@article{638dfcbe25484894b201be04bf339082,
title = "Forest Heterogeneity by Chain Saw: How Between-Patch Variation in Old Growth Attributes Changes the Metacommunities of Beetles",
abstract = "Metacommunity theory has expanded our understanding of how spatial dynamics and local interactions influence species communities. Different assembly archetypes, reflecting different roles of species differences, habitat differences, and dispersal have been described, but we lack empirical studies specifically in terrestrial habitats testing which archetype is most important. In a replicated design, we experimentally enhanced structural between-patch heterogeneity in homogeneous production forests and developed a statistical framework controlling for sample incompleteness to detect different metacommunity processes. Meta-analyses on > 100 K individuals of > 1.3 K beetle species showed an increase of \textasciitilde{}60 species in heterogenized forests at γ-level promoted by increasing α-diversity consistent with the mass-effect and an increase of β-diversity by \textasciitilde{}10\% supporting species-sorting. Additionally, we tested β-deviations from random assembly as a proxy of neutral processes. Findings indicate that enhancing structural heterogeneity can shift forests from patch-dynamics dominance towards mass-effect and species-sorting, offering a promising pathway to restore biodiversity in managed landscapes.",
keywords = "Ecosystems Research, beetles, coleoptera, diversity, metacommunity paradigms, temperate forests",
author = "Oliver Mitesser and Cadotte, \{Marc W.\} and Mori, \{Akira S.\} and \{van der Plas\}, Fons and Anne Chao and Julia Rothacher and Claus B{\"a}ssler and Mirjana Bevanda and Biedermann, \{Peter H. W.\} and Bradler, \{Pia M.\} and Antonio Castaneda-G{\'o}mez and Orsi Decker and Delory, \{Benjamin M.\} and Sebastian Dittrich and Heike Feldhaar and Andreas Fichtner and Alexander Kreis and Lisa K{\"o}stler-Albert and Ludwig Lettenmaier and \{von Oheimb\}, Goddert and Luisa Pflumm and Kerstin Pierick and Jakob Schwalb-Willmann and Simon Thorn and Leah Vogelf{\"a}nger and Weisser, \{Wolfgang W.\} and Martin Wegmann and Clara Wild and J{\"o}rg M{\"u}ller",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Author(s). Ecology Letters published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.",
year = "2026",
month = mar,
day = "5",
doi = "10.1111/ele.70355",
language = "English",
volume = "29",
journal = "Ecology Letters",
issn = "1461-023X",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.",
number = "3",
}
SDG 15 – Lebensraum Land