text:
Hi, I'm Caroline and I'm the founder of Whippersnappers.
I studied mime in Paris and later trained as an actress at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. I really enjoyed my acting career which ranged from street performing across Europe to Theatre tours, TV Commercials, an episode of "The Bill" and a Channel 4 Film "Who Needs a Heart"
In Oct 1994 I started voluntarily running music sessions at my daughter's parent and toddler group in the old Effra School building in Brixton. Michael one of the dads brought in a mini electric organ and we all used to have a jolly sing-along every Friday morning. Then one day a Brixton magazine was dropped through my door, and I spotted an ad saying the new landlords of Brockwell lido were looking for people to rent workshop space.
Brockwell lido was a very hip place to go in those days and the Brixton community at the time had an easy-going hippy vibe. So, I told all my friends I'm starting a music club, baked some carrot cake, asked people to put donations in my orange hat and I started running weekly under-fives music classes. I got excited about developing my musical skills and started taking drumming classes in the old "Cool Tan" community centre on Coldharbour Lane. I practised all the songs whilst pushing my daughter on the swings and started recording my own backing tracks on an Ensonique keyboard. It was so much fun the classes were buzzing and there was no limit to how many people we could squeeze into the room!
Whippersnappers just organically grew and grew. Then in 1998, I met Kirk Service an R&B and reggae artist and we recorded a new style of children's music which we called Pickney Beat and created the name "Whippersnappers". We diversified and started fundraising and running community events. In 1999 Daria one of the Whippersnapper Mums raised £10,000 from Eidos who created the video game "Tomb Raider". We started working with local schools, nurseries, elders' clubs, Landmark, The 198 Gallery, Adventure playgrounds and community centres creating a Whippersnapper magazine and community tape. We then did a big launch called "Pickney Beat day" where we built a giant scaffolding stage inside the empty swimming pool and invited people from the local community to perform.
Through this event, I met Uncle Jo from Abladei UK a Ghanaian cultural Drum and Dance group and he invited me to Ghana. 21 years later I am married to a Ghanaian and am now based in Ghana travelling back and forth to London so I can keep Whippersnapper alive and vibrant.
The other aspect to Whippersnappers is of course the work we do for children and young people with disabilities. This work has been so very rewarding, and we have been delivering SEND holiday play schemes and childcare since 2010. There are so many young people with disabilities who started their journey with Whippersnappers by attending our baby and toddler music sessions and have been able to continue to enjoy Whippersnapper activities all through their childhood and teenage years.
What can I say except we are blessed to have been given the opportunity to do such special work and to support so many local families and their children?
Thank you to everyone who has supported Whippersnappers throughout our journey so far and to those of you who have recently joined. We welcome our new generation of children and grownups. We also hope we can continue to meet everyone's needs as the world around us continually changes.
Meet More of The Tutors


text:
This Is Music: The Singles 92-98
By Marc Hogan
Career-spanning compilation that moves from post-shoegaze neo-pscyhedelica to Britpop-era heroics.
He may be better known for his anthems, his ego, and his excess, but Richard Ashcroft also tells a good story. And as the new career-spanning compilation This Is Music: The Singles 92-98 reveals, the history of his band, The Verve, is a good story as well. They began by playing sprawling, kaleidoscopic, heavens-scraping jams. These 60s-style improvisatory mindfucks were then edited down into the slightly less sprawling tracks that comprise the group's 1993 debut, A Storm in Heaven, an intoxicating amalgam of psychedelica and shoegaze.
Then Verve became The Verve (jazz 1, rock 0) and started to discipline their diaphanous noisescapes with traditional British songcraft. They released an ecstasy-laden promise of even better things to come, 1995's A Northern Soul. Ashcroft earned praise in song from the biggest band in Britain, Oasis. And then the band broke up.
But Ashcroft, the story's iconic hero as well as its raconteur, had prophesied that his band would secure a place in the rock'n'roll firmament. And lo, it was so: The band reformed, and 1997's decade-defining Urban Hymns almost made up for the then-recent demise of Britpop.
Sure, Ashcroft went on to release solo albums littered with self-indulgent drivel, and masterful guitarist Nick McCabe has been uncharacteristically quiet. Meanwhile, bassist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury's royalty checks sure aren't writing themselves! (Late addition Simon Tong? He found a gig as Blur's new Graham Coxon.) That just means it's time for the next phase of the story: The singles compilation, complete with "new" tracks. If The Verve's tale is Ashcroft's epic, This Is Music is his short-stories anthology.
Here's where the narrative starts to fall apart. The disc doesn't follow any recognizable order. So if newcomers want a quick taste of the early Verve's vast, submarine jamming, they'll have to skip to tracks five and eleven, respectively, to hear rare-ish singles "She's a Superstar" and "Gravity Grave." The conch-shaped guitar lines of first single "All in the Mind" announce the group's arrival to the world on track nine. The Ride-like shimmer of "Slide Away" (track two) and the droning anthemics of "Blue" (track seven) represent the debut full-length admirably, though a little context would be nice.
On the other hand, the sophomore album's "This Is Music" makes a stirring opener for any compilation, perfectly melding McCabe's searing guitar lines with Ashcroft's spacey vocals. "If love is a drug then I don't need it," Ashcroft declares. The second single from the second record, "On Your Own," introduced audiences to the acoustic balladry-- with handclaps!-- that would reach full bloom on Urban Hymns. It also proved that Ashcroft suffers from the same lyrical banality that often marked Noel Gallagher's compositions. "Gotta get rid of this hole inside," Ashcroft chants, and it sounds like a revelation rather than a tired cliche. Two tracks earlier, "History" is another A Northern Soul ballad, with strings from John Lennon's "Mind Games" and enough rarefied sadness for a Ford Madox Ford novel.
This Is Music boasts four songs from The Verve's masterpiece, Urban Hymns, and all are as revelatory now as they must have been when they capped off Ashcroft's Brit-rock bildungsroman. "Sonnet" verges on sappy, but some of Ashcroft's Bono-tastic bombast makes the song soar. "Lucky Man" applies the same formula to existential angst and what Whitney Houston called "The Greatest Love of All." Both ballads are good, but neither can compare to "The Drugs Don't Work," a marvel of subtlety amid world-weary lyrics-- "All this talk of getting old is bringing me down"-- and understated strings. This was a hit because it's fucking great. It's that simple.
"Bittersweet Symphony" marches brazenly through a day in the life, staring head-on at the immutability of the human spirit and our paradoxically mercurial nature ("I'm a million different people"); both realities are true, the song suggests. In America, it's The Verve's only well-known song, but it's one hell of a legacy.
Of course, The Verve also are to blame for the uneven British wuss-rock of Travis (once likened to "cheese on toast" by Damon Albarn), Keane, and The Veils. They've even influenced American bathos-mongers like Howie Day, who's been known to cover "The Drugs Don't Work" in his tantrum-filled live shows. Alas, the two bonus tracks at the end of the compilations don't bolster The Verve's defense. Urban Hymns-era unreleased track "This Could Be My Moment" is elegant, uplifting, and as catchy as a TV jingle, but it lacks the world-conquering vision of the songs that actually made that album. "Monte Carlo" features a pleasant bass groove, but as soon as I finish this sentence I'll have forgotten how it goes.
In sum, This Is Music: The Singles 92-98 features 12 classics and two superfluous tunes from the vault. If you already own the albums, you won't have much use for this compilation. New fans ought to start with Urban Hymns and work their way back, and the arbitrary track order here serves no one. But the songs' quality remains undeniable, and a greatest-hits disc is better than no Verve at all-- at least until Ashcroft writes the final chapter with a "Behind the Music"-inspired reunion tour.
More Reviews for The Verve
Late Developers
Songs for the Willow EP

