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 Reassembly team already. We learned from two talks by our special guests: Daisy Cárate Tandalla (U Landau) reported how tree seedling communities in Ecuadorian montane forest responded to N and P addition, and Marco Mello (U São Paulo) talked about processes generating network topologies. María José Endara provided insights on the evolution and chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions, and David Donoso showed an analysis of changes in ant communities over time. We discussed the progress in all subprojects, spatial extensions and perspectives for the future phase.
Jörg Müller was a highly inspiring host in “his” forest district and introduced us to the National Park in theory and practice. We stepped over tree trunks, enjoyed smoked wildboar and deer on a barbecue, heard a pygmy owl in the dark and felt that we were being observed by capercaillies and lynxes although we could not detect them. An early morning hike through the highly dynamic forest on the Lusen mountain, recovering from large-scale natural disturbance by bark beetle outbreaks, was particularly remarkable. The view from the mountains and the smell and autumn colors of the forest were as amazing as the Reassembly “family” and its spirit. Thanks to Jörg and his team, and to the staff of Jugendwaldheim Wessely Haus for their great hospitality.
