REASSEMBLY

Reassembly of species interaction networks

Resistance, resilience and functional recovery of a rainforest ecosystem

​DFG-funded Research Unit REASSEMBLY (FOR 5207) Posts @bsky
1st funding phase 2021-2025, 2nd phase 2026-2029

REASSEMBLY aims at understanding network dynamics to uncover rules of network dis- and reassembly in a highly diverse tropical lowland rainforest ecosystem. We study the dynamics of natural forest recovery from agriculture along a chronosequence and the contribution of re-assembled networks to the resilience of ecosystem processes against perturbation. We compare the trajectories of predator–prey, plant–pollinator, and plant–seed disperser networks, as well as decomposition networks between mammals, dung beetles and seeds, and between dead wood, ants, termites, and beetles. Subprojects thus examine networks of all major ecosystem processes mediated by interspecific interactions: predation, pollination, primary and secondary seed dispersal, herbivory, decomposition, and tree seedling recruitment. Networks and ecosystem processes are studied along a large-scale chronosequence of forest recovery (62 plots representing different stages of succession) and in a small-scale perturbation–recruitment experiment. Our Research Unit is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Our MISSION: Although REASSEMBLY is a basic scientific research unit, our aim is to ensure that the knowledge gained can be applied and contribute to optimizing the restoration of tropical forests. This research project, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), will not only be conducted within a forest in Ecuador, but on an equal footing with the Ecuadorian scientific community in different institutions and with an Ecuadorian conservation organization (Fundación Jocotoco). Our goal is to strengthen ecological science and the next generation of scientists in both countries, as well as nature conservation efforts that meet the interests of local communities. To achieve these goals, transparent and accessible data and results are essential.

Latest Posts:

  • Fourth Newsletter
    by Edith Villa-Galaviz
    Our Last Reassembly newsletter is now out. It marks the end of the first phase of the project. Many thanks to all the PhD researchers and postdoctoral fellows who contributed chapters. This year, we conclude the first phase of the project and share what we have learned over the past four years. These reflections include …
  • Models for proboscis length estimations require taxonomic adjustments in tropical bees
    by Edith Villa-Galaviz
    Measuring proboscis length is an essential trait in pollination studies because it influences a bee’s efficiency as a pollinator. However, Frühholz and colleagues showed that existing allometric models developed mainly for temperate species often lack accuracy when applied to tropical bees, leading to under- or overestimation of proboscis length. They found that adjusting the models …
  • Dietary flexibility in Megalopta bees does not offset long-term diversity declines caused by habitat loss.
    by Edith Villa-Galaviz
    Ugo Diniz and collaborators investigated the recovery of abundance and diversity in Megalopta, a genus of nocturnal bees, and how these bees respond to the availability of floral resources across a forest regeneration chronosequence. They found that even after 38 years of forest recovery, Megalopta communities had not fully returned to levels observed in old-growth …
  • PhD position (m/f/d) in “Rainforest recovery through seed dispersal by frugivorous birds and rodents” (50% part-time)
    by Edith Villa-Galaviz
    Please visit the website at www.senckenberg.de for further information about the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and https://www.senckenberg.de/en/imprint/ for their privacy policy.
  • Regenwald-Regeneration durch Vögel
    by Nico
    Der tropische Regenwald ist derzeit in aller Munde, dank der COP30 in Belem / Brasilien. In diesem Kontext spielt in den Medien auch die Studie eine Rolle, die Anna Landim, Matthias Schleuning und Kolleg:innen im Journal Current Biology publiziert haben zur Regeneration der wichtigen Funktion fruchtausbreitender Vögel (Link). Die Forschenden betonen, dass die Vollständigkeit der …