Study sites
Our study sites are located in eastern Germany (Saxony-Anhalt) and are part the grassland restoration project GRASSWORKS, conducted in collaboration with the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences. Due to intensive land use or conversion to arable fields, many meadows and pastures in Germany can no longer support high levels of biodiversity. Restoration efforts aim to (re-)create species-rich grasslands to restore critical habitat for plants, insects, and other animals. Restoration treatments have been implemented over the past 1 to 15 years and include reseeding with local seed mixtures, hay transfer, and extensive management practices.
Environmental gradient
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We are investigating the effects of restoration practices on plant and pollinator communities, as well as their interactions. To capture a range of restoration stages, the selected sites represent a gradient of restoration. This includes reference sites—permanent, semi-natural grasslands that have long been under extensive management—and newly restored sites that were converted into species-rich grasslands within the past five years and are now also managed extensively. All sites are situated along inherent environmental gradients, such as flowering plant species richness and abundance.
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Experimental setup
A total of nine meadows were selected for this study, including reference and newly restored sites. All sites are sampled in July and August using both traditional methods (transect walks and pan traps) and automated camera traps. Flowering plant species richness and cover are assessed in three 2x2 m plots along each transect. Transect walks involve monitoring plant-pollinator interactions across many flowers within a larger area, with each flower inspected only briefly. In contrast, each camera trap is positioned above a single flower, but records interactions continuously for approximately six hours. This approach results in traditional methods providing higher spatial resolution, while the automated method offers higher temporal resolution.
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Aims
In addition to developing and testing protocols for the automated monitoring of plant-pollinator interactions, we aim to assess whether data collected by the automated camera traps can reflect similar spatial trends in pollinator diversity, community composition, visitation rates and network structure as those obtained through traditional methods across environmental gradients.
All of the camera trap hardware and software developments in this project are published open source at GitHub and the associated documentation website.
All of the camera trap hardware and software developments in this project are published open source at GitHub and the associated documentation website.
BiodivMon Call
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Duration of the project
01.04.2024 - 31.03.2027 |
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