How quickly does the understory vegetation and litter layer recover following complete removal? This is the main question addressed in our perturbation-recovery experiment in 10 x 10 m subplots (P-REX). After nine months, the litter layer achieved a similar extent as an undisturbed forest patch, and many new tree seedlings …
We had a very fruitful workshop in the National Park Bayerischer Wald (link) in October 5-7th 2022. After a Kick-Off Meeting last year (Palmengarten Frankfurt) and a workshop on data management and networks in the new Chocó lab in March 2022, this has been our third actual reassembly of the …
You don’t often see velvet worms (Onychophora)! Arianna is currently sorting the arthropods from litter extractions of the Reassembly plots. We got excited to see the first velvet worm in this sample. Only few onychophorans are known from Ecuador so far. Fernando Villagomez immediately looked for some morphological details and …
Biodiversity conservation and restoration have always been my main interests in Ecology. Within these topics, I am passionate about mutualistic interactions and the ecological processes they result in, particularly seed dispersal. Initially, my focus was on the restoration of seed dispersal through human management. For instance, whether reintroductions (i.e. translocation …
We are Arianna (chemist) and Karla (biologist) and we believe that fieldwork goes beyond the scientific aspect, as it necessarily involves social engagement with local communities as well. Within the past six months living in Canandé, we have learned from the people of Hoja Blanca and La Yuca (the villages …
My research focuses on plant-pollinator interactions in the tropics, with an emphasis on syndrome theory, urban pollination, and interaction networks, with special attention to nectarivorous bats and, more recently, insects such as bees and moths. Most of my research has been conducted with chiropterophilous species in Brazil in the largely understudied seasonal …
My work centers around the theoretical aspects of ecosystem restoration. I use models and computer simulations to find out how ecological communities recover and especially how species interaction networks (re-)assemble after a large disturbance. My overarching goal is to explain observations from the field with theories how they could have …
Our ambitious perturbation experiment was an enormous, unexpected effort – on a total of 30 plots. Four 10 x 10 m treatments had to be marked per plot, two of them fenced, vegetation and litter was removed from two treatments, and the amount removed was quantified. Seed/litter traps were installed, …
Quite calmly, our research activities in one of the best tropical field labs have just begun earlier this year. What a fantastic new place, equipped with modern lab interior and great working conditions and (still) a lot of space for our large group and more. What an incredible view on …
Does our research contribute to restoring biodiversity and climate? There is an ongoing discussion around ‘natural solutions’ for climate, and the potential of forest restoration for carbon capture and mitigation of global warming. One of the key papers in this controversial debate was a Science paper in 2019 from Thomas …
