B4 Integrating abiotic covariates, functional trait diversity and consequences of important processes on the ecosystem level [funded by DFG]
Project staff:
Prof. Dr. Nina Farwig
Prof. Dr. Roland Brandl
Mrs Jana Schoen
Abstract:
The proposed project aims at linking trait diversity of communities with herbivory and other ecological processes along environmental gradients (climate and land-use change). To achieve this, we will 1) carry out experimental work to investigate how herbivory and the traits of herbivores changes along environmental gradients. 2) We will use a trait-based approach to combine abiotic covariates, trait and process data collected in the proposed research unit (RU) to understand the impact and importance of traits and biotic interactions for biomass production and water fluxes. This will allow us to understand the role of traits and their distribution within communities for the level of herbivory and to provide a statistical synthesis on the importance of traits to predict the effects of climate and land-use change for the two target ecosystem functions that are within the focus of the proposed research unit. Relating these community responses to biotic interactions and associated ecosystem processes and functions along environmental gradients will provide insights into a system's ability to resist environmental change and thus maintain its original state after disturbance.
Publications and poster presentations:
2021 - Seibold, S.; Rammer, W.; Hothorn, T.; Seidl, R.; Ulyshen, M.D.; Lorz, J.; Cadotte, M.W.; Lindenmayer, D.B.; Adhikari, Y.P.; Aragón, R.; Bae, S.; Baldrian, P.; Barimani Varandi, H.; Barlow, J.; Bässler, C.; Beauchene, J.; Berenguer, E.; Bergamin, R.S.; Birkemoe, T.; Boros, G.; Brandl, R.; Brustel, H.; Burton, P.J.; Cakpo-Tossou, Y.T.; Castro, J.; Cateau, E.; Cobb, T.P.; Farwig, N.; Fernández, R.D.; Firn, J.; Gan, K.S.; González, G.; Gossner, M.M.; Habel, J.C.; Hébert, C.; Heibl, C.; Heikkala, O.; Hemp, A.; Hemp, C.; Hjältén, J.; Hotes, S.; Kouki, J.; Lachat, T.; Liu, J.; Liu, Y.; Luo, Y.; Macandog, D.M.; Martina, P.E.; Mukul, S.A.; Nachin, B.; Nisbet, K.; O’Halloran, J.; Oxbrough, A.; Pandey, J.N.; Pavlíček, T.; Pawson, S.M.; Rakotondranary, J.S.; Ramanamanjato, J.; Rossi, L.; Schmidl, J.; Schulze, M.; Seaton, S.; Stone, M.J.; Stork, N.E.; Suran, B.; Sverdrup-Thygeson, A.; Thorn, S.; Thyagarajan, G.; Wardlaw, T.J.; Weisser, W.; Yoon, S.; Zhang, N. & Müller, J. (2021): The contribution of insects to global forest deadwood decomposition. Nature 597(7874), 77-81.
2020 - Keuth, R. (2020): Influence of abiotic and biotic factors on herbivory in a tropical mountain forest in south Ecuador Philipps-Universität Marburg, bachelor thesis
- Astudillo Webster, P.X.; Grass, I.; Siddons, D.; schabo, D. & Farwig, N. (2020): Centrality in species-habitat networks reveals the importance of habitat quality for high-andeans birds in Polylepis woodlands. Ardeola 67(2), 307-324.
- Hörst, J. (2020): Structural leaf trait effects on the biomass, abundance, community structure and individual sizes of folivorous insects in the canopy of a tropical mountain rainforest ecosystem Philipps-Universität Marburg, master thesis
2019 - Gibmeier, T. (2019): Insect herbivore biomass and community composition along a tropical succesional gradient Philipps-Universität Marburg, master thesis
2018 - Tiede, Y.; Hemp, C.; Schmidt, A.; Nauss, T.; Farwig, N. & Brandl, R. (2018): Beyond body size: consistent decrease of traits within orthopteran assemblages with elevation. Ecology 0(0), 1-13.
- Astudillo Webster, P.X.; schabo, D.; Siddons, D. & Farwig, N. (2018): Patch-matrix movements of birds in the páramo landscape of the southern Andes of Ecuador. Emu - Austral Ornithology 67(2), 307-324.
