{"id":111161,"date":"2025-11-28T02:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T01:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=111161"},"modified":"2025-11-28T13:59:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T12:59:30","slug":"what-our-meadows-reveal-about-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/environment\/what-our-meadows-reveal-about-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"What Our Meadows Reveal About the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meadows once teeming with buzzing insects and colorful plants are quietly losing their diversity. But how fast is this change happening and can we detect it before species disappear? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A German-Swiss research team led by Professor Dr Lena Neuenkamp of Bielefeld University has found an answer. Their study, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows that spatial data can remarkably well predict how biodiversity changes over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLong-term observations often take many years. Spatial data, on the other hand, are available immediately and yet they speak a clear language,\u201d says the study\u2019s first author, Professor Neuenkamp. \u201cOur results show that we can already identify where nature is under pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unique data from 150 meadows<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For the study, the team of Bern and several German universities used a unique dataset of the Biodiversity Exploratories, a large-scale project funded since 2006 by the German Research Foundation. On 150 grassland sites, plants and arthropods\u2014such as insects and spiders\u2014were surveyed annually over eleven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers compared how biodiversity differs between locations and how it changes over the years. The result: when land is used more intensively\u2014more fertilization, more frequent mowing, or denser grazing\u2014biodiversity declines. This applies both to the number of species within a site (so-called \u03b1-diversity) and to the differences between sites (\u03b2-diversity).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tool for faster conservation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Especially striking: patterns in spatial data and time series are highly similar. This means that spatial observations can serve as a \u201cshortcut\u201d when long-term datasets are lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis gives us a potential early-warning system for biodiversity loss,\u201d says Professor Dr. Norbert H\u00f6lzel of the University of M\u00fcnster, who has been working in the Biodiversity Exploratories for more than 15 years. \u201cWe can now better anticipate where ecosystems might tip and act sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study also shows that changes in nature often occur with delays. Some species respond only years after land use intensifies. Long-term data therefore remain essential to understand these time lags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers emphasize: even if change begins quietly, it can be made visible. And that visibility is crucial for protecting biodiversity before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term monitoring of vegetation in the DFG biodiversity exploration sites is assured for the next six years, with Bielefeld and M\u00fcnster Universities taking responsibility for this as part of a recently successful collaborative project with the University of Bern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n