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Scale-dependent effects of plant diversity drivers in grasslands
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  • Oksana Buzhdygan,
  • Selina Baldauf,
  • Dariia Borovyk,
  • Denys Vynokurov,
  • Emma Ladouceur,
  • Olha Chusova,
  • Svitlana Iemelianova,
  • Vasyl Budzhak,
  • Britta Tietjen,
  • Olga Bezrodnova,
  • Olesya Bezsmertna,
  • Illya Chorney,
  • Iwona Dembicz,
  • Jürgen Dengler,
  • Yakiv Didukh,
  • Monika Janišová,
  • Oleksandr Khodosovtsev,
  • Oksana Kucher,
  • Ivan Moysiyenko,
  • Alla Tokaryuk,
  • Iuliia Vasheniak,
  • Olena Yavorska,
  • Jonathan Chase,
  • Anna Kuzemko
Oksana Buzhdygan
Freie Universität Berlin

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Selina Baldauf
Freie Universität Berlin
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Dariia Borovyk
M G Kholodny Institute of Botany NAS of Ukraine
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Denys Vynokurov
Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg
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Emma Ladouceur
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
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Olha Chusova
M G Kholodny Institute of Botany NAS of Ukraine
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Svitlana Iemelianova
M G Kholodny Institute of Botany NAS of Ukraine
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Vasyl Budzhak
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
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Britta Tietjen
Freie Universität Berlin
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Olga Bezrodnova
V N Karazin Kharkiv National University
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Olesya Bezsmertna
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Institute of Biology and Medicine
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Illya Chorney
Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
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Iwona Dembicz
Warsaw University Faculty of Biology
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Jürgen Dengler
Zurich University of Applied Sciences
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Yakiv Didukh
M G Kholodny Institute of Botany NAS of Ukraine
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Monika Janišová
Slovak Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany
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Oleksandr Khodosovtsev
Kherson State University
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Oksana Kucher
M G Kholodny Institute of Botany NAS of Ukraine
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Ivan Moysiyenko
Kherson State University
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Alla Tokaryuk
Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
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Iuliia Vasheniak
Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University
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Olena Yavorska
Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University
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Jonathan Chase
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
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Anna Kuzemko
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
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Abstract

Understanding what governs grassland biodiversity across different spatial scales is crucial for effective conservation and management. However, current evidence often focuses on single sampling grain sizes, leaving the mechanisms of biodiversity drivers and their scale-dependency unclear. Here, we investigated the impact of climate, soil properties, abiotic disturbance, and land use on plant diversity across fine spatial scales in various grassland types. We collected spatially explicit data on species presence, relative cover, and total community cover at two grain sizes (α- and γ-diversity) to assess the mechanisms driving scale-dependent diversity patterns (β-diversity). In our study, the most influential factors of plant diversity at both scales (grain sizes) were climate variables, followed by soil humus content, litter cover, and soil pH. The effects of soil and litter were primarily driven by the response of rare species, while climate and grazing effects were driven by locally common species. The strength of most of these effects varied between spatial scales and therefore affected β-diversity. We identified three key mechanisms through which these drivers affect the scale-dependency of biodiversity: total plant cover, species relative cover (commonness or rarity of species and species evenness in the community), and species intraspecific aggregation. Climate effects operated through changes in species relative cover and intraspecific aggregation. Soil humus influenced β-diversity by altering the total cover of the plant community and by increasing intraspecific aggregation, resulting in stronger effects of soil productivity on plant diversity at larger than smaller spatial scales. Microhabitat patchiness by litter altered distributions in the relative cover of species due to reduced asymmetric competition, and affected the total cover of the plant community. Our results underscore the importance of incorporating the scale-dependency of biodiversity drivers in conservation efforts, management strategies, and analyses of global change impacts, which would enhance our ability to predict potential biodiversity change.