During the last decades, the global change of the environment has caused a dramatic loss of habitats and species. In Central Europe, open habitats are particularly affected. The main objective of this thesis was to experimentally test the suitability of wild megaherbivore grazing as a conservation tool to manage open habitats. We studied the effect of wild ungulates in a 160 ha game preserve in NE Germany in three successional stages (i) Corynephorus canescens-dominated grassland, (ii) ruderal tall forb vegetation dominated by Tanacetum vulgare and (iii) Pinus sylvestris-pioneer forest over three years. Our results demonstrate that wild megaherbivores considerably affected species composition and delayed successional pathways in open habitats. Grazing effects differed considerably between successional stages: species richness was higher in grazed ruderal and pioneer forest plots, but not in the Corynephorus sites. Species composition changed significantly in the Corynephorus and ruderal sites. Grazed ruderal sites had turned into sites with very short vegetation dominated by Agrostis spp. and the moss Brachythecium albicans, most species did not flower. Woody plant cover was significantly affected only in the pioneer forest sites. Young pine trees were severely damaged and tree height was considerably reduced, leading to a “Pinus-macchie”-appearance. Ecological patterns and processes are known to vary with spatial scale. Since grazing by megaherbivores has a strong spatial component, the scale of monitoring success of grazing may largely differ among and within different systems. Thus, the second aim of this thesis was to test whether grazing effects are consistent over different spatial scales, and to give recommendations for appropriate monitoring scales. For this purpose, we studied grazing effects on plant community structure using multi-scale plots that included three nested spatial scales (0.25 m2, 4 m2, and 40 m2). Over all vegetation types, the scale of observation directly affected grazing effects on woody plant cover and on floristic similarity, but not on the proportion of open soil and species richness. Grazing effects manifested at small scales regarding floristic similarity in pioneer forest and ruderal sites and regarding species richness in ruderal sites. The direction of scale-effects on similarity differed between vegetation types: Grazing effects on floristic similarity in the Corynephorus sites were significantly higher at the medium and large scale, while in the pioneer forest sites they were significantly higher at the smallest scale. Disturbances initiate vegetation changes by creating gaps and affecting colonization and extinction rates. The third intention of the thesis was to investigate the effect of small-scale disturbances on the species-level. In a sowing experiment, we studied early establishment probabilities of Corynephorus canescens, a key species of open sandy habitats. Applying two different regimes of mechanical ground disturbance (disturbed and undisturbed) in the three successional stages mentioned above, we focused on the interactive effects of small-scale disturbances, successional stage and year-to-year variation. Disturbance led to higher emergence in a humid and to lower emergence in a very dry year. Apparently, when soil moisture was sufficient, the main factor limiting C. canescens establishment was competition, while in the dry year water became the limiting factor. Survival rates were not affected by disturbance. In humid years, C. canescens emerged in higher numbers in open successional stages while in the dry year, emergence rates were higher in late stages, suggesting an important role of late successional stages for the persistence of C. canescens. We conclude that wild ungulate grazing is a useful tool to slow down succession and to preserve a species-rich, open landscape, because it does not only create disturbances, thereby supporting early successional stages, but at the same time efficiently controls woody plant cover. However, wild ungulate grazing considerably changed the overall appearance of the landscape. Additional measures like shifting exclosures might be necessary to allow vulnerable species to flower and reproduce. We further conclude that studying grazing impacts on a range of scales is crucial, since different parameters are affected at different spatial scales. Larger scales are suitable for assessing grazing impact on structural parameters like the proportion of open soil or woody plant cover, whereas species richness and floristic similarity are affected at smaller scales. Our results further indicate that the optimal strategy for promoting C. canescens is to apply disturbances just before seed dispersal and not during dry years. Further, at the landscape scale, facilitation by late successional species may be an important mechanism for the persistence of protected pioneer species. / Der globale Wandel führte in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu einem