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"I am a politically conscious person as you can see from the title- 'A Nation in Labor'. This is a politically laden title. When we were growing up, we didn't sleep at home at most times but we would sleep in swamps because we would fear being abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels whenever they attacked the town center. If you don't hear news that rebels have attacked, then you stay and sleep at home that day".
GULU-UGANDA:Ms. Harriet Anena, a novice poet whose maiden book, 'A Nation in Labor', is the co-winner of the 2018 Wole Soyinka African Price for Literature Award together with tested Nigerian Professor Tanure Ojaide; who already boasts of twenty titles to his name. The two shared cash price of $10,000. The runner-up of this prestigious award, Mr. Sarvio Gbodamosi, is a PhD student.
"It has been great shaking the hand of the man, Wole Soyinka, for the first time. I had the opportunity to take some photographs with him. It was incredible winning this price together with people with PhDs. I first saw Wole Soyinka in Nairobi, Kenya on stage in 2015 when he was giving key note address during a writers' symposium" says Ms. Anena.
Ms. Anena, who was born and grew up in wartime Gulu district of northern Uganda, began her writing career as a high school student of literature in 2004. She says at that time she had not yet thought of publishing a book until 2010 when she attended Femwrite 'Book Club'.
Femwrite is an association of female writers in Uganda which mentors, encourages and supports young upcoming female members like Ms. Anena in publishing their works.
"I am a politically conscious person as you can see from the title - 'A Nation in Labor'. This is a politically laden title. When we were growing up, we didn't sleep at home at most times but we would sleep in swamps because we would fear being abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels whenever they attacked the town center. If you don't hear news that rebels have attacked, then you stay and sleep at home that day", recalls Anena.
Most of the fifty-three short poems in this book are her recollections on experiences she went through during the LRA war which engulfed the region at the time she was born and the post-war recovery challenges. The shortest poem in this collection is only four lines with eleven words while the longest poem is just thirty-four lines.
"When you write every day, you feel something is amiss. You have to write. Reading is important. It can be lonely and discouraging if you don't see the fruit", says Anena.
Writing the Foreword of the anthology, Professor Laban Erapu of Bishop Stuart University, said this book is not a conventional collection of poems by a young untried poet but it is a mature collection by a seasoned poet who displays the mastery of a wordsmith.
"What makes this an outstanding collection of poems is the valiant spirit that is the godfather of this prodigious talent that eloquently speaks for itself from the first page to the last. I am proud to be a part of this work and humbled to have been asked to witness its birth", writes Professor Erapu.
Ms. Anena is the fifth child in a family of eight children of retired civil servant, Mr. Moro Samuel Jackson. Her mother is a housewife.
Ms. Anena began her education at Christ Church Nursery School before joining Gulu Public Primary School in 1993. She went to Sacred Heart Secondary School in 2000 for her Ordinary Level secondary education before moving on to Gulu Central High School in 2004 where she studied Literature for the Award of Uganda Advance Certificate of Education (UACE).
She joined Makerere University in 2006 offering Bachelors' degree in Mass Communication and she joined the same University for a Master's degree in Human Rights in 2012.
She began her working career at the Monitor Publications Limited as a Correspondent based in Kitgum, 442 kilometers north of Kampala before moving on to work with the African Center for Media Excellence (ACME) in Kampala as the online Content Editor.
She lives in Kampala where she runs a company called Word Oven, a Ugandan editing firm.
With the Wole Soyinka Award, Harriet is focused to publishing other books which she hopes will emerge as future best sellers.
All content is copyright Black Star News © 2011. All rights reserved.


Sedgwick has launched a new strategy designed to make the claims management company a market leader in the UK.
With new private equity backing, Sedgwick is establishing new long-term targets, reaffirming its current capabilities and defining its growth strategies for the UK, which the claims management company sees as a key market.
After a market launch with 500 invited clients and colleagues in London, Ian Muress, Sedgwick's CEO international in London, outlined plans to build on the integration of loss adjuster Cunningham Lindsey and Vericlaim.
Sedgwick's integration team continues to work toward consolidating the combined operations under the Sedgwick brand, which will strengthen its brand identity and reinforce its position as the global industry leader, the company said in a release.
Sedgwick's footprint now includes a significant presence in hundreds of locations across more than 65 countries, with the ability to service clients in more than 100 territories.
Its acquisition of OSG in Ireland, the expansion of its Canadian operations, and Cunningham Lindsey and Vericlaim's presence in the UK have brought Sedgwick firmly into the international arena.
Over the next few years, the company plans to leverage combined resources and extended relationships to expand its client base. Recent joint business development efforts have already started yielding great results, the company said.
In particular, Sedgwick will broaden its solutions in the UK to include auto liability, catastrophe response, employers' liability, engineering, fire and environmental services, forensic accounting, general liability, major and complex loss, marine, product liability/recall, property loss adjusting and technology solutions.


Looking for Warehouse Worker employment in New York? Choose from 2 job openings on Jobalign!
High-paying hourly and entry-level jobs are available right now. Use Jobaline to search the best Warehouse Worker job openings in New York. You'll find 2 jobs near you that need to be filled immediately. Job seekers across New York are using Jobaline to find Warehouse Worker jobs, so complete your application today.
Find the cities with the most Warehouse Worker job openings in New York. Find your next Warehouse Worker job in New York on Jobalign!
Find other popular job types in New York. Find your next job on Jobalign in just a few clicks!


text:
Macromusonia är ett släkte av bönsyrsor. Macromusonia ingår i familjen Thespidae.

Kladogram enligt Catalogue of Life:

Källor

Bönsyrsor
Macromusonia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Балка Сидорівка (Ручай Сидорів)  — балка (річка) в Україні в Устинівському районі Кіровоградської області. Ліва притока річки Інгулу (басейн Південного Бугу).

Опис
Довжина балки приблизно 11,65 км, найкоротша відстань між витоком і гирлом — 9,85  км, коефіцієнт звивистості річки — 1,18 . Формується декількома струмками та загатами.

Розташування
Бере початок на південно-західній стороні від села Мар'янівки. Тече переважно на південний захід через село Степове і на північній околиці села Седнівки впадає у річку Інгул, ліву прнитоку Південного Бугу.

Цікаві факти
 У селі Степове балку перетинає автошлях  (автомобільний шлях територіального значення в Кіровоградській області. Проходить територією Кропивницького райрну через Компаніївку — Устинівку. Загальна довжина — 43,5 км.).
 У XX столітті на балці існували газгольдер та газові свердловини.

Примітки

Джерела
 Словник гідронімів України – К.: Наукова думка, 1979. – С. 500

Малі річки України
Річки Кіровоградської області
Річки Устинівського району
Статті про річки Кіровоградської області без зображення в картці


We have some problems trying to compile Amstrong and run it in DE1-SoC board.
We took the Linux-Console image provided in the DE1-SoC board Resources website (http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&CategoryNo=205&No=836&PartNo=4). It works fine. Then, we tried an application program that could not run because a backward compatibility problem. Our application was compiled using ARM DS-5 and newer version of the toolchain than the libraries included in Linux-Console Image from Terasic. For this reason we decided recompile Angstrom and try to run our application on it.
We replaced kernel image (zImage) and file system ( Angstrom-console-image-eglibc-ipk-v2013.12-socfpga_cyclone5.rootfs.tar) obtained after compilation by those in original Linux-Console Image from Terasic using the commands in last section (Updating Individual Elements on SD Card) of http://rocketboards.org/foswiki/view/Documentation/GSRD131SdCard.
I would appreciate if you could point out some possible mistakes (system does not allow me to upload photo because i am new user).


text:
Home Jobs & Education What's the Difference Between Psychology and Sociology?
If it's been a while since you've taken your core college classes, or you're just starting out in AP classes, you might not be sure what the differences between psychology vs sociology may be.
It's important to understand the definitions and distinctions of what both studies examine. These definitions and explanations should give you a clear, distinct answer. So, let's take a look of what its like for Psychology vs Sociology.
Definition of Psychology (Psychology vs Sociology)
In the most direct terms, psychology could be defined as the study of a human individual's mind. Emotions, thinking patterns, and other things related to the topic are considered a part of psychology.
Psychology takes a look at an individual and tries to understand why he or she thinks a certain way and behaves a certain way.
It examines things like an individual's family history and trauma as a part of the examination of a person's individual psychological makeup.
If Psychology works within a number of themes, how about Sociology? Similarly, click here if you would like to know How Long Does It Take To Become A Psychologist and How Much Does a Psychologist Make?
Consistent patterns of behavioral thought and emotions make up a person's personality within the concepts of psychology.
According to Sigmund Freud, the id, ego, and super-ego are the distinct, interacting agents that make up a person's psyche and therefore personality.
Motivation refers to the intention of an individual in his or her actions and behavior. Originally, this was seen as coming from a person's will, but as Freudian and Darwinian thinking arose, instinct became a part of this understanding of motivation within this school of thought.
The unconscious mind is the part of an individual's mind that exists outside of a person's awareness but influences the person's actions and reactions to events around them all the same.
The term "Freudian slip" comes from this aspect of the psyche: someone says something unintentionally revealing of a subconscious thought that he or she might not even beware of feeling or thinking.
Genes and Environment
Both genetic factors passed down from parents and grandparents, and environmental factors are believed to influence a person's psyche.
If, for example, a parent is depressed, there are likely components of this mental illness that are passed along to a child through genetics. If there is some kind of pre-disposition towards depression therein.
However, a parent who suffers from depression will also influence that child towards depression. This is through interactions while living with the child, whether there are genetic factors or not.
Development within psychology seeks to understand how a person's personality, interests, mental processes, et cetera change through growth and changes that come about as a result of aging.
Definition of Sociology (Psychology vs Sociology)
Sociology also studies human behavior and thinking, but the focus is on humans in a group or society, rather than as individuals. Specifically, sociology examines patterns of social interactions, relationships, and culture.
The traditional focuses within sociology include the following.
Social class is a hierarchical social category, ranking some people as "above" others. One of the more famous class systems would be the Caste system of India.
American society has a less stringent social class system that includes the upper, middle, and lower classes, and sub-classes, such as upper-middle or lower-middle class.
The social mobility aspect of sociology examines the movement of individuals, households, families, and other groups within the social classes.
For example, social mobility observes how someone may be born into a lower-class family, but marries into an upper-class family. Or, creates a fortune and therefore moves into the upper-class naturally through the improvement of financial stability.
This aspect is all about "social status," and the perceptions surrounding that topic.
Of course, religion is a massive part of the study of societies. It is as religion influences significant parts of a society's behavioral patterns. Those in a society that highly values religion, for example, may experience laws made to protect or enforce certain religious actions or rights.
Religion within society can also influence a number of other things, like social class.
Secularization, on the other hand, is the movement of a group of people away from a dominant religious culture.
Post-modernism is an example of the movement away from the religion of secularization.
Another major influencer of sociology is human sexuality. This term refers to how individuals experience and express themselves sexually. This includes spiritual, emotional, biological, erotic, physical, and social aspects of this expression and experience.
Deviance in sociology refers to any behavior or action that deviates from social norms.
Not all deviations are negative, despite the connotation of the word. For example, in a culture wherein racism is normal and expected, someone acting in opposition to that attitude has acted in a deviant way from the culture in a positive way.
The Main Difference: Psychology Vs. Sociology
Basically, it can be said that psychology vs sociology can be seen as psychology is all about the individual, while sociology is focused on the group of society.
Psychology vs. Sociology: Understanding Each Definition and Distinction How Long Does It Take To Become A Psychologist How Long Does It Take to Become a Registered Nurse? What Does A School Psychologist Do? Ontology vs Epistemology: What's the Difference Between Them? Color Psychology: How Much Do Colors Affect Our Daily Life? What's the Difference Between Fruits and Vegetables?
Kinetic Energy: Learn More by Taking a Look at These Examples
Kinetic Energy (KE) pertains to the energy of an object of an object brought by motion. The object gains during the acceleration...


