REASSEMBLY

Resistance, resilience and functional recovery of a rainforest ecosystem

​DFG-funded Research Unit REASSEMBLY (FOR 5207) Posts @bsky
1^st funding phase 2021-2025, 2^nd phase 2026-2029

REASSEMBLY aims at understanding network dynamics to uncover rules of network dis- and reassembly in a highly diverse tropical lowland rainforest ecosystem. We study the dynamics of natural forest recovery from agriculture along a chronosequence and the contribution of re-assembled networks to the resilience of ecosystem processes against perturbation. We compare the trajectories of predator–prey, plant–pollinator, and plant–seed disperser networks, as well as decomposition networks between mammals, dung beetles and seeds, and between dead wood, ants, termites, and beetles. Subprojects thus examine networks of all major ecosystem processes mediated by interspecific interactions: predation, pollination, primary and secondary seed dispersal, herbivory, decomposition, and tree seedling recruitment. Networks and ecosystem processes are studied along a large-scale chronosequence of forest recovery (62 plots representing different stages of succession) and in a small-scale perturbation–recruitment experiment. Our Research Unit is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Our MISSION: Although REASSEMBLY is a basic scientific research unit, our aim is to ensure that the knowledge gained can be applied and contribute to optimizing the restoration of tropical forests. This research project, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), will not only be conducted within a forest in Ecuador, but on an equal footing with the Ecuadorian scientific community in different institutions and with an Ecuadorian conservation organization (Fundación Jocotoco). Our goal is to strengthen ecological science and the next generation of scientists in both countries, as well as nature conservation efforts that meet the interests of local communities. To achieve these goals, transparent and accessible data and results are essential.

Latest Posts:

• Dr. Edith Villa Galaviz, Technical University of Darmstadt, CM
  by Edith Villa-Galaviz
  May 12, 2026
  I am a community ecologist with an emphasis on understanding and conserving species interactions, particularly plant-insect (i.e., pollination, herbivory, parasitoidism). I have worked and collaborated on projects in tropical, temperate, and arctic habitats and agroecosystems. My research investigates how agricultural practices reshape species interaction networks and how these networks and involved communities naturally recover once …
• Ester Bergamini, SBiK-F Frankfurt, SP4
  by Edith Villa-Galaviz
  May 12, 2026
  I have always been fascinated by the extraordinary biodiversity of tropical forests and motivated to understand how these ecosystems can be better protected and restored. During my Master’s degree in Conservation Biology in Italy, I collected acoustic data in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest to assess diversity across old-growth forest patches, reforested areas, and disturbed sites. …
• Kirra McLeod, Universidad de las Américas / Technical University of Munich, SP3
  by Edith Villa-Galaviz
  May 12, 2026
  My research interests lie in community ecology, specifically pollination. Luckily, the neotropics offer a great opportunity to study diverse pollinator communities! For my PhD, I am investigating how plant–pollinator interactions contribute to the recovery of the Ecuadorian Chocó rainforest following agricultural disturbance. Working across  the recovery gradient framework of Reassembly, from active pastures to undisturbed …
• Julie-Isabelle Hammer, PhD student SP7 (Biotic defences), University of Bayreuth
  by Edith Villa-Galaviz
  May 12, 2026
  What has always fascinated me most about ecology is the complexity of species interactions within ecosystems. How two partners can form close relationships shaping their behaviour, traits and morphology. In my subproject, I study the mutualistic relationships of ants and trees and their effects on forest recovery. Ants play an important role in biotic defence …
• It’s raining again: frugivores drop a diverse array of seeds
  by Nico
  April 17, 2026
  Anna R. Landim and collaborators investigated the functional recovery of seed rain during natural forest regeneration and its underlying drivers. Specifically, they studied how local forest structure and landscape-scale connectivity shape the functional diversity and composition of seed rain driven by animal-mediated seed dispersal. Using plant–frugivore interaction networks combined with functional trait data, they disentangled …