Decomposer specialization in temperate and tropical forests

Masters Project in Systemic Conservation Biology / EFForTS


For herbivores it has been demonstrated that diversity declines with latitude, accompanied by lower host specialization in temperate compared with tropical forests. Therefore, according to theory, there should be more herbivore species and higher host specialization in tropical forests than in temperate forests. Whether the same pattern holds for decomposer species remains to be investigated.
This Masters project aims to conduct a laboratory feeding experiment testing the specialization of temperate and tropical decomposer species on temperate and tropical leaf litter, respectively. By feeding temperate and tropical leaf litter to both temperate and tropical decomposers, this experiment will shed more light on the mechanisms determining the latitudinal gradient of consumer species diversity.
Within the CRC 990, ?Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)?, Andrew Barnes and Malte Jochum, PhD students in the Systemic Conservation Biology group of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brose, examine changes in macro-invertebrate communities along a rainforest transformation gradient.
Our subproject B01 ?Structure, stability and functioning of macro-invertebrate communities in rainforest transformation systems in Sumatra (Indonesia)? is based on samples collected from secondary forest, jungle rubber, rubber, and oil palm systems in the Jambi province of Sumatra, Indonesia. The offered Masters project would build on results already emerging from this research project and work towards developing a better understanding of global patterns in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
The Masters project is proposed to start in 2014. You will be involved in tropical and temperate field sampling of leaf-litter decomposers and laboratory work in Sumatra, Indonesia and Germany.
If you are interested to join us, or you have any questions regarding the project, please do not hesitate to contact ubrose@gwdg.de

Contact(s): Malte Jochum, Andrew Barnes, Ulrich Brose