We have put together this short video to introduce you to Sugar Me Smooth and welcome you to the smooth skin club!
We're excited you have joined the Smooth Skin Club and can now stay up to date on all Sugar Me Smooth exclusive offers and news.
Use the code WELCOME5 at checkout to take an extra 5% OFF your first order.
Now that you are a part of our community, we will be sending you some short emails to ensure that you stay up to date on all Sugar Me Smooth exclusive offers, blog posts and product announcements. So stay tuned!
For now...Discover more about Sugar Me Smooth below.
Sugar Me Smooth is made with Sugar, Lemons, & Water!
All of our products are Environmentally Friendly & Cruelty Free.
All orders are processed within 1-2 business days & Priority Shipping.
3. Reuse Sugar & Repeat to Remove All Hair!
I love this sugar wax. I have sensitive skin and this wax is amazing for very fine, and very coarse hair (facial AND bikini areas). This wax binds to the hair, not the skin, leaving the skin less irritated then traditional wax. I will forever use sugar wax!!
I bought mine a week or so ago and just used it, so far I love it. This stuff is simple enough for me to use. It worked on my under arms, legs and that oh so wonderful ladies mustache I seem to grow. Doesn't leave too much residue if you get used to pulling it off.


As Premiere Week came to a close Sunday, CTV won the evening for the fifth night in a row when 2.6 million viewers watched the season premiere of THE AMAZING RACE. On Sunday night, CTV won every hour in primetime with total viewers and A25-54, capturing four out of the Top 5 programs of the night with total viewers. THE AMAZING RACE was up 9% versus last season's premiere, winning the night with total viewers and all key demos. Capping primetime, 1.9 million viewers tuned in to the season premiere of the #2 program of the night, THE MENTALIST, now airing on a new day, and up 57% versus its season premiere last fall on CTV Two.
Following as the #3 program of the night was the season premiere of last season's #1 new drama ONCE UPON A TIME with 1.5 million viewers, airing only on CTV at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, an all-new episode of THE MOB DOCTORwon its timeslot with just over 1 million viewers, up 10% versus last week.
Overall, CTV averaged 1.8 million viewers Sunday night, more than Global, CBC, and Citytv combined. CTV nearly tripled Global's primetime average with total viewers, and doubled it with all key adult demos.
CTV also won Friday and Saturday nights with total viewers and all key adult demos.* CTV delivered the Top 3 programs Friday, including the season premiere of BLUE BLOODS (#1) with 1.7 million viewers at 10 p.m., the season premiere of CSI: NY (#2) with 1.6 million viewers at 8 p.m., and an all-newGRIMM (#3) with 987,000 viewers at 9 p.m., winning its timeslot against the series debut of MADE IN JERSEY (761,000; Global/CBS).


Aiming to offer convenience and value this holiday season, Denny's is offering a free whole pumpkin or pecan pie when you place an online order totaling $20 or more.
The deal is good through Monday, December 25, 2017, while supplies last. Just enter the code "FREEPIE" when placing an online order on the Denny's on Demand portal for in-store pickup or delivery (where available).


text:
Shirley Peters
Shirley Peters, 86, of Lincoln, formerly of David City, passed away on June 29, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Mary's Church, David City or Aquinas/St. Mary's Guardian Angel Fund. Shirley was born in Arcadia, NE on December 31, 1931 to Floyd and Mary Ackles. She grew up on a ranch north of Burwell, NE. Shirley attended Chadron State College for two years, then went to teach in Rawlins, Wyoming for two years, where she met Paul Peters. On October 30, 1954, she married Paul and they moved to David City, NE. After teaching regulations changed in the 70's, she went back to school at Concordia University to complete her degree. She was a substitute teacher for David City Catholic and Public schools for over 50 years. She was an active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. She loved quilting, reading, teaching, history, and traveling. Shirley was famous for her lemon meringue pie. She was also involved in Cursillo, Owls Club, Catholic Daughters, St. Mary's PCCW and the St. Joseph's Quilters. Shirley was in charge of the CCD program at St. Mary's and in Schuyler. She also helped with a GED program, delivered meals on wheels, called Bingo at the Villa and David's Place. and Perpetual Adoration. She was preceded in death by her son, John, and husband, Paul, brother, Donald Ackles, and sister, Mary Lou Dolan. She is survived by her children Robert (Alynn), Gering; Jean (Noman) Khan, Chicago, IL; Ann (Ron) Miller, Lincoln; Mary Kay (Paul) Farrer, Fort Collins, CO; Michael (Lisa), Creston, IA; 18 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren; brother, Larry Ackles, Chambers; and sister, Fae Beaumont, Broken Bow.
Shirley Peters, 86, of Lincoln, formerly of David City, passed away on June 29, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Mary's Church, David City or Aquinas/St. Mary's Guardian Angel Fund. Shirley was... View Obituary & Service Information
The family of Shirley Peters created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories.
Shirley Peters, 86, of Lincoln, formerly of David City, passed...
Send flowers to the Peters family.


The procedure for mochitsuki is quite simple. The guy with the big mallet pounds the mochi repeatedly while the guy next to him adds water and kneads it a bit between whacks. After a thorough pummeling, the mochi is removed and formed into small balls. These are then coated in various powders for flavoring.


Today Ajayan's guest was Susyn Reeve, author of The Inspired Life. What is an inspired life? You are connected to an infinite source of loving energy? You are whole, happy and content? You experience life as a source of limitless creative possibility? listen.


text:
package edu.university.roombooking.controller;

import java.security.Principal;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.security.access.prepost.PreAuthorize;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;

import edu.university.roombooking.domain.Building;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.BuildingPK;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.Campus;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.CampusPK;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.Person;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.PersonGroup;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.Room;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.RoomAttributeType;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.Usr;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.UsrGroup;
import edu.university.roombooking.domain.UsrPK;
import edu.university.roombooking.service.BookingConfirmation;
import edu.university.roombooking.service.GroupManagement;
import edu.university.roombooking.service.ObjectManagement;
import edu.university.roombooking.service.RoomBooking;
import edu.university.roombooking.util.Pagination;

@Controller
@RequestMapping(value="/choose")
public class ChooseController {

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<Campus> campusPagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<Building> buildingPagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<Room> roomPagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<RoomAttributeType> roomAttributeTypePagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<Person> personPagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<Usr> usrPagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<PersonGroup> personGroupPagination;

	@Autowired
	private Pagination<UsrGroup> usrGroupPagination;

	@Autowired
	private ObjectManagement objectManagement;

	@Autowired
	private RoomBooking roomBooking;

	@Autowired
	private BookingConfirmation bookingConfirmation;

	@Autowired
	private GroupManagement groupManagement;

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_ADMIN')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/campuses",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseCampus(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		model.addAttribute("role","admin");

		if(source.equals("building")||source.equals("room")||source.equals("ra")){
			campusPagination.preparePage(model, objectManagement.getAllCampuses(), page,"campuses");

			model.addAttribute("source",source);
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseCampus";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasAnyRole('ROLE_ADMIN','ROLE_CLIENT')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/bookable-campuses",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseBookableCampus(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		boolean isClient;

		if((isClient=(source.equals("res-list-by-day")||(source.equals("reservation"))))
				||(source.equals("room_manager"))){

			if(isClient){
				model.addAttribute("role","client");
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("role","admin");
			}

			campusPagination.preparePage(model, roomBooking.getAllBookableCampuses(), page,"campuses");

			model.addAttribute("source",source);
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseCampus";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_CONFIRMER')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/managed-campuses",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseManagedCampus(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,
			Model model,Principal principal) {

		UsrPK usrPK=new UsrPK();
		usrPK.setUsrId(principal.getName());

		campusPagination.preparePage(model,
				bookingConfirmation.getManagedCampuses(usrPK), page,"campuses");

		model.addAttribute("source","res-list-by-day");
		model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		model.addAttribute("role","confirmer");

		return "chooseCampus";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_ADMIN')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/buildings",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseBuilding(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="campus_id", required=true) String campusId,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		model.addAttribute("role","admin");

		if(source.equals("room")||source.equals("ra")){
			CampusPK campusPK=new CampusPK();
			campusPK.setCampusId(campusId);

			if(objectManagement.isCampus(campusPK)){
				buildingPagination.preparePage(model,
						objectManagement.getBuildingsByCampus(objectManagement.getCampus(campusPK)),
						page,"buildings");

				model.addAttribute("campusId",campusId);
				model.addAttribute("source",source);
				model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("isCampusPKIncorrect",true);
			}
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseBuilding";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasAnyRole('ROLE_ADMIN','ROLE_CLIENT')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/bookable-buildings",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseBookableBuilding(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="campus_id", required=true) String campusId,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		boolean isClient;

		if((isClient=(source.equals("res-list-by-day")||(source.equals("reservation"))))
				||(source.equals("room_manager"))){

			if(isClient){
				model.addAttribute("role","client");
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("role","admin");
			}

