FOR 2730:  Environmental changes in biodiversity hotspot ecosystems of South Ecuador: RESPonse and feedback effECTs (RESPECT)

• Subject Area: Biology
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 386807763

The tropical mountain rain and dry forests (MRF, MDF) of SE-Ecuador are threatened by climate and land-use changes. Their diversity and complexity make projections how they respond to environmental changes challenging. As a solution, we combined a trait-based Response-Effect-Framework (REF) with an improved Land Surface Model (LSM) in phase 1 of RESPECT to project the response of two target ecosystem functions (TF), biomass production and water fluxes, to environmental changes. We focused on the MRF where we successfully implemented a plot system and sampled abiotic drivers, biotic trait and process data for a-priori selected plant functional types (PFTs). We conducted first REF analyses that pointed to a complex interplay between abiotic drivers, trait diversity and biotic processes for the TFs. We developed the locally adapted, biodiversity informed LSM HUMBOL-TD (Hydroatmo Unified Model of BiOtic interactions and Local Trait Diversity) by coupling three models that cover the relevant compartments of the MRF. Improvements were new modules on herbivory and mycorrhiza-mediated nutrient uptake. Model testing with independent data showed that local functional trait and soil data substantially improve the simulations.In phase 2, we will keep our focus on unveiling how ecosystem biomass production and water fluxes are affected by climate and land-use changes through alterations in response and effect traits but extend our core plot system and sampling scheme based on a-priori selected PFTs to the adjacent MDF. The very large abiotic gradient and the differing seasonality offers unprecedented opportunities to gain a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between abiotic drivers, functional traits and biotic processes in these ecosystems forming the biodiversity hotspot. We will adapt and test the HUMBOL-TD to/for the MDF on the new core plot system. We will implement an area-wide version of the model for the entire catchments (MDR and MRF) by means of gridded remote sensing products, climate change scenario data and spatial-explicit optimized land-use scenarios. Our main aim is to test our central hypotheses on ecosystem resistance under different climate change scenarios and land-use change options with the area-wide model results and the REF. We expect that functional trait diversity is driven by water availability and seasonality in the MDF, whereas it is driven by nutrient availability and temperature in the MRF. We also expect that functional redundancy stabilizes responses of biotic processes to climate change. We hypothesize that functional trait diversity increases the resistance of the TFs to climate change. Similarly, we expect that functional trait diversity, and the resistance of the TFs decreases from natural forests to anthropogenic replacement systems. Nevertheless, we expect that adapted and sustainable land-use systems and landscape composition will enhance the resistance of MDF and MRF to climate change.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• International Connection: Ecuador

Projects

• Changes of water and carbon fluxes in mountain wet and dry forests under environmental changes - observations, area-wide remote sensing and LSMAtmo (Applicants Bendix, Jörg ;  Trachte, Katja )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Bendix, Jörg )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Farwig, Nina )
• From field scale eco-hydrological process understanding to landscape scale water fluxes (Applicants Breuer, Lutz ;  Windhorst, David )
• How abiotic drivers and trait diversity shape herbivory and other biotic processes with consequences for ecosystem functions across mountain ecosystems (Applicants Brandl, Roland ;  Farwig, Nina )
• Innovative scenarios of land-use change - simulating shifts in land allocation under climate change at landscape and ecosystem scales (Applicant Knoke, Thomas )
• Linking tree above- and belowground traits across gradients of elevation and climate in highly diverse tropical montane forests (Applicants Homeier, Jürgen ;  Leuschner, Christoph )
• Nutrient supply as driver of biomass production and associated ecosystem water fluxes along a land-use and climate gradient (Applicant Wilcke, Wolfgang )
• Plant functional trait diversity, biotic interactions and ecosystem processes in nutrient- versus water-limited tropical mountain forests (Applicant Hickler, Thomas )
• Trait-dependent effects of abiotic and biotic filters on plant regeneration in mountain dry forest and mountain rain forest (Applicants Neuschulz, Eike Lena ;  Schleuning, Matthias )
• Tree physiological and structural properties as response and effect traits of biotic-atmospheric interactions in natural and anthropogenic eco-systems in South Ecuador (Applicant Bräuning, Achim )

• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Nina Farwig