Project Details
Projekt
Coordination Funds
Applicant
Professor Dr. Nico Blüthgen
Subject Area
Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 444827997
The 'Reassembly' Research Unit aims to understand the dynamics and rules of ecological network reassembly in a highly diverse Ecuadorian Chocó lowland forest ecosystem. We are studying the dynamics of natural forest recovery from agriculture and secondary forests along a chronosequence of plots representing different stages of succession. We compare different functional groups, including plants, vertebrates, invertebrates and microorganisms, the resistance and resilience of species communities, species interactions and ecosystem processes. In the second funding phase, we aim to understand how abiotic conditions, dispersal limitation and biotic resources limit recovery, e.g. responses to microclimatic variation and extreme conditions in early regeneration. We will also implement a 'tree functional recovery experiment' to elucidate the role of multidimensional traits in shaping multi-layered networks of organisms interacting with trees, and study the dynamics of these networks with forest succession.
DFG Programme
Research Units