			CampusPK campusPK=new CampusPK();
			campusPK.setCampusId(campusId);

			if(roomBooking.isCampusBookable(campusPK)){
				buildingPagination.preparePage(model,
						roomBooking.getBookableBuildings(campusPK), page,"buildings");

				model.addAttribute("campusId",campusId);
				model.addAttribute("source",source);
				model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("isCampusPKIncorrect",true);
			}
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseBuilding";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_CONFIRMER')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/managed-buildings",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseManagedBuilding(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="campus_id", required=true) String campusId,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,
			Model model,Principal principal) {

		model.addAttribute("role","confirmer");

		CampusPK campusPK=new CampusPK();
		campusPK.setCampusId(campusId);

		UsrPK usrPK=new UsrPK();
		usrPK.setUsrId(principal.getName());

		if(bookingConfirmation.isCampusManaged(campusPK, usrPK)){
			buildingPagination.preparePage(model,
					bookingConfirmation.getManagedBuildings(campusPK,usrPK), page,"buildings");

			model.addAttribute("campusId",campusId);
			model.addAttribute("source","res-list-by-day");
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isCampusPKIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseBuilding";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_ADMIN')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/rooms",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseRoom(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="campus_id", required=true) String campusId,
			@RequestParam(value="building_id", required=true) String buildingId,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		model.addAttribute("role","admin");

		BuildingPK buildingPK=new BuildingPK();
		buildingPK.setCampusId(campusId);
		buildingPK.setBuildingId(buildingId);

		if(objectManagement.isBuilding(buildingPK)){
			roomPagination.preparePage(model,
					objectManagement.getRooms(objectManagement.getBuilding(buildingPK)),
					page,"rooms");

			model.addAttribute("campusId",campusId);
			model.addAttribute("buildingId",buildingId);

			model.addAttribute("source","ra");
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isBuildingPKIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseRoom";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasAnyRole('ROLE_ADMIN','ROLE_CLIENT')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/bookable-rooms",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseBookableRoom(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="campus_id", required=true) String campusId,
			@RequestParam(value="building_id", required=true) String buildingId,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		boolean isClient;

		if((isClient=(source.equals("res-list-by-day")||(source.equals("reservation"))))
				||(source.equals("room_manager"))){

			if(isClient){
				model.addAttribute("role","client");
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("role","admin");
			}

			BuildingPK buildingPK=new BuildingPK();
			buildingPK.setCampusId(campusId);
			buildingPK.setBuildingId(buildingId);

			if(roomBooking.isBuildingBookable(buildingPK)){
				roomPagination.preparePage(model,
						roomBooking.getBookableRooms(buildingPK), page,"rooms");

				model.addAttribute("campusId",campusId);
				model.addAttribute("buildingId",buildingId);

				model.addAttribute("source",source);
				model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("isBuildingPKIncorrect",true);
			}
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseRoom";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_CONFIRMER')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/managed-rooms",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseManagedRoom(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="campus_id", required=true) String campusId,
			@RequestParam(value="building_id", required=true) String buildingId,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model,Principal principal) {

		model.addAttribute("role","confirmer");

		BuildingPK buildingPK=new BuildingPK();
		buildingPK.setCampusId(campusId);
		buildingPK.setBuildingId(buildingId);

		UsrPK usrPK=new UsrPK();
		usrPK.setUsrId(principal.getName());

		if(bookingConfirmation.isBuildingManaged(buildingPK, usrPK)){
			roomPagination.preparePage(model,
					bookingConfirmation.getManagedRooms(buildingPK, usrPK), page,"rooms");

			model.addAttribute("campusId",campusId);
			model.addAttribute("buildingId",buildingId);

			model.addAttribute("source","res-list-by-day");
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isBuildingPKIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseRoom";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_ADMIN')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/rats",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseRoomAttributeType(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		roomAttributeTypePagination.preparePage(model,
				objectManagement.getAllRoomAttributeTypes(), page,"roomAttributeTypes");
		model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		return "chooseRoomAttributeType";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_GROUP')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/persons",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String choosePerson(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			@RequestParam(value="person_group_id",required=false) String personGroupId,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		model.addAttribute("role","groupManagement");

		boolean isPersonGroupPerson;

		if((isPersonGroupPerson=source.equals("person_group_person"))||source.equals("usr")){
			personPagination.preparePage(model, groupManagement.getAllPersons(), page,"persons");

			model.addAttribute("source",source);
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);

			if(isPersonGroupPerson){
				model.addAttribute("personGroupId",personGroupId);
			}
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "choosePerson";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasRole('ROLE_GROUP')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/users",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseUser(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="usr_group_id",required=true) String usrGroupId,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		usrPagination.preparePage(model, groupManagement.getAllUsers(), page,"users");

		model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		model.addAttribute("usrGroupId",usrGroupId);

		return "chooseUsr";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasAnyRole('ROLE_GROUP','ROLE_CLIENT')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/person-groups",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String choosePersonGroup(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			@RequestParam(value="action", required=false) String action,
			@RequestParam(value="reservation_id", required=false) Integer reservationId,
			@RequestParam(value="person_id",required=false) String personId,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		boolean isReservation;

		if((isReservation=(source.equals("reservation")&&((action!=null)
				&&(action.equals("create")||((action.equals("manage"))
						&&((reservationId!=null)&&(reservationId>0)))))))
						||source.equals("person_group_person")){

			if(isReservation){
				model.addAttribute("action",action);
				model.addAttribute("reservationId", reservationId);
				model.addAttribute("role","client");
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("personId",personId);
				model.addAttribute("role","groupManagement");
			}

			personGroupPagination.preparePage(model,
					groupManagement.getAllPersonGroups(), page,"personGroups");

			model.addAttribute("source",source);
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "choosePersonGroup";
	}

	@PreAuthorize(value="hasAnyRole('ROLE_ADMIN','ROLE_GROUP')")
	@RequestMapping(value="/usr-groups",method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String chooseUsrGroup(
			@RequestParam(value="page", required=false) Integer page,
			@RequestParam(value="_params", required=true) String _params,
			@RequestParam(value="source", required=true) String source,
			@RequestParam(value="usr_id",required=false) String usrId,
			HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response,Model model) {

		boolean isRoomManager;

		if((isRoomManager=source.equals("room_manager"))||(source.equals("usr_group_usr"))){

			if(isRoomManager){
				model.addAttribute("role","admin");
			}else{
				model.addAttribute("role","groupManagement");
				model.addAttribute("usrId",usrId);
			}

			usrGroupPagination.preparePage(model,
					groupManagement.getAllUserGroups(), page,"usrGroups");

			model.addAttribute("source",source);
			model.addAttribute("_params",_params);
		}else{
			model.addAttribute("isSourceIncorrect",true);
		}

