The Jena Experiment is a group of scientist supported by the German Research Foundation DFG and lead by Prof. Weisser, FSU Jena and Prof. Schulze, MPI Jena. The aim of the group is to study the interactions between plant diversity and ecosystem processes, focusing on element cycling and trophic interactions. 60 plant species, native and common to the Central European Arrhenatherum grasslands serve as species pool. Mixtures of one to 60 plant species and of one to four plant functional groups have been seeded as newly established communities on plots of 20 x 20 m.
 
 
 
The experiment is carried out on a former agricultural field with alluvial loam as substrate. The species assemblages serve as basis to study interactions not only among plant individuals and plant species, but also between different trophic levels. Emphasis will be on the ecosystem carbon balance and the turnover and losses of nutrients.
 

For the part of the experiment investigating the relation between plant diversity and soil water balance and the effective exploitation of water resources by plant communities under water stress, supervised by Prof. S. Attinger, UFZ and  Prof. G. Büchel, FSU Jena, UMS has supplied 6 soil-hydrologic stations to measure matrix potential and temperature with T8 Tensiometers and soil moisture content with Trime und Theta probes with high resolution along the soil profile.
 
 
 
 
 
The data is send to a PC by GSM for visualization, validation und evaluation.