Tropical forests are extremely divers. Over 300 tree species can coexist in a single hectare and as many as 16,000 tree species are thought to exist in the Amazon basin alone. Why are tropical forests so remarkably diverse? This is a key, yet unresolved question facing Ecology.
Showcasing some of my and collaborators work from Bolivia and Panama, I will demonstrate how two of the most persisting theories explaining tropical species coexistence, the Niche Theory and the Janzen-Connell Hypothesis, are mutually compatible and I will use these examples to introduce a novel avenue of future research that I aim to develop further at the Bayreuth University.
Niche Theory postulates that differences among species govern their specialization for distinct resource niches – so-called niche partitioning. I will show how this is true for coexisting tropical tree species and how species’ functional traits influence their competitive success and performance along combined water and light gradients.
As Niche Theory is not particularly good at explaining why ‘stronger’ competitors do not always outcompete ‘weaker’ ones and become locally dominant, alternative mechanisms are needed. This is where the Janzen-Connell Hypothesis becomes important, as it postulates that density-dependent mortality mediated by plant natural enemies -fungal pathogens and insect herbivores-, puts locally rare species at an advantage, preventing any one species from dominating. I will illustrate this by showing how natural enemies drive changes in negative-density dependence and diversity across a tropical rainfall gradient using novel findings from a large field-based study in Central Panama.
Finally, I will elaborate on how I aim to combine key elements from Niche Theory and the Janzen-Connell Mechanism in a new project at Bayreuth to explain the directional turnover of tree species during secondary tropical forest succession, and to inform and improve restoration ecology and sustainable reforestation efforts in the tropics.
*** Invited by Bettina Engelbrecht, Functional and Tropical Plant Ecology / Fachgruppe Biologie
Date | lecturer | Title |
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Wednesday Room 204, 2. floor/Geo III 10:00-11:30 07.10.2015 | Dr. Lucian Staicu University of Franche-Comté, Department of Science and Technology, Besançon, France | Bacterial metabolism of selenium. Survival or profit? [Abstract] |
15.10.2015 | Prof. Dr. Werner Härdtle Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation, University of Lüneburg | Global change impacts on ecosystem functions – the importance of interactive effects [Abstract] |
22.10.2015 | Prof. Declan Kennedy formerly Chair of Urban Design, Dept. of Architecture, TU Berlin | The New Story Movement and Sustainability [Abstract] |
Friday H27, GW II 09:00-16:00 23.10.2015 | - siehe Aushänge - | Berufungsvorträge zur W3-Professur Sportökologie [Abstract] |
Wednesday H36, NW III 15:15-16:45 28.10.2015 | Dr. Lars Markesteijn Community Ecology Research Oxford, University of Oxford, UK / Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama | What determines biological diversity? [Abstract] |
29.10.2015 | Dr. Sergio Calabrese Università degli Studi di Palermo; Department of Earth and Marine Science (DiSTeM); Italy | Environmental impact of volcanic emissions [Abstract] |
12.11.2015 | Dr. Dylan James Craven German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig | Biodiversity effects on ecosystem stability following climate extremes [Abstract] |
19.11.2015 | Dr. Christoph Schmidt Geomorphology, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth | Of trapped electrons and their relevance in tracing landscape evolution and human history [Abstract] |
26.11.2015 | Dr. Derek Persoh Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity of Plants, Ruhr-University of Bochum | Fungal community structure and function - from current knowledge towards predictability [Abstract] |
Friday H10, NW I 14:15-15:45 27.11.2015 | Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein Naturschutz und Landschaftsökologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg | Functional diversity, complementarity and trait identity in pollination studies [Abstract] |
03.12.2015 | Dr. Harald Pauli Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology University of Vienna | Past and recent changes in European alpine plant diversity: increases, declines, stagnations and accelerations driven by climate change [Abstract] |
10.12.2015 | Dr. Severin Irl Biogeography, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth | Plant diversity on high-elevation islands – drivers of species richness and endemism [Abstract] |
13:00-14:30 14.01.2016 | Prof. Dr. Johannes Kollmann Restoration Ecology, TUM, Freising | Transformation of grasslands in South Brazil - effects of changing land use on biodiversity and ecosystem functions [Abstract] |
21.01.2016 | Dr. Marie Spohn Soil Ecology, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth | Organic phosphorus mineralization and microbial carbon allocation in soil [Abstract] |
28.01.2016 | BayCEER Mitgliederversammlung [Abstract] | |
Friday Dr.-Hans-Frisch-Str. 1-3, Raum H7 (Bibliothek) 13:00-14:30 29.01.2016 | PD Dr. Reinhard Well, Dr. Lena Rohe Institut für Agrarklimaschutz, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institut | Advanced stable isotope tracing and natural abundance methods to unravel N-cycling processes |
BayCEER Colloquium: |
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Th. 2021-01-28 BayCEER Member Assembly |
Th. 2021-04-15 - folgt - |
Th. 2021-04-22 - folgt - |
Th. 2021-04-29 - folgt - |
Ecological-Botanical Garden: |
Th. 2021-02-11 Online-Veranstaltung: Mit dem Kanu durch den Regenwald. Eine Expedition in die Überschwemmungswälder Süd-Venezuelas |
13.01.2020 Why Science Communication? |
24.05.2019 Stoichiometric controls of C and N cycling |
07.05.2019 Flying halfway across the globe to dig in the dirt – a research stay in Bloomington, USA |
16.04.2019 Picky carnivorous plants? |