		return "chooseUsrGroup";
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
BMC Ecology
Research Article | Open | Published: 17 June 2017
No consistent effect of plant species richness on resistance to simulated climate change for above- or below-ground processes in managed grasslands
Carsten F. Dormann ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9835-17941,
Lars von Riedmatten1,2 &
Michael Scherer-Lorenzen3
BMC Ecologyvolume 17, Article number: 23 (2017) | Download Citation
Species richness affects processes and functions in many ecosystems. Since management of temperate grasslands is directly affecting species composition and richness, it can indirectly govern how systems respond to fluctuations in environmental conditions. Our aim in this study was to investigate whether species richness in managed grasslands can buffer the effects of drought and warming manipulations and hence increase the resistance to climate change. We established 45 plots in three regions across Germany, each with three different management regimes (pasture, meadow and mown pasture). We manipulated spring warming using open-top chambers and summer drought using rain-out shelters for 4 weeks.
Measurements of species richness, above- and below-ground biomass and soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations showed significant but inconsistent differences among regions, managements and manipulations. We detected a three-way interaction between species richness, management and region, indicating that our study design was sensitive enough to detect even intricate effects.
We could not detect a pervasive effect of species richness on biomass differences between treatments and controls, indicating that a combination of spring warming and summer drought effects on grassland systems are not consistently moderated by species richness. We attribute this to the relatively high number of species even at low richness levels, which already provides the complementarity required for positive biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships. A review of the literature also indicates that climate manipulations largely fail to show richness-buffering, while natural experiments do, suggesting that such manipulations are milder than reality or incur treatment artefacts.
The scientific consensus is unambiguous about the role of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning [1]. It is largely based on experiments along species richness gradients from one to tens of species [2]. There is much less experimental attention being paid to the effect of species richness in managed systems, where the range of diversity is different. In managed temperate grasslands, species richness can be as low as five vascular plant species/m2, and as high as 60 species/m2 [3, 4]. Thus, the gradient in grassland species richness generally does not cover the very low end of diversity, which is included in the design of many experimental studies (Cedar Creek: 1–16: [5]; Biodepth: 1–16: [6]; Jena: 1–60: [7]). Since at very low species richness diversity matters most [2], it is not clear whether results from experimental grasslands directly translate into long-term managed grasslands, that is, whether such controlled experiments have high external validity.
An important effect of plant diversity is the buffering of environmental fluctuations, such as droughts [5]. Under standard management conditions it remains to be investigated whether plant species richness dampens the effect of fluctuations on ecosystem functioning. Central European plant communities are exposed to high inter-annual variability in weather conditions, and different responses of its members will lead to portfolio effects, buffering the effects of environmental variability at the community level [8,9,10,11,12]. The general existence of these mechanisms is beyond dispute, but its relevance for managed systems with at least a moderate number of species (>2) can be questioned. Such systems include most grasslands (used as pastures or meadows) and non-plantation forests.
Plant-species richness in grasslands is determined through a complex interplay of abiotic conditions (e.g. soil type, climate), land use and its history (fertilisation, grazing, management changes) and regional species pool [13]. If a grassland experiences externally induced disturbances, probably all of these factors have some relevance for the system's response [14]. Understanding how much resistance (the degree to which a variable changes, following a perturbation: [15] is transferred to the system by being more species rich allows us to gauge the importance of biodiversity relative to the effect of land management and abiotic factors in grassland systems.
Here, we exposed temperate grasslands in three regions in Germany to two pulse per-turbations simulating climate change: advanced spring and summer drought, representing two opposing effects of climate change on vegetation. Earlier spring will extend the vegetation growth period, potentially increasing total productivity, with knock-on effects on plant phenology and belowground processes. These positives effects may be offset by prolonged drought phases in summer, reducing grassland productivity in the late-summer growth period. Climate-change predictions of precipitation are notoriously uncertain, so our manipulations set out to explore a warm-spring–dry-summer scenario, rather than represent a specific future climate prediction.
Within three land-use types, a realistic but still substantial gradient in plant species richness was present. We measured several above- and below-ground biomass, C- and N-pools to assess ecosystem functioning in two consecutive periods, attempting to test our central hypothesis that plant diversity buffers effects of climatic variability in typical temperate European grasslands. Moreover, we expect different land-use types to respond differently to our climate-change manipulations, thereby revealing how management affects ecosystem resistance. Finally, by assessing ecosystem processes in the vegetation and the soil, we can compare whether biodiversity effects are greater above- or below-ground, linking the presumed buffering mechanism to wider biogeochemical processes.
In this study, we imposed a combination of summer drought and an increase in next year's spring temperature in managed grasslands and assessed the effects on vegetation, soil properties and litter decomposition relative to unmanipulated controls. We selected three grassland management types (pasture, meadow, mown pasture), with five replicates each. Across these 15 sites, each land-use type covers a gradient in plant species richness, which we exploited for testing our hypothesis that plant species richness buffers climate change manipulations. The same setup was replicated across three regions within Germany, the locations of the Biodiversity Exploratories, a long-term research platform into the interrelationships of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and land-use intensity in grasslands and forests. The three locations differ in climate, geology, management of grassland, plant species richness and soil properties (see below). If results are consistent across the three regions, we can claim to have elicited a generalisable response, despite different pathways of how land use affects plant species richness [16, 17].
The experiment took place in managed grasslands of the three Biodiversity Exploratories [18]. Schorfheide-Chorin (SC) in northeast Germany spans an area of 1300 km2. In this young glacial landscape, plots were established on former fens at an elevation of 3–140 m a.s.l. The main soil type is Histosol, rich in organic matter. The annual mean temperature (1981–2010) averages 8–8.5 °C (summer: 18.2 °C; winter: 1.1 °C) and the annual mean precipitation 500–600 mm (driest month: April, 24 mm; wettest month: July, 69 mm). Hainich-Dün (HD) lies in central Germany with an area of 7600 km2 and an elevation of 285–550 m a.s.l. on a calcareous bedrock (Vertisol as main soil type), with an annual mean temperature of 6.5–8 °C (summer: 17.7 °C; winter: 1.5 °C) and an annual mean precipitation of 500–800 mm (driest month: April, 24 mm; wettest month: July, 67 mm). The third exploratory Swabian Alp (SA) in southwest Germany extends over an area of 422 km2 at an elevation of 460–800 m a.s.l. Annual mean temperature is 6–7 °C (summer: 15.8 °C; winter: −0.4 °C) and the annual mean precipitation 700–1000 mm (driest month: February, 47 mm; wettest month: July, 119 mm). The soil type is Cambisol on a calcareous bedrock with karst phenomena. A detailed description of all three exploratories is given by Fischer et al. [18].
We used five replicate plots of similar soil in each of three grassland management regimes: meadow (m, fertilized), mown pasture (mp, fertilized and unfertilized) and pastures (p, unfertilized; grazed by sheep, horse or cattle). Meadows were traditionally restricted to edaphically extreme sites, where livestock trampling could destroy the vegetation. In recent years, overall reduction in cattle grazing has led to emergence of meadows on all soils, particularly in parcels of land that are small and further away from the farm. Depending on soil type, meadows are mown once or twice per year, but up to four times under heavy fertilisation. Pure pastures are nowadays common only as nature management regime, predominantly grazed by sheep. The typical mown pasture receives a late-season cut to prevent spreading of unpalatable herbs, after livestock (mainly cattle) is moved on to other pastures. There is much variation among the three sites in the timing and intensity of grazing both on mown and pure pastures, but within a site management is relatively consistent. By using replicates of land-use types, we aimed to introduce variability in species richness within each management, thereby reducing the correlation between land use and plant species richness inherent in the setup of the Biodiversity Exploratories.
Experimental setup of climate change manipulations
Experimental manipulations took place in 2008/2009 and 2009/2010, from the middle of June until the end of July in 2008 and 2009 for the simulated drought treatment and from end of February till end of March in 2009 and 2010 for simulation of increased spring temperatures. Our manipulations thus implicitly include carry-over effects of drought on the spring treatment the following year. Treatments are representing projected qualitative changes in summer drought duration and concurrent changes of the length of the vegetation period. Their length is based on interannual variability of the onset of spring (approximately 4 weeks after begin of snow melt in late February) and length of drought in summer (maximally 6 weeks). We left the rain shelter in place until there were cumulatively 3 weeks of rainfall withheld from the treatment (monitoring the closest German weather service stations for guidance). Thus, all treatments are within the variability witnessed in the region, but aim at representing earlier season and prolonged drought. Constructions were removed when no treatment was applied, but the plot was fenced off for the entire vegetation period, which we do not expect to have substantial short-term impacts. The entire plot was mown in summer after biomass harvest (see below).
