Kreinitz (Germany)

The Kreinitz experiment was established in 2005 to study the effect of tree species diversity on productivity and belowground processes.

Design

The experiment consists of 2 blocks that contain 49 plots each. All possible 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 species combinations were planted, and a control plot without trees was added. The plots are randomly distributed within each block. In a plot, 30 trees were planted on rows (1 m between rows, 0.8 m between trees in a row); the different species were distributed randomly within a plot. Two exclosures of stainless steel were installed in every plot to exclude tree roots and mycorrhiza.

Site characteristics

	Kreinitz (Zeithain)
Country	Germany
Biome	temperate
Latitude	51.385620000000003
Longitude	13.261509999999999
Soil type	humic cambisol on a bedrock of sand and gravel
Former land use	arable field until 1990s, abandoned till 2005
Altitude	110-120 m
Design	stem-wise randomisation
Plot shape	square
Plot size (m^2)	25
Plant distance (m)	0.8 (in row), 1 (between)
Number of trees planted	2 880
Planting date	fall 2005
Diversity variables	species richness functional diversity
Diversity gradient	0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 sp. decomposition rate
Size species pool	6
Species pool	Fagus sylvatica Fraxinus excelsior Picea abies Pinus sylvestris Quercus petraea Tilia cordata
Contact person	Harald Auge
Email	harald.auge@ufz.de

Research

The first research goal is determining how tree species and functional diversity affect stand productivity, matter cycling, and the diversity and abundance of, e.g., herbivores, pathogens, decomposers, and mycorrhizal fungi. The research further focuses on the after-life effects of tree diversity: how does leaf litter diversity and composition affect decomposition rate and the diversity and abundance of decomposer invertebrates and microbes.

Extra information

Send an e-mail to the contact person or explore the publications that utilized data from this experiment.

PhD thesis

Gottschall F 2022 Tree diversity effects on the provisioning of soil ecosystem functions in temperate forests. PhD thesis. University of Leipzig.
Kovach, K 2021 Measurements of canopy properties to reveal biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in tree diversity experiments using UAV remote sensing. PhD thesis, University of Freiburg
Milligan H 2016 Forest diversity effects on mammal herbivory. PhD thesis, Royal Holloway University of London
Hantsch L 2013 Tree diversity effects on species richness and infestation of foliar fungal pathogens in European tree diversity experiments. PhD thesis, Martin-Luther University Halle
Haase JU 2009 Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: the effects of tree and litter diversity. PhD thesis, University of Zurich

