Questions and principles of the Biodiversity Exploratories

We present the Biodiversity Exploratories, a unique program to understand the real-world causes and consequences of biodiversity change. We show the set-up of 300 plots in Germany, representing long gradients of land-use intensity for grasslands and forests. We highlight comprehensive measures of land use, biodiversity (species diversity of plants, animals and microorganisms, genetic, phenotypic, chemical and structural diversity, network diversity of interactions), and ecosystem functions and ecosystem-service proxies (element cycling and many biological interactions). We also highlight our time series of important variables and experiments replicated across many plots. The program provides unique research opportunities and is open for collaboration.