I have always been fascinated by tropical ecology and biodiversity research. In my former studies, I investigated the diversity of Afrotropical termites, one of the most important decomposers in African savannahs. Now, during my Ph.D. in the Reassembly project, my research focuses on the interactions between saproxylic insects (termites and …
Here’s our second Reassembly Newsletter. Again, all PhD candidates and postdoctoral scientists nicely summarized their challenges, experience and insights in the second year of our Research Unit. It’s a must-read for all project participants, but hopefully also enjoyable for anyone interested in such a scientific endeavor and recovering tropical forests. …
Nos enorgullece presentar nuestro Boletín de REASSEMBLY (Reensamblaje), que resume nuestra experiencia, nuevos conocimientos y retos durante el primer año de nuestra Unidad de Investigación. Cada investigador doctoral y postdoctoral presentó aquí su punto de vista personal. Merece la pena leerlo si quiere echar un vistazo al corazón de nuestro …
We proudly present our Reassembly Newsletter, summarizing our experience, new insights and challenges during the first year of our Research Unit. Each PhD and postdoctoral researcher presented her or his personal views here – worth reading if you want to get a glimpse into the heart of our scientific endeavor. …
In our study area – the lowland Chocó rainforest – three monkey species act as important dispersers for tree seeds. Brown-headed spider monkeys climb skillfully through the tree canopies and live almost entirely on fruits. Mantled howlers shape the soundscape and eat both leaves and fruits. And Ecuadorian white-fronted capuchins …
Our PhD candidate Timo Metz (SP 1) presented one of our first results in the Reassembly Unit as a poster at an international meeting of the German Ecological Society (GFÖ) and two other organizations (SFE2, EEF) in Metz (November 24th, 2022). Timo has modelled the role of obligate vs non-obligate …
How quickly does the understory vegetation and litter layer recover following complete removal? This is the main question addressed in our perturbation-recovery experiment in 10 x 10 m subplots (P-REX). After nine months, the litter layer achieved a similar extent as an undisturbed forest patch, and many new tree seedlings …
We had a very fruitful workshop in the National Park Bayerischer Wald (link) in October 5-7th 2022. After a Kick-Off Meeting last year (Palmengarten Frankfurt) and a workshop on data management and networks in the new Chocó lab in March 2022, this has been our third actual reassembly of the …
You don’t often see velvet worms (Onychophora)! Arianna is currently sorting the arthropods from litter extractions of the Reassembly plots. We got excited to see the first velvet worm in this sample. Only few onychophorans are known from Ecuador so far. Fernando Villagomez immediately looked for some morphological details and …
Biodiversity conservation and restoration have always been my main interests in Ecology. Within these topics, I am passionate about mutualistic interactions and the ecological processes they result in, particularly seed dispersal. Initially, my focus was on the restoration of seed dispersal through human management. For instance, whether reintroductions (i.e. translocation …