Research papers

Blondeel H, Guillemot J, Martin‐StPaul N, Druel A, Bilodeau‐Gauthier S, Bauhus J, … Baeten L 2024 Tree diversity reduces variability in sapling survival under drought. Journal of Ecology 112(5): 1164-1180 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14294
Zheng L, Barry KE, Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Craven D, Reich PB, Verheyen K, … Hautier Y 2024 Effects of plant diversity on productivity strengthen over time due to trait-dependent shifts in species overyielding. Nature communications 15(1): 2078 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46355-z
Depauw L, De Lombaerde E, Dhiedt E, Blondeel H, Abdala-Roberts L, Auge H, Barsoum N, Bauhus J, Chu C, Damtew A, Eisenhauer N, V. Fagundes M, Ganade G, Gendreau-Berthiaume B, Godbold D, Gravel D, Guillemot J, Hajek P, Hector A, Hérault B, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Kreft H, Liu X, Mereu S, Messier C, Muys B, Nock CA, Paquette A, Parker JD, Parker WC, Paterno, GB, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Rewald B, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schnabel F, Sousa-Silva R, Weih M, Clara Zemp D, Verheyen K, Baeten L 2024 Enhancing Tree Performance Through Species Mixing: Review of a Quarter-Century of TreeDivNet Experiments Reveals Research Gaps and Practical Insights. Current Forestry Reports - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-023-00208-y
Desie E, Zuo J, Verheyen K, Djukic I, Van Meerbeek K, Auge H, Barsoum N, Baum C, Bruelheide H, Eisenhauer N, Feldhaar H, Ferlian O, Gravel D, Jactel H, Kappel Schmidt I, Kepfer-Rojas S, Meredieu C, Mereu S, Messier C, Morillas L, Nock C, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Reich PB, Roales J, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Seitz S, Schmidt A, Stefanski A, Trogisch S, van Halder I, Weih M, Williams LJ, Yang B, Muys B 2023 Disentangling drivers of litter decomposition in a multi-content network of tree diversity experiments. Science of the Total Environment 857(3): 159717 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159717
FAO 2023 Towards more resilient and diverse planted forests. Unasylva (254)74: 2031/1. Rome. https://doi. org/10.4060/cc8584en
Cesarz S, Craven D, Auge H, Bruelheide H, Castagneyrol B, Gutknecht J, Hector A, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Messier C, Muys B, Brien MJO, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Smith AR, Verheyen K, Eisenhauer N 2022 Tree diversity effects on soil microbial biomass and respiration are context dependent across forest diversity experiments. Global Ecology and Biogeography 31:872-885 - https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13461
Kambach S, Sadlowski C, Peršoh D, Guerreiro MA, Auge H, Röhl O, Bruelheide 2021 Foliar Fungal Endophytes in a Tree Diversity Experiment Are Driven by the Identity but Not the Diversity of Tree Species. Life 11(10): 1081 - https://doi.org/10.3390/life11101081
Kwon T, Shibata H, Kepfer-Rojas S, Schmidt IK, Larsen KS, Beier C, Berg B, Verheyen K, Lamarque J-F, Hagedorn F, Eisenhauer N, Djukic I, TeaCompositionNetwork 2021 Effects of climate and atmospheric nitrogen deposition on early to mid-term stage litter decomposition across biomes. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4: 678480 - https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.678480
Messier C, Bauhus J, Sousa-Silva R, Auge H, Baeten L, Barsoum N, Bruelheide H, Caldwell B, Cavender-Bares J, Dhiedt E, Eisenhauer N, Ganade G, Gravel D, Guillemot J, Hall JS, Hector A, Hérault B, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Kreft H, Mereu S, Muys B, Nock CA, Paquette A, Parker JD, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schnabel F, Verheyen K, Weih M, Wollni M, Zemp DC 2021 For the sake of resilience and multifunctionality, let’s diversify planted forests! Conservation Letters e12829 - https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12829
Cesarz S, Schulz AE, Beugnon R, Eisenhauer N 2019 Testing soil nematode extraction efficiency using different variations of the Baermann-funnel method. Soil Organisms 91(2): 61–72 - https://doi.org/10.25674/so91201
Gottschall F, Davids S, Newiger-Dous T E, Auge H, Cesarz S, Eisenhauer N 2019 Tree species identity determines wood decomposition via microclimatic effects. Ecology and Evolution 9: 12113-12127 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5665
Kambach S, Allan E, Bilodeau-Gauthier S, Coomes D A, Haase J, Jucker T, Kunstler G, Muller S, Nock C, Paquette A, van der Plas F, Ratcliffe S, Roger F, Ruiz-Benito P, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Auge H, Bouriaud O, Castagneyrol B, Dahlgren J, Gamfeldt L, Jactel H, Kandler G, Koricheva J, Lehtonen A, Muys B, Ponette Q, Setiawan N, Van de Peer T, Verheyen K, Zavala M A, Bruelheid H 2019 How do trees respond to species mixing in experimental compared to observational studies? Ecology and Evolution 9: 11254-11265 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5627
Djukic I, Kepfer-Rojas S, Kappel Schmidt I, Steenberg Larsen K, Beier C, Berg B, Verheyen K, TeaComposition 2018 Early stage litter decomposition across biomes. Science of the Total Environment 628-629: 1369-1394 - doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.012
Grossman JJ, Vanhellemont M, Barsoum N, Bauhus J, Bruelheide H, Castagneyrol B, Cavender-Bares J, Eisenhauer N, Ferlian O, Gravel D, Hector A, Jactel H, Kreft H, Mereu S, Messier C, Muys B, Nock C, Paquette A, Parker J, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Reich PB, Schuldt A, Staab M, Weih M, Zemp DC, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Verheyen K 2018 Synthesis and future research directions linking tree diversity to growth, survival, and damage in a global network of tree diversity experiments. Environmental and Experimental Botany 152: 68-89 - doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2017.12.015
Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Craven D, Reich PB, Ewel JJ, Isbell F, Koricheva J, Parrotta JA, Auge H, Erickson HE, Forrester DI, Hector A, Joshi J, Montagnini F, Palmborg C, Piotto D, Potvin C, Roscher C, van Ruijven J, Tilman D, Wilsey B, Eisenhauer N 2017 Diversity-dependent temporal divergence of ecosystem functioning in experimental ecosystems. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1(11): 1639-1642 - doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0325-1
Schwarz B, Dietrich C, Cesarz S, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Auge H, Schulz E, Eisenhauer N 2015 Non-significant tree diversity but significant identity effects on earthworm communities in three tree diversity experiments. European Journal of Soil Biology 67: 17-26 - doi: 0.1016/j.ejsobi.2015.01.001
Wurst S, Kaiser N, Nitzsche S, Haase J, Auge H, Rillig MC, Powell JR 2015 Tree diversity modifies distance-dependent effects on seedling emergence but not plant-soil feedbacks of temperate trees. Ecology 96:1529-1539 - doi: 10.1890/14-1166.1
Paine CET, Amissah L, Auge H, Baraloto C, Baruffol M, Bourland N, Bruelheide H, Daïnou K, de Gouvenain RC, Doucet J-L, Doust S, Fine PVA, Fortunel C, Haase J, Holl KD, Jactel H, Li X, Kitajima K, Koricheva J, Martínez-Garza C, Messier C, Paquette A, Philipson C, Piotto D, Poorter L, Posada JM, Potvin C, Rainio K, Russo SE, Ruiz-Jaen M, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Webb CO, Wright SJ, Zahawi RA, Hector A 2015 Globally, functional traits are weak predictors of juvenile tree growth, and we do not know why. Journal of Ecology 103: 978-989 - doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12401
Alalouni U, Brandl R, Auge H, Schädler M 2014 Does insect herbivory on oak depend on the diversity of tree stands? Basic and Applied Ecology 15: 685-692 - doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2014.08.013
Hantsch L, Bien S, Radatz S, Braun U, Auge H, Bruelheide H 2014 Tree diversity and the role of non-host neighbour tree species in reducing fungal pathogen infestation. Journal of Ecology 102, 1673-1687 - doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12317

The Kreinitz plantation in 2008 and 2013