Bernhard Schmid

TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions (that is, ecosystem multifunctionality) are context-dependent, and a strong positive association between plant species richness and soil multifunctional in less arid regions, whereas microbial diversity, in particular of fungi, is positively associated with ecosystem function in more arid areas.

TL;DR: Comparing data from real-world grassland plant communities with data from two of the largest and longest-running grassland biodiversity experiments in terms of their taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity and functional-trait composition shows that plant communities of biodiversity experiments cover almost all of the multivariate variation of the real- world communities, while also containing community types that are not currently observed in the real world.

TL;DR: China is well positioned to become a global leader in biodiversity research in the near future based on the recent rapid progress of biodiversity research, and three future strategies are proposed.

TL;DR: Comparing data from two of the largest and longest-running grassland biodiversity experiments globally to related real-world grassland plant communities in terms of their taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity and functional-trait composition proves the validity of inferences from biodiversity experiments, a key step in translating their results into specific recommendations for real- world biodiversity management.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of local biodiversity loss on ecosystem stability are well documented, but the consequences of biodiversity changes at larger spatial scales, in particular biotic homogenization, that is, reduced species turnover across space (β diversity), remain poorly known.