Each plot of 5 × 3 m was divided in two subplots, one for the manipulation, the other as control (see Additional file 1: Figure S6). Open-top chambers (OTCs) are commonly used to raise the temperature in climate change experiments with minor effects on gas exchange and ambient precipitation [19]. To increase temperature in early spring, we placed OTCs (2 × 3 m and 1.4 m height) on each treatment subplot. The OTCs were constructed from four PVC tube arches, which supported the 0.2 mm thick greenhouse plastic sheet (UV 5 Coex-foil made of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, Folitec Agrarfolien-Vertriebs GmbH, Westerburg, Germany) up to a height of 1.2 m (see [20] Fig. 1D for a similar design; Additional file 1: Figure S7). Soil temperature (10 cm depth) and air temperature (10 cm height) were recorded every half an hour by aluminium-foil-shielded temperature sensors (Thermochron iButton, Maxim Integrated Products Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA).
For the drought manipulation the same treatment plots were covered by rain shelters constructed from the same construction as the OTCs, but using the greenhouse foil as a top cover. Air was thus allowed to freely circulate underneath the roof. The air temperature was again recorded by temperature sensors every 30 min at a height of 10 cm. Soil moisture during the drought experiment was measured every 30 min in a depth of 10 cm by a moisture sensor (ECH2O, type EC-5, Decagon Devices Inc., Pullman, USA) and recorded by a data logger (Em5b, Decagon Devices, Pullman, WA, USA). In spring, no soil moisture measurements were possible because sensors were removed from the soil over winter and could not be re-inserted into the frozen ground until later in the season.
Open-top chambers increased spring temperature by 0.5 °C in the air and 0.35 °C in the soil (see Table 1), in a period of absolute temperatures between −5 °C at night and 15–20 °C during the day (Additional file 1: Figure S1). In summer, rain shelters had a warming effect (Table 1) as pronounced as in spring, but at much higher overall temperatures (12–35 °C). Soil moisture during this period was reduced under the shelter by 8–20%vol, with substantial differences between exploratories (Table 1; Additional file 1: Figure S1). In all sites, soil moisture in the control plots averaged to 30–40%vol, but soil moisture was most affected by drought treatment in the Swabian Alp. Both at the SA and HD sites, the drought treatment presumably resulted in soil water potential being more negative than the permanent wilting point (PWP, at pF = 4.2) as estimated from soil texture data with high clay and silt contents. At the SC site with sandy soils, however, soil water potential was still above the PWP (see Additional file 1: Figure S1).
Table 1 Differences (manipulation—control, given as mean ± standard deviation) in temperature and soil moisture during the different phases of the experiment
Vegetation recording
In April 2009 and 2010 vegetation recordings were carried out using a 50 × 50 cm frequency frame with a 5 cm grid on each sub-plot. Summer recordings in a pilot study lacked several of the early spring flowers and detected fewer species. These subplots were established centrally in the plot, 1 m from the northern end of the plot's border to reduce edge effects. Subplots were marked by metal pegs in the ground to record in the exact same site in the following year. Plant species were tallied for each grid cell, yielding percentage cover values [21]. Vegetation recordings in 2009 were used to compute Shannon diversity for each plot.
Plant biomass harvest and analysis
Above-ground biomass was harvested in an area of 50 × 50 cm next to each vegetation-recording subplot before the summer drought treatment 2009, after the summer drought treatment 2008 and 2009 and after the spring warming treatment 2010, by clipping all shoot material above the soil surface and sorting into functional groups (grasses, herbs and legumes). The treatment extended the sampled area on all sides, obviating the necessity of trenching the plot. Treatments showed marked effects with no sign of leakage to outside the treated area.
To determine root growth during the summer drought treatment, we established three in-growth cores [22] per subplot. These 5-cm diameter 10-cm long frames were inserted into the soil using a soil corer and filled with sieved local soil. Plant roots growth into the in-growth core volume was sampled using the soil corer, severing roots around the in-growth core. Root material was obtained by washing in-growth cores over sieves (0.5 cm and 0.2 mm mesh size). This procedure was repeated in summer 2008 and 2009, yielding root production values for the summer drought experiment.
Above- and belowground plant material was dried at 70 °C for 48 h, then weighed to the nearest mg. For C and N analysis, dried plant material was ground in a ball mill and a subsample of 5 mg was processed in an elemental analyser (PerkinElmer 2400 Series II, PerkinElmer, Waltham, MA, USA).
Soil sampling and analysis
20 g bulk soil was collected by taking five samples of the upper 10 cm randomly from each subplot. 5 g soil were dried at 105 °C for 48 h to determine gravimetric water content. A subsample of 5 mg was analysed for %C and %N after grinding in a ball mill. To measure soil nitrogen content, 5 g soil were extracted with 50 ml of 1 M KCl solution on a shaker for 20 min. After filtering (Black Ribbon filter, Grade 589/1: 12–25 mm, Whatman Ltd., Maidstone, UK) extract was analysed for C and N with vario MAX CNS (Elementar, Hanau, Germany). The percentage of soil organic matter was determined by loss on ignition of 1 g oven-dried soil at 500 °C for 24 h.
Our main interest was to test the interaction of species richness, our manipulation and land use on the various response variables across the three sites as measured in summer. Differences between the two consecutive phases of the experiment test for consistency of treatment effects, and indirectly allow us to compare effects to inter-annual variability. We regarded cumulative treatment effects as negligible after only two seasons, given the visual similarity of treatment and control before the rain shelters were put up. No lasting effect of spring warming was discernible. Spring data analysis of above-ground biomass reflects response to earlier warming, and in our opinion merely demonstrates the effectiveness of this treatment.
Biomass, vegetation and soil C and N pools were expressed on a per m2 basis by extrapolation from the sampled area. We used Linear Mixed Effect Models (lme: [23] with plot identity as a random factor to test the effects of climate change manipulation, land-use management and identity of the three exploratories (as fixed effect) on species richness, plant diversity, functional diversity and on change of plant productivity and C and N pool.
To test our hypothesis that species-rich grasslands will be better able to resist the effects of our warming (spring) and drought (summer) manipulation, we analysed the difference in biomass between treatment and control as log-response ratio (LRR = log(treatment) − log(control)), with approximately normal distribution of residuals. Values above 0 indicate a stronger response of the treatment than the control. In addition to exploratory and land-use type we also included species richness (and interactions) as predictor in the model.
Across and within the exploratories, plant species richness varies with land-use type, but with substantial scatter (e.g. [24]. We thus first analyse the correlation between exploratories, land-use type and plant community composition and richness in our study plots. Results largely refer to spring 2010 and summer 2009, i.e. after two periods of the respective treatment, to represent the largest effects in our study.
Effects on vegetation composition were analysed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis with package vegan [25]. All statistical analyses were conducted using R version 3.0.3 [26]. R-code for analysis and figures is available on request from the corresponding author. The data are available freely from the Biodiversity Exploratories data base at https://www.bexis.uni-jena.de (data set number 20186).
Species richness, diversity and composition
The number of recorded vascular plant species and Shannon diversity showed a significant interaction between the three study regions and land-use types (species richness S: Fig. 1; Table 2; Shannon diversity H: Additional file 1: Figure S3). The significant differences of species richness between the land-use types are due to the varying quantity and richness of herbs and, to a lesser degree, legumes, while grass richness was very similar (Table 2). The pastures in the Swabian Alp, in contrast to the pastures of the two other exploratories, are located in semi-dry grassland and are grazed by sheep, which explains the noticeable higher number of species (32 species compared to only 17 and 11 in Hainich-Dün and Schorfheide-Chorin, respectively; Fig. 1). Legumes were particularly scarce in the Schorfheide-Chorin, both in terms of species numbers and their biomass (see below). Neither total nor functional-group species richness differed significantly between treatments (all P > 0.085; Table 2), but by the end of the experiment (2010), Shannon diversity showed a consistent and significantly positive treatment effect (F1, 121 = 5.50, P < 0.05; Additional file 1: Figure S3). Finally, plant species composition differed substantially among exploratories and land uses, but was affected only very mildly by our treatments (Additional file 1: Figure S2).
Number of vascular plant species, sub-divided by functional groups, found on control (C) and treatment (T) subplots by land-use type (m meadow, p pasture, mp mown pasture) and year (2009 left, 2010 right). Bars represent mean values ± SEM of the total number of species. Exploratories are referred to as SA (Swabian Alp, south-west Germany), HD (Hainich-Dün, central Germany) and SC (Schorfheide-Chorin, north-east Germany)
Table 2 Mixed-effect model analysis of species richness (total as well as of the three functional groups) to exploratories, land use, treatment in the two experimental periods with plot-ID as random effect (see Fig. 1)
Treatment manipulations showed significant effects on above- and below-ground plant productivity measured in summer across all exploratories and land-use types (F1, 81 = 46.3, P < 0.001; Fig. 2; Table 3). Above-ground biomass was sometimes substantially reduced (e.g. in the Swabian Alp), while root increment showed initially an inconsistent pattern (as indicated by the marginally significant treatment × exploratory-interaction in Table 3; Fig. 2 left; F2, 82 = 2.82, P < 0.1). At the end of the second season (2009), also below-ground biomass was uniformly reduced due to the summer drought treatment (F1, 78 = 4.88, P < 0.01; Fig. 2 right; Table 3). In contrast, above-ground biomass remained at control levels in 2009, and none of the three functional groups displayed a significant response to the treatment (Table 3).
Standing above- and below-ground biomass in summer, subdivided by functional groups. Bars represent mean values ± SEM of the total above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass respectively. See Fig. 1 for abbreviations
Table 3 Analysis of summer biomass (i.e. harvested around peak biomass) in periods 1 and 2 (see Fig. 2). See Table 2 for explanation of symbols
Early spring warming led to increased biomass across all exploratories and land-use types (Additional file 1: Figure S4), despite having had reduced biomass at the end of the previous summer. Grasses profited most from elevated temperature manipulations.
Although our design was sensitive enough to detect a significant three-way interaction in summer, and effects of species richness in spring (Table 4), LRR showed no interpretable pattern with respect to species richness. The positive effect of species richness for the response to earlier spring was very small and contributed less than 4% to the variance in the data (F1, 26 = 4.77, P < 0.05). Responses to combined spring and summer manipulations display huge scatter in LRR. Depending on land-use type and exploratory, positive, negative and no correlations with species richness were observed, accompanied by a significant four-way interaction (F4, 25 = 2.90, P < 0.05; Fig. 3; Table 4).