drastischen Habitat- und Artenschwund, von dem in Mitteleuropa offene Lebensräume besonders betroffen sind. Hauptziel dieser Arbeit war es, experimentell zu untersuchen, ob Wildtierbeweidung eine geeignete Methode für das Offenlandmanagement ist. Der Wildtiereffekt wurde über drei Jahre in einem 160 ha großen Wildtiergehege im NO Deutschlands in drei Sukzessionsstadien untersucht: (i) Corynephorus canescens-dominierte Kurzgrasrasen, (ii) durch Tanacetum vulgare dominierte ruderale Staudenfluren und (iii) Pinus sylvestris-Vorwälder. Wildtierbeweidung beeinflusste die Artenzusammensetzung entscheidend und verzögerte die Sukzession, wobei sich die Beweidungseffekte zwischen den Sukzessionsstadien unterschieden. Die Artenzahl war in den beweideten Ruderal- und Vorwaldflächen deutlich höher als in den unbeweideten, nicht jedoch in den Corynephorus-Flächen. Die Artenzusammensetzung wurde in den Corynephorus- und den Ruderal-Flächen verändert. Ruderal-Flächen entwickelten sich durch die Beweidung zu einem durch Agrostis spp. dominierten Vegetationstyp mit niedriger Vegetationshöhe, in dem die meisten Arten nicht zur Blüte kamen. Die Gehölzdeckung wurde in den beweideten Vorwaldflächen signifikant reduziert. Junge Kiefern wurden stark geschädigt und in ihrer Wuchshöher reduziert. Analyse und Interpretation einer Untersuchung sind abhängig vom Beobachtungsmaßstab. Das zweite Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, zu testen, ob Beweidungseffekte über verschiedene räumliche Skalen konsistent sind, sowie Empfehlungen für geeignete Monitoring-Maßstäbe zu geben. Der Effekt von Wildtierbeweidung auf die Vegetation dreier Sukzessionsstadien wurde mittels genesteter Dauerflächen untersucht (0.25 m2, 4 m2, 40 m2). Über alle Vegetationstypen zusammen beeinflusste der Beobachtungsmaßstab den Beweidungseffekt auf die Gehölzdeckung sowie auf die floristische Ähnlichkeit, aber nicht auf den Anteil offenen Bodens und die Artenzahl. Betrachtet man die Vegetationstypen getrennt, so zeigte sich der Beweidungseffekt auf kleinen Skalen in den Vorwaldflächen und den ruderalen Flächen hinsichtlich der Ähnlichkeit und in den ruderalen Flächen hinsichtlich der Artenzahl. Die Richtung der Skaleneffekte auf die floristische Ähnlichkeit unterschied sich zwischen den Vegetationstypen: Während sich beweidete und unbeweidete Corynephorus-Flächen auf der mittleren und der großen Skala signifikant voneinander unterschieden, war dies im Kiefernvorwald auf der kleinsten Skala der Fall. Störungen führen zu Vegetationsveränderungen, die die Einwanderungs- und Aussterberaten von Arten beeinflussen. Das dritte Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, den Effekt kleinräumiger Störungen auf der Art-Ebene zu untersuchen sowie deren Interaktion mit dem Sukzessionsstadium und der jährlichen Variabilität. In einem Aussaatexperiment wurde das Etablierungsverhalten von Corynephorus canescens, einer Schlüsselart sandiger Offenhabitate, in drei Sukzessionsstadien und unter zwei Störungsregimes (gestört vs. ungestört) untersucht. In einem feuchten Jahr führten Störungen zu höheren, in einem trockenen Jahr dagegen zu niedrigeren Keimraten. Solange die Bodenfeuchtigkeit hoch genug war, war Konkurrenz der wichtigste limitierende Faktor für die Etablierung von C. canescens, während im trockenen Jahr Wasser zum entscheidenden Faktor wurde. Auf die Überlebensraten hatten Störungen keinen Einfluss. In feuchten Jahren waren die Keimraten in offenen Sukzessionsstadien höher, während sie im trockenen Jahr im späten Sukzessionsstadium höher waren. Spätere Sukzessionsstadien können also für die Persistenz von C. canescens eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Da Wildtierbeweidung sowohl Störungen verursacht und dadurch frühe Sukzessionsstadien fördert, als auch die Gehölzdeckung reduziert, ist sie eine besonders geeignete Maßnahme, um artenreiche, offene Landschaften zu erhalten. Sie kann jedoch zu teilweise drastischen Veränderungen der Landschaft führen, so dass zusätzliche Maßnahmen wie wechselnde Auskoppelungen notwendig sein können, um ein reiches Mosaik verschiedener Sukzessionsstadien mit einer hohen Gesamtartenzahl zu erhalten. Weiterhin ist die Untersuchung von Beweidungseffekten auf verschiedenen Maßstabsebenen von großer Bedeutung, da verschiedene Parameter auf unterschiedlichen Skalen beeinflusst werden. Größere Skalen sind geeignet, um den Beweidungseinfluss auf Strukturparameter wie den Anteil offenen Bodens oder der Gehölzdeckung zu erfassen, während für die Erfassung der Veränderung des Artenreichtums und der floristischen Ähnlichkeit kleinere Skalen besser geeignet sind. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen außerdem, dass kleinräumige Störungen die Keimung von C. canescens fördern, wobei Störungen direkt vor der Samenausbreitung und nicht in trockenen Jahren durchgeführt werden sollten. Auf Landschaftsebene kann die Förderung durch Arten späterer Sukzessionsstadien ein wichtiger Mechanismus für die Persistenz geschützter Pionierarten sein.

