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“Introduction Agricultural intensification is one of the most influential drivers of biodiversity

loss all over Europe (e.g. Donald et al. 2001; Tscharntke et al. 2005; Ellenberg

and Leuschner 2010). Since the 1950s, agriculture has been intensified through increasing application of fertilisers and pesticides, and the widespread drainage selleck kinase inhibitor of groundwater-influenced habitats (Schmidt 1990; Ihse 1995; Treweek et al. 1997; Benton et al. 2003). In former West Germany, the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has led to large-scale land use changes in the past decades (Bignal and McCracken 2000; Henle et al. 2008). Intensification campaigns followed in East Germany with a delay of about one decade (Bauerkämper 2004). Despite the differences caused by the contrasting political systems, in both former German states, landscape composition and structure has changed tremendously as a result of intensification

(Weiger 1990; Kienast buy Sirolimus 1993; Hundt 2001). Grasslands are among the habitat types most severely affected by changes (Treweek et al. 1997; Joyce and Wade 1998; Norderhaug et al. 2000; Hundt 2001; Hodgson et al. 2005; Prach 2008). A considerable part of the managed grassland that was present in the 1950s, has been transformed to cropland, afforested or used Thalidomide for construction purposes (Riecken et al. 2006; Walz 2008). Even within the short time since 2003, the area of permanently managed grassland in Germany declined by 3.1%, and the remaining sites became increasingly fragmented (Lind et al. 2009). Consequently, species-rich wet and mesic meadows belong today to the most threatened grassland types in Central Europe (Bergmeier and Nowak 1988; Dierßen et al. 1988; Dierschke and Briemle 2002; Riecken et al. 2006). While drainage and subsequent lowering of the groundwater table are the main causes for the loss of wet meadows (Rosenthal and Hölzel 2009; Prajs and Antkowiak 2010), application of fertilisers and increasing mowing frequency are key drivers of biodiversity loss in both wet and mesic meadows (Grevilliot et al. 1998; Jannsens et al. 1998; Härdtle et al. 2006). Habitat fragmentation is another consequence of agricultural intensification that has important implications for biodiversity (Jaeger 2000; Henle et al. 2004; Lindborg and Eriksson 2004; Piessens et al.