substrate – formerly most diverse lime sites

now harbour lowest diversity

26

10

89

1

3

2

456 7

Ø Driver agricultural intensification: Increase in winter crops, decrease of summer crops

Ø Much higher crop cover (winterwheat)

Ø Evidence for higher nutrientsupplies (trends slightly different across substrates)

27

Anagallis foeminaBupleurumrotundifolium

Consolidaregalis

German lowlands: Population levelSelected arable plant species differing in threat

Adonis aestivalis

Nigella arvensishist recentAdonis aestivalis 16 1Anagallis arvensis 46 7Anagallis foemina 5 1Bupleurum rotund. 1 1Consolida regalis 22 3

Anagallis arvensis(also blue morphs

Red List

least concern

vulnerableleast concernvulnerablecritically end.

endangered

28

Adonis aestivalis

Nigella arvensis

Populations level: Genetic structure• Overview study RAPD-Fingerprinting• Central Germany• Sample: 15 individuals / site

Anagallis foeminaAnagallis arvensis(also blue morphs

Bupleurumrotundifolium

Consolidaregalis

Populations: Genetic structure

Brütting et al. Biodiv. Cons. 2012

RAPD-FingerprintingØ Very low genetic diversity: 0.06 –

0.32 (Nei)

Ø Red list status associated withdetrimental genetic structures

29

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

10.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0 1 2 3 4

Phi_

PT

Red List status

PhiPTSaxThur meanHeterozygosity

Ø Strong fragmentation: ΦST values0.12 to 0.68

Populations: Ex situ conservation?

Brütting et al. Plant Biology 2013

Survey Botanical Gardens in Gemany, seeds from ex situconservation cultures

• Only 3-6 garden populations, only 1 official (Bupleurumrotundifolium, Potsdam)

30

Ø Provenances unclear in 55% ofall populations

Ø Garden populations smallerthan those on fields

Ø Genetic diversity lower in garden populations (exceptionAnagallis foemina)

Ø Genetic differences ex situ –in situ high (ΦST 0.29 – 0.84)

31

Brütting et al. Plant Biology 2013

Populations: Ex situ conservation?

Summary - Arable FieldsTremendous changes across various levels:Ø Losses in local species poolsØ Strong losses in α-diversity, most pronounced in

formerly rich lime regionsØ Tremendous species turnover, losses in

specialised plant communities

32

Ø Detrimental gene structures correlatedwith species threat

Ø No clear effects of landscape structureØ Ex situ populations equally poor gene

structures

field meadow water

010

2030

4050

No.

of s

peci

es

historrecent

Resampling 1950/60 – 2010: Field, grassland, brooks / rivers

Meyer et al. Div. Dist. 2013, Wesche et al Biol. Cons. 2012, Steffen et al. Hydrobiol. 2013

German lowlands: Various habitats

Plot species richness Localities

33

Ø Significantly lower alpha diversity in all three main habitats

Biodiversity trends in the Anthropocene NEWBOLD et al. Nature (2015): Effects of human land use Ø Effects differ between land use classesØ Croplands & pastures: strong reduction in richness / abundance

34

Responses of richness (b), total abundance to anthropogenic variables (95% confidence intervals). Primary vegetation; YSV, young secondary vegetation; ISV, intermediate secondaryvegetation; MSV,mature secondary vegetation; plantation forest.

• Co-authors, and others providing historical data (J.Pusch, H. Jage)• Botanical Gardens: Bayreuth, Bonn, Dresden, Göttingen, Halle, Jena,

Potsdam, Rostock, Stuttgart und Ulm• Donors: Land of Lower Saxony, grant scheme Univ. Halle-Wittenberg,

Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt

Acknowledgements

35

You for your attention