Descripción del proyecto
Un estudio más detallado sobre cómo los depredadores ayudan a mantener el planeta verde
Los depredadores reducen la abundancia de herbívoros y son la clave para mantener nuestro planeta verde. Esto se basa en la hipótesis del mundo verde, según la cual los animales hambrientos que se alimentan de plantas harían que el mundo se volviera marrón si no fuera porque los grandes depredadores mantienen el tamaño de sus poblaciones bajo control al comérselas. En el proyecto BABE, financiado con fondos europeos, se estudiarán las interacciones antagónicas y sinérgicas de los principales grupos de depredadores. Por ejemplo, los depredadores de insectos son muy importantes para mantener el equilibrio natural. En este contexto, el equipo del proyecto llevará a cabo manipulaciones factoriales de los principales depredadores insectívoros (aves, murciélagos y hormigas) para medir sus efectos en los niveles tróficos inferiores del sotobosque y la cubierta forestal. También se estudiarán los efectos compensatorios entre los taxones depredadores sobre el rendimiento de los herbívoros y las plantas.
Objetivo
Why is the world green? Because predators control herbivores, allowing plants to flourish. This >50 years old answer to the deceptively simple question remains controversial. After all, plants are also protected from herbivores physically and by secondary chemistry. My goal is to test novel aspects of the “green world hypothesis”: ● How the importance of top-down effects varies with forest diversity and productivity along a latitudinal gradient? ● How the key predators, birds, bats and ants, contribute to top-down effects individually and in synergy? I strive to understand this because: ● While there is evidence that predators reduce herbivore abundance and enhance plant growth, the importance of top-down control is poorly understood across a range of forests. ● The importance of key predatory groups, and their antagonistic and synergic interactions, have been rarely studied, despite their potential impact on ecosystem dynamics in changing world. I wish to achieve my goals by: ● Factorial manipulations of key insectivorous predators (birds, bats, ants) to measure their effects on lower trophic levels in forest understories and canopies, accessed by canopy cranes, along latitudinal gradient spanning 75o from Australia to Japan. ● Studying compensatory effects among predatory taxa on herbivore and plant performance. Why this has not been done before: ● Factorial experimental exclusion of predatory groups replicated on a large spatial scale is logistically difficult. ● Canopy crane network along a latitudinal gradient has only recently become available. I am in excellent position to succeed as I have experience with ● foodweb experiments along an elevation gradient in New Guinea rainforests, ● study of bird, bat and arthropod communities. If the project is successful, it will: ● Allow understanding the importance of predators from temperate to tropical forests. ● Establish a network of experimental sites along a network of canopy cranes open for follow-up research.
Ámbito científico
Not validated
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Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
370 05 Ceske Budejovice
Chequia