Table 4 Analysis of log-response ratios \(\left( {{ \log }\frac{\text{treatment biomass }}{\text{control biomass}}} \right)\) for treatment effects in spring 2010 and summer 2009 (see Fig. 3). See Table 2 for explanation of symbols
Contrast in biomass between treatment and control at the end of a temperature (spring 2010 left) and rainfall (summer 2009 right) manipulation period, expressed as log-response ratio. Negative values indicate a negative treatment effect, 0 indicates no difference between treatment and control. Lines types and letters refer to land-use types (where "b" stands for "both", i.e. "mown pastures"), grey shades represent the three different exploratories. In spring, species richness had a small but significant effect, while neither land-use type, exploratory nor their interaction(s) were significant. In summer, the three-way interaction of species richness, land-use type and exploratory was significant (see Table 3)
Vegetation C and N pools
Land use had no consistent effect on carbon pools, and our experimental manipulations manifested themselves with similar magnitude in species-rich pastures and less species-rich meadows. After 2 years of our manipulation treatments, carbon pools in the vegetation were overall reduced by about 10%, both above- and below-ground (Fig. 4 left; F1, 74 = 5.43, P < 0.05 and F1, 75 = 0.438, P > 0.1, respectively). Differences between exploratories were substantial, with the Swabian Alp having the lowest carbon pools and Schorfheide-Chorin the highest, although this overall pattern did not hold for mown pastures (significant land use–exploratory interaction: F4, 74 = 2.84, P < 0.01; see Additional file 1: Table S1).
Carbon and nitrogen pools of vegetation biomass in late summer 2009 in dependence of exploratory, land-use type, treatment and functional groups. Bars represent mean values and ±SEM (N = 5)
The pattern for nitrogen in vegetation was similar to that of vegetation carbon (Fig. 4 right). The above-ground treatment manipulation effect was even more pronounced here (F1, 74 = 7.43, P < 0.01), as was the difference between Schorfheide-Chorin and the other two exploratories. The significant land use-exploratory interaction (F4, 74 = 4.50, P < 0.01) was here due to mown pastures having higher N-pools in SA and HD, but lower in SC (Fig. 4 left). In line with responses of functional group biomass, the C- and N-pools of legumes was most affected by our manipulations, followed by that of herbs.
Soil carbon and nitrogen
Despite the effect of the treatment on C and N in plant biomass, we could not detect changes in the pool of soil C and N due to temperature or rainfall manipulation (Fig. 5, P > 0.48). As for the vegetation C- and N-pools, there were significant differences between the exploratories and land-use types (F4, 75 = 3.07, P < 0.05 and F4, 73 = 2.83, P < 0.05, respectively), with Schorfheide-Chorin having highest C- and N-levels. The interaction is due to higher C- and N-values for meadows relative to (mown) pastures in SA and HD, but the opposite pattern in Schorfheide-Chorin.
Soil carbon and nitrogen pools (top 10 cm) in late summer 2009 in dependence of exploratory, land-use type, treatment and functional groups. Bars represent mean values and ±SEM (N = 5)
Soil-N correlated significantly with plant species richness, but differently for each exploratory (Exploratory-log(richness) interaction: F2, 73 = 5.81, P < 0.01; Additional file 1: Figure S5 left). Re-scaling the response within sites suggests no correlation (Additional file 1: Figure S5 right).
Our short-term experimental manipulation of temperature and precipitation led to clearly detectable responses in vegetation biomass, both above- and below-ground, for the three functional groups. However, these responses were idiosyncratic across years, regions and land-use types, and no consistent correlation with species richness was detectable. Indeed, only for above-ground biomass and soil N did we detect an effect of plant species richness at all, while vegetation and soil C were responded to treatment, land use and location alone (Additional file 1: Table S1). We hence conclude that species richness does not generally increase the ability of these systems to buffer short-term climate fluctuations in our grassland systems, but that its effect depends greatly on the edaphic and management context. The fact that we observed a significant three-way interaction between exploratory, LUT and species richness on log-response-ratios (Fig. 4) shows that our experimental design was sensitive enough to detect such effects. It was the idiosyncratic response across region-land-use type combinations that led us to reject a consistent buffering effect of plant species richness (see also [27]. More specifically, soil type, climate and land use are processes that in our system affect productivity and biogeochemical processes in grasslands more than species richness per se (in contrast to [28].
The design of the Biodiversity Exploratories uses land-use types to realise a gradient in plant species richness [18]. Indeed, land-use type is a significant predictor for species richness of our plots. For this experiment, however, we replicated the same land-use type five times in an attempt to break this strong association. As a consequence, land-use type did not emerge as particularly strong predictor of species richness (Table 1), opening the way for analysing the additional effect of plant species richness (polyserial correlation between land-use type and species richness is only ρ = 0.325). We believe that through our experimental design and the apparently sufficiently sensitive measurements we would have been able to detect a consistent ecologically relevant buffering effect of plant species richness against imposed drought and warming, if it existed.
Across the three regions, species richness gradients differed greatly (e.g. Fig. 4). Extensive sheep grazing led to high species richness in the Swabian Alp, while the rich, organic soils of Schorfheide-Chorin had very low species richness. This is in line with analyses by Socher et al. [16, 17], who report differential effects of management for the three exploratories: the diversity-promoting effect of grazing in the Swabian Alp is inverted into a negative effect in Schorfheide-Chorin. This may be due to grazing disturbance being at a small spatial scale, increasing dominance of tall species in fertile grasslands [29]. We cannot resolve whether it is the regional conditions that led to different correlations between species richness and buffering ability (Fig. 4) or because this finding is due to the fact that the regions cover different ranges along the species-richness gradient. To address this question, the experiment could be repeated on sites specifically selected to yield similar richness ranges in all three regions.
Beier et al. [30] point out that the approach we have chosen ("multi-factor application") inevitably confounds the effects of spring warming and summer drought. This is the price to pay for manipulating a specific scenario (or as they call it, the "inevitable dilemma"). The way spring warming and summer drought act in combination is not obvious. Spring warming led to an earlier growth, which could lead to an overall earlier season of unchanged length. We found no visual evidence for shifted phenology in summer, and also Reyes-Fox et al. [31] showed that warming extends, rather than moves, the season in a temperate grassland. Our experiment is insufficient to tease apart the different effects, and how they may accumulate over time.
The interplay of species richness and drought, in particular, has received substantial attention in the ecological literature. To better place our results in this context, we differentiate studies along two axes: (1) whether drought was manipulated or occurred naturally, and (2) whether diversity gradients were experimentally established or naturally realised in the field. In all of the resulting four combinations one can evaluate the importance of biodiversity for buffering drought effects. Our experiment (drought manipulation in natural diversity setting) showed little ability to buffer drought. This is consistent with most similarly designed studies [32,33,34,35,36,37], which report no biodiversity effect on drought resistance. Furthermore, also drought manipulations in experimental diversity gradients, which are rare, largely found no buffering effect [38,39,40], but see Kreyling et al. [41] for some buffering, discussed below). This is in contrast to all findings from measurements taken under naturally occurring drought. Plant species richness reduced the effect of drought under natural diversity settings [5, 42, 43] as well as under experimental biodiversity gradients (reviewed in [44, 45]. Natural diversity settings have the distinct disadvantage of confounding richness and environment. If the process that leads to higher plant diversity is also responsible for the system's resistance to drought, one cannot attribute resistance exclusively to plant diversity (see e.g., [46]). The predominant lack of buffering in drought manipulations even on experimental diversity gradients suggests a different reason, however.
This surprising but rather important finding has apparently not been noticed before, and it demands an explanation that is beyond the scope of this study. An obvious explanation would be that natural droughts are much more severe than manipulations. The EVENT experiment is more radical by simulating a 100-year drought, and indeed finds evidence for buffering of community productivity [39, 41], but not in other responses (reviewed in [47]). More studies need to create such strong manipulations to test whether this is a general pattern. As another potential explanation, we speculate that drought manipulations, typically by rain-out roofs, may have treatment artefacts [48] that limit the ability of the vegetation to compensate for loss in productivity of dominant species. For example, even if roof artefacts did not affect community biomass, they altered light quality [49, 50] and may prevent light-demanding drought-tolerant species to gain from competitive release.
In conclusion, our experiment detected an influence of land use, site conditions and species richness and their interactions on the way vegetation and soil C- and N-pools respond to spring warming and summer droughts. This is largely due to manipulations having opposing effects on plant growth, at least in the short term. We failed to find a consistent effect, however, indicating that species richness per se does not contribute substantially to grassland resistance to climate-change manipulations. We speculate that this can be attributed to the relatively high number of species even at low richness levels in our study system, which already provides the complementarity required for positive biodiversity–ecosystem functioning or biodiversity–stability relationships.
Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez A, et al. Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature. 2012;486:59–67. doi:10.1038/nature11148.
Cardinale BJ, Srivastava DS, Duffy JE, et al. Effects of biodiversity on the functioning of trophic groups and ecosystems. Nature. 2006;443:989–92.
Alard D, Poudevigne I. Diversity patterns in grasslands along a landscape gradient in northwestern France. J Veg Sci. 2000;11:287–94.
Wilson JB, Peet RK, Dengler J, Pärtel M. Plant species richness: the world records. J Veg Sci. 2012;23:796–802. doi:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01400.x.
Tilman D, Downing JA. Biodiversity and stability in grasslands. Nature. 1994;367:363–5.