Dens are a critical component of black bear (Ursus americanus) habitat, yet scale-dependent den-site selection has received limited attention. Natural and anthropogenic factors (e.g., vegetation, roads) may also influence bear den-site selection. I quantified black bear denning chronology and den use and evaluated multi-scale den-site selection in Mississippi, USA during 2005–2011. Females entered dens earlier than males and emerged later; multiple den use by both sexes in a single winter was common. I recorded equal numbers of tree and ground dens, with ground dens at higher elevations surrounded by dense vegetation. Chronology and other denning characteristics of bears in Mississippi were similar to other black bear populations in the southeastern United States. Bears exhibited scale-dependent den-site selection selecting sites with greater percentage horizontal cover and farther from roads. Greater percentage horizontal cover may provide security and increase energetic efficiency. Denning farther from roads likely decreases risk of human disturbance.

No description available.

Biodiversity is determined by a myriad of complex processes acting at different scales. Given the current rates of biodiversity loss and change, it is of paramount importance that we improve our understanding of the underlying structure of ecological communities. In this thesis, I focused on Species Abundance Distributions (SAD), as a synthetic measure of biodiversity and community structure, and on Beta (β) diversity patterns, as a description of the spatial variation of species composition. I systematically assessed the effect of scale on both these patterns, analysing a broad range of community data, including different taxa and habitats, from the terrestrial, marine and freshwater realms. Knowledge of the scaling properties of abundance and compositional patterns must be fully integrated in biodiversity research if we are to understand biodiversity and the processes underpinning it, from local to global scales. SADs depict the relative abundance of the species present in a community. Although typically described by unimodal logseries or lognormal distributions, empirical SADs can also exhibit multiple modes. However, the existence of multiple modes in SADs has largely been overlooked, assumed to be due to sampling errors or a rare pattern. Thus, we do not know how prevalent multimodality is, nor do we have an understanding of the factors leading to this pattern. Here, I provided the first global empirical assessment of the prevalence of multimodality across a wide range of taxa, habitats and spatial extents. I employed an improved method combining two model selection tools, and (conservatively) estimated that ~15% of the communities were multimodal with strong support. Furthermore, I showed that the pattern is more common for communities at broader spatial scales and with greater taxonomic diversity (i.e. more phylogenetically diverse communities, since taxonomic diversity was measured as number of families). This suggests a link between multimodality and ecological heterogeneity, broadly defined to incorporate the spatial, environmental, taxonomic and functional variability of ecological systems. Empirical understanding of how spatial scale affects SAD shape is still lacking. Here, I established a gradient in spatial scale spanning several orders of magnitude by decomposing the total extent of several datasets into smaller subsets. I performed an exploratory analysis of how SAD shape is affected by area sampled, species richness, total abundance and taxonomic diversity. Clear shifts in SAD shape can provide information about relevant ecological and spatial mechanisms affecting community structure. There was a clear effect of area, species richness and taxonomic diversity in determining SAD shape, while total abundance did not exhibit any directional effect. The results supported the findings of the previous analysis, with a higher prevalence of multimodal SADs for larger areas and for more taxonomically diverse communities, while also suggesting that species spatial aggregation patterns can be linked to SAD shape. On the other hand, there was a systematic departure from the predictions of two important macroecological theories for SAD across scales, specifically regarding logseries distributions being selected only for smaller scales and when species richness and number of families were proportionally much smaller than the total extent. β diversity quantifies the variation in species composition between sites. Although a fundamental component of biodiversity, its spatial scaling properties are still poorly understood. Here, I tested if two conceptual types of β diversity showed systematic variation with scale, while also explicitly accounting for the two β diversity components, turnover and nestedness (species replacement vs species richness differences). I provided the first empirical analysis of β diversity scaling patterns for different taxa, revealing remarkably consistent scaling curves. Total β diversity and turnover exhibit a power law decay with log area, while nestedness is largely insensitive to scale changes. For the distance decay of similarity analysis, while area sampled affected the overall dissimilarity values, rates of similarity were consistent across large variations in sampled area. Finally, in both these analyses, turnover was the main contributor to compositional change. These results suggest that species are spatially aggregated across spatial scales (from local to regional scales), while also illustrating that substantial change in community structure might occur, despite species richness remaining relatively stable. This systematic and comprehensive analysis of SAD and community similarity patterns highlighted spatial scale, ecological heterogeneity and species spatial aggregation patterns as critical components underlying the results found. This work expanded the range of scales at which both theories deriving SAD and community similarity studies have been developed and tested (from local plots to continents). The results here showed strong departures from two important macroecological theories for SAD at different scales. In addition, the overall findings in this thesis clearly indicate that unified theories of biodiversity (or assuming a set of synthetic minimal assumptions) are unable to accommodate the variability in SADs shape across spatial scales reported here, and cannot fully reproduce community similarity patterns across scales. Incorporating more realistic assumptions, or imposing scale dependent assumptions, may prove to be a fruitful avenue for ecological research regarding the scaling properties of SAD and community similarity patterns. This will allow deriving new predictions and improving the ability of theoretical models to incorporate the variability in abundance and similarity patterns across scales.