My interests in ecology have been very broad from the beginning of my studies – there is simply so much that we still do not yet fully understand. Among my interests, a few topics that have fascinated me especially are forest recovery, community ecology, ecosystem services and responses to microclimatic conditions. I am very grateful that I get the opportunity to investigate all these topics and how they are interconnected within my PhD.
For this purpose, I am working with dung beetles as my study subject. Those beetles are highly sensitive to habitat quality and microclimates and are also coupled with mammal presence since they feed on their dung – which makes them an extremely interesting group for the study of a variety of questions. My aim in the PhD is to deepen our understanding about how communities, and the ecosystem services they provide, respond to forest recovery and shifting microclimates. In the context of secondary seed dispersal, I am not only investigation beetles, but also tree seeds they bury and their potential benefits with regard of forest destruction and related microclimatic changes.
