Project Group B - Biota and ecosystem services

The scientific projects (SPs) in Project Group B investigate the below- and aboveground biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services. Project Group B comprises 10 SPs, which fall into four categories (coded by different colours, see figure below). Three SPs focus on investigating plants (B04, B05 and B06; green), three SPs investigate animals (B08, B09 and B13; red) and two SPs focus on soil microorganisms (B02 Daniel and B07 Polle; brown). Three SPs will work on the aboveground subsystem (B05, B06 and B09) and four on the belowground subsystem (B02, B07, B08 and B13). Two SPs (B10 and B11; blue) integrate ecological and socioeconomic functions. B10 is also integrative across biota and links above- and belowground systems.
Projects in Project Group B are closely integrated. To foster integration, data collection on the 36 core plots (rainforest, rubber, oil palm) are coordinated and concentrated on certain campaigns to relate results in a straightforward way. Further, projects in group B are integrated by investigating five major common topics: (1) the biodiversity across land-use systems and spatial scales (with a focus on the comparison of riparian and well-drained sites), (2) carbon and nitrogen stocks and allocations, (3) food web components linked via trophic interactions, (4) the Enrichment planting experiment and (5) ecosystem services (e.g., crop yield, pollination, biological pest control, carbon sequestration, GHG emission) allowing close connections to the A and C groups.
Results of Project Group B complement data on environmental processes (Project Group A) and feedbacks by providing data on biodiversity services necessary for improving and developing sustainable land-use systems (Project Group C).