Hector A, Schmid B, Beierkuhnlein C, et al. Plant diversity and productivity experiments in European grasslands. Science. 1999;286:1123–7.
Roscher C, Temperton VM, Scherer-Lorenzen M, et al. Overyielding in experimental grassland communities—irrespective of species pool or spatial scale. Ecol Lett. 2005;8:419–29.
Hautier Y, Seabloom EW, Borer ET, et al. Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands. Nature. 2014;508:521–5. doi:10.1038/nature13014.
Thibaut LM, Connolly SR. Understanding diversity-stability relationships: towards a unified model of portfolio effects. Ecol Lett. 2013;16:140–50. doi:10.1111/ele.12019.
Tilman D, Reich PB, Knops JMH. Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment. Nature. 2006;441:629–32.
Yachi S, Loreau M. Biodiversity and ecosystem productivity in a fluctuating environment: the insurance hypothesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1999;96:1463–8.
Blüthgen N, Simons NK, Jung K, et al. Land use imperils plant and animal community stability through changes in asynchrony rather than diversity. Nat Commun. 2016;7:10697. doi:10.1038/ncomms10697.
Zobel M. The relative role of species pools in determining plant species richness: an alternative explanation of species coexistence? Trends Ecol Evol. 1997;12:266–9.
Gross N, Bloor JMG, Louault F, et al. Effects of land-use change on productivity depend on small-scale plant species diversity. Basic Appl Ecol. 2009;10:687–96. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2009.09.001.
Pimm SL. The complexity and stability of ecosystems. Nature. 1984;307:321–6.
Socher SA, Prati D, Boch S, et al. Direct and productivity-mediated indirect effects of fertilization, mowing and grazing on grassland species richness. J Ecol. 2012;100:1391–9. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2012.02020.x.
Socher SA, Prati D, Boch S, et al. Interacting effects of fertilization, mowing and grazing on plant species diversity of 1500 grasslands in Germany differ between regions. Basic Appl Ecol. 2013;14:126–36. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2012.12.003.
Fischer M, Bossdorf O, Gockel S, et al. Implementing large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research: the biodiversity exploratories. Basic Appl Ecol. 2010;11:473–85.
Hollister RD, Webber PJ. Biotic validation of small open-top chambers in a tundra ecosystem. Glob Chang Biol. 2000;6:835–42. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00363.x.
Marion GM, Henry GHR, Freckman DW, et al. Open-top designs for manipulating field temperature in high-latitude ecosystems. Glob Chang Biol. 1997;3(Suppl.):20–32.
Bonham CD. Measurements for terrestrial vegetation. New York: Wiley-Interscience; 1989.
Smit AL. Root methods: a handbook. Berlin: Springer; 2000.
Pinheiro JC, Bates DM. Mixed-effect models in S and S-plus. New York: Springer; 2000.
Blüthgen N, Dormann CF, Prati D, et al. A quantitative index of land-use intensity in grasslands: integrating mowing, grazing and fertilization. Basic Appl Ecol. 2012;13:207–20. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2012.04.001.
Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, et al. Vegan: community ecology package. R package version 2.0-10. 2013. http://cran.r-project.org/package=vegan.
R Development Core Team. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2014. http://www.R-project.org.
Kröel-Dulay G, Ransijn J, Schmidt IK, et al. Increased sensitivity to climate change in disturbed ecosystems. Nat Commun. 2015;6:6682. doi:10.1038/ncomms7682.
Hautier Y, Tilman D, Isbell F, et al. Anthropogenic environmental changes affect ecosystem stability via biodiversity. Science. 2015;348:336–40.
Gazol A, Tamme R, Price JN, et al. A negative heterogeneity-diversity relationship found in experimental grassland communities. Oecologia. 2013;173:545–55. doi:10.1007/s00442-013-2623-x.
Beier C, Beierkuhnlein C, Wohlgemuth T, et al. Precipitation manipulation experiments—challenges and recommendations for the future. Ecol Lett. 2012;15:899–911. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01793.x.
Reyes-Fox M, Steltzer H, Trlica MJ, et al. Elevated CO2 further lengthens growing season under warming conditions. Nature. 2014;510:259–62. doi:10.1038/nature13207.
Bloor JMG, Bardgett RD. Stability of above-ground and below-ground processes to extreme drought in model grassland ecosystems: interactions with plant species diversity and soil nitrogen availability. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst. 2012;14:193–204. doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2011.12.001.
Dreesen FE, De Boeck HJ, Janssens IA, Nijs I. Summer heat and drought extremes trigger unexpected changes in productivity of a temperate annual/biannual plant community. Environ Exp Bot. 2012;79:21–30. doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2012.01.005.
Grime JP, Fridley JD, Askew AP, et al. Long-term resistance to simulated climate change in an infertile grassland. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2008;105:10028–32. doi:10.1073/pnas.0711567105.
Kahmen A, Perner J, Buchmann N. Diversity-dependent productivity in semi-natural grasslands following climate perturbations. Funct Ecol. 2005;19:594–601.
van Ruijven J, Berendse F. Diversity enhances community recovery, but not resistance, after drought. J Ecol. 2010;98:81–6.
Selsted MB, Linden L, Ibrom A, et al. Soil respiration is stimulated by elevated CO2 and reduced by summer drought: three years of measurements in a multifactor ecosystem manipulation experiment in a temperate heathland (CLIMAITE). Glob Chang Biol. 2012;18:1216–30. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02634.x.
De Boeck HJ, Dreesen FE, Janssens IA, Nijs I. Whole-system responses of experimental plant communities to climate extremes imposed in different seasons. New Phytol. 2011;189:806–17. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03515.x.
Kreyling J, Beierkuhnlein C, Ellis L, Jentsch A. Invasibility of grassland and heath communities exposed to extreme weather events—additive effects of diversity resistance and fluctuating physical environment. Oikos. 2008;117:1542–54. doi:10.1111/j.2008.0030-1299.16653.x.
Vogel A, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Weigelt A. Grassland resistance and resilience after drought depends on management intensity and species richness. PLoS ONE. 2012;7:e36992. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036992.
Kreyling J, Wenigmann M, Beierkuhnlein C, Jentsch A. Effects of extreme weather events on plant productivity and tissue die-back are modified by community composition. Ecosystems. 2008;11:752–63. doi:10.1007/s10021-008-9157-9.
Frank ADA, McNaughton SJ. Stability increases with diversity in plant communities: empirical evidence from the 1988 Yellowstone drought. Oikos. 1991;62:360–2.
Hobbs RJ, Mooney HA. Spatial and temporal variability in California annual grassland: results from a long-term study. J Veg Sci. 1995;6:43–56.
Isbell F, Calcagno V, Hector A, et al. High plant diversity is needed to maintain ecosystem services. Nature. 2011;477:199–202. doi:10.1038/nature10282.
Isbell F, Craven D, Connolly J, et al. Biodiversity increases the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate extremes. Nature. 2015;526:574–7. doi:10.1038/nature15374.
Fry EL, Manning P, Power SA. Ecosystem functions are resistant to extreme changes to rainfall regimes in a mesotrophic grassland. Plant Soil. 2014;381:351–65. doi:10.1007/s11104-014-2137-2.
Jentsch A, Kreyling J, Elmer M, et al. Climate extremes initiate ecosystem-regulating functions while maintaining productivity. J Ecol. 2011;99:689–702. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01817.x.
Kennedy AD. Simulated climate change: are passive greenhouses a valid microcosm for testing the biological effects of environmental perturbations? Glob Chang Biol. 1995;1:29–42.
Kreyling J, Arfin Khan MAS, Sultana F, et al. Drought effects in climate change manipulation experiments: quantifying the influence of ambient weather conditions and rain-out shelter artifacts. Ecosystems. 2016. doi:10.1007/s10021-016-0025-8.
Vogel A, Fester T, Eisenhauer N, et al. Separating drought effects from roof artifacts on ecosystem processes in a grassland drought experiment. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e70997. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070997.
CFD and MSL conceived and designed the experiment. LvR and CFD performed the experiment, LvR and MSL carried out the lab work. CFD and LvR analysed the data and wrote the first draft, all authors contributed to the final manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
We thank the managers of the three exploratories, Swen Renner, Sonja Gockel, Andreas Hemp and Martin Gorke and Simone Pfeiffer for their work in maintaining the plot and project infrastructure, and Markus Fischer, the late Elisabeth Kalko, Eduard Linsenmair, Dominik Hessenmöller, Jens Nieschulze, Daniel Prati, Ingo Schöning, François Buscot, Ernst-Detlef Schulze and Wolfgang W. Weisser for their role in setting up the Biodiversity Exploratories project. Fieldwork permits were issued by the responsible state environmental offices of Baden-Württemberg, Thüringen, and Brandenburg (according to § 72 BbgNatSchG). We also like to thank Dörte Radtke for assistance with field sampling and chemical analyses, Astrid Bütof and Helge Bruelheide for encouraging this detailed analysis and Michaela Bellach, Carmen Börschig, Christoph Rothenwöhrer for excellent coordination and mutual assistance during fieldwork. The manuscript has profited greatly from the comments of two anonymous reviewers on a previous version.
The datasets analysed during the current study are available in the BExIS repository, as data set number 20186 (http://www.bexis.uni-jena.de; currently pending amendments of some meta-data).
The work was funded by the DFG Priority Program 1374 "Infrastructure-Biodiversity-Exploratories" (DO 786/4-1).
Biometry & Environmental System Analysis, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
Carsten F. Dormann
& Lars von Riedmatten
Computational Landscape Ecology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Permoser Str. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
Lars von Riedmatten
Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, Schänzlestr. 1, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
Search for Carsten F. Dormann in:
Search for Lars von Riedmatten in:
Search for Michael Scherer-Lorenzen in:
Correspondence to Carsten F. Dormann.
Additional file 1. Additional figures and table.
Climate change manipulation
C-pool
N-pool
Conservation ecology and biodiversity research


The Universe Knows YOU — Real Chicks Rock!!
Set yourself apart from all turmoil, and dedicate yourself to your purpose. The Universe knows you; knows your name, your current situation, and your challenges. Be at peace and trust it to lead you through the maze of circumstances that you now face. Do not be afraid; it will guide you and it will show you the way.


Corporate Finance International ('CFI') is pleased to present the Software and IT Services M&A Pulse – 2017 Year in Review. This report highlights key industry trends shaping the landscape as 2017 reflects record levels of consolidation activity. Key factors detailed in the Pulse include private equity's rising impact and their areas of focus, pricing on key deals and overall valuation trends, marquee transactions, cross-border activity, benchmarking statistics for publicly traded Software & IT Services' leaders, and more.
For full detail on M&A in Infrastructure & IT Management, Security, BI/Data Analytics and other domains, read the Software & IT Services M&A Pulse 2017 here.
We are looking for your local adviser..