Intercropping has been proposed as an alternative to conventional monoculture systems by improving biomass water use efficiency (WUE) and grain yield based WUE through modified microclimatic conditions. However, little is known about its potential to mitigate wind velocities (WV) in semi-humid Central European environments. A two-year field experimental case study (2023–2024) was conducted to assess wind-breaking effects in a...

Urbanization is affecting arthropod communities worldwide, for example by changing the availability of food resources. However, the strength and direction of a community's response is species‐specific and depends on species' trophic level. Here, we investigated interacting species at different trophic levels in nests of cavity‐nesting bees and wasps along two urbanization gradients in four German cities using trap nests. We an...

Process-based crop growth models have become indispensable tools for investigating the effects of genetic, management, and environmental factors on crop productivity. One source of uncertainty in crop model predictions is model parameterization, i.e. estimating the values of model input parameters, which is carried out very differently by crop modellers. One simple (SSM-iCrop) and one detailed (APSIM) maize ( Zea mays L.) mode...

Analysing the structure and dynamics of biotic interaction networks and the processes shaping them is currently one of the key fields in ecology. In this paper, we develop a novel approach to gut content analysis, thereby deriving a new perspective on community interactions and their responses to environment. For this, we use an elevational gradient in the High Arctic, asking how the environment and species traits interact in...

Central Europe is generally not considered a drought‐prone region compared with, for example, the Mediterranean. However, Central Europe, including the Czech Republic, recently experienced a series of drought events with substantial impacts, especially on crop production. Because agriculture systems, and vegetation in general, have adapted to evenly distributed precipitation, the region is susceptible to even short‐term drough...