Vortragsreihe Ökologie und Umweltforschung WS 2011/12

Donnerstag 12:00-13:30 H 12, NW I

---

Dr. Rainer Wirth
Department of Plant Ecology and Systematics, Universität Kaiserslautern (Homepage)
Donnerstag, 02.02.2012 17:00-18:30 :

Trophic disruptions and biotic homogenization in fragmented forests: Unveiling success and impact of a neotropical key herbivore (leaf-cutting ants)

An ever-increasing proportion of the forested landscape is converted to forest edges and fragments, yet the full extent of cascading effects on ecological processes and biodiversity persistence remains poorly understood. In a Brazilian-German research project, we explored this topic by asking how anthropogenic landscape alterations impact ecosystem engineers and modify their functional significance.

As a model system, we studied leaf-cutting ants (LCA), which turned hyper-abundant due to high levels of forest fragmentation across the Neotropics. I compile quantitative results on (1) the mechanisms driving LCA proliferation and (2) the manifold impacts leaf-cutting ants LCA exert on forest structure, microclimate, edaphic conditions, plant performance, and floristic and functional signature of plant assemblages.

In synthesis, we found that ecosystem engineering by LCAs is strongly context-dependent: While in undisturbed forests regional habitat diversity is enhanced through the creation of high-resource patches, anthropogenic forest transformation (i.e. high-light environments with dominance of light-demanding species) causes synergistic feedback mechanisms turning LCAs into a large-scale disturbance that promotes floristic and functional impoverishment of modern forests.

 

 

---

Eingeladen durch Bettina Engelbrecht

 

 

 

Weitere Informationen:

• Ankündigung als PDF

Export as iCal:

---

zurück zur Liste

Datum	Vortragender	Titel
17:00-18:30 20.10.2011	Prof. Dr. Heike Feldhaar Tierökologie I, Universität Bayreuth	Ecologically important traits mediated by bacterial endosymbionts [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 27.10.2011	Dr. Thomas Karl National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA	Putting Constraints on the Life Cycle of Reactive Organic Carbon based on Ecosystem Scale Flux Measurements [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 03.11.2011	Prof. Dr. Stefan Peiffer Geschäftsführender Direktor BayCEER	BayCEER Mitgliederversammlung [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 10.11.2011	Prof. Dr. Laurentius A.C.J. Voesenek Department of Biology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, NL	Waterproof Plants: escape or quiescence [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 17.11.2011	Dr. Markus Neteler GIS and Remote Sensing Unit at Fondazione Edmund Mach, Italy	Climatic factors driving disease vector invasions in Europe: the tiger mosquito spread and other cases [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 24.11.2011	Dr. Michael Radke Dept. of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University	Environmental fate of organic contaminants in the marine environment - the same story as in rivers and lakes? [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 01.12.2011	Prof. Dr. Massimo Menenti Institute of Earth Observation and Space systems (DEOS), Faculty of AeroSpace Engineering, Delft University of Technology	Observation and modeling of land surface state and convective activity over the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 08.12.2011	Prof. Dr. Hermann Held Research Unit Sustainability & Global Change, Departments of Geosciences and Macroeconomics, University of Hamburg / KlimaCampus Hamburg	Optimal Climate Investments under System Uncertainty [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 15.12.2011	Prof. Dr. Stefan Schuster Department of Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth	Prey catching in archerfish (Beutefang beim Schützenfisch) [Abstract]
Montag S 5 (GW II) 16:00 19.12.2011	Prof. Andrew Meharg Department of Biogeochemistry, University of Aberdeen, UK	Advanced speciation and localisation techniques to characterise arsenic in plants and soils [Abstract]
- Vortrag fällt aus - 17:00-18:30 12.01.2012	Dr. Markus Reichstein Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena	(entfällt: Current research initiatives on estimating the terrestrial carbon balance) [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 19.01.2012	Dr. Katharina Helming Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e. V., Müncheberg	Ex-ante impact assessment for policy making in land use and agriculture [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 26.01.2012	Dr. Markus Bernhardt-Römermann Institut für Ökologie, Evolution & Diversität, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main	Functional Diversity of Plant Communities [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 02.02.2012	Dr. Rainer Wirth Department of Plant Ecology and Systematics, Universität Kaiserslautern	Trophic disruptions and biotic homogenization in fragmented forests: Unveiling success and impact of a neotropical key herbivore (leaf-cutting ants) [Abstract]
17:00-18:30 09.02.2012	Dr. Angelica Feurdean Biodiversität- und Klimaforschungszentrum (BiK-F), Senckenberg, Univ. Frankfurt a. M.	The relevance of long-term data in understanding contemporary and future biotic responses: examples from the Carpathian region [Abstract]
17:00-18:45 16.02.2012	Prof. Francesco Dondi Department of Chemistry, University of Ferrara, Italy	Sustainability on Campus: Actions at the University of Ferrara [Abstract]