Biodiversity patterns across islands at local and biogeographical scales
Island ecosystems sustain a large proportion of global plant diversity, yet are critically imperiled due to global change. They are also a natural laboratory that can be used to examine how facets of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and biological invasions change from local to biogeographical scales. I am compiling a database of forest plots on islands across the Pacific Ocean to address these questions, in collaboration with Holger Kreft (U. of Gottingen), Patrick Weigelt (U. of Gottingen), Tiffany Knight (iDiv / UFZ), and Gunnar Keppel (U. of South Australia). Currently, I am integrating this data set with two global databases: GIFT (Global Inventory of Floras and Traits) and GLONAF (Global Naturalised Alien Flora).
Island ecosystems sustain a large proportion of global plant diversity, yet are critically imperiled due to global change. They are also a natural laboratory that can be used to examine how facets of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and biological invasions change from local to biogeographical scales. I am compiling a database of forest plots on islands across the Pacific Ocean to address these questions, in collaboration with Holger Kreft (U. of Gottingen), Patrick Weigelt (U. of Gottingen), Tiffany Knight (iDiv / UFZ), and Gunnar Keppel (U. of South Australia). Currently, I am integrating this data set with two global databases: GIFT (Global Inventory of Floras and Traits) and GLONAF (Global Naturalised Alien Flora).
Mechanisms underlying ecosystem stability and community responses to global change
Biodiversity experiments in grassland & forest ecosystems provide a powerful platform to identify mechanisms underlying biodiversity-ecosystem function and biodiversity-ecosystem stability relationships. Furthermore, the relative importance of biodiversity or its mechanisms, such as complementarity, may be altered by global change drivers. I primarily use synthesis to understand how generalisable these mechanisms are. Based on insights gained from these synthesis projects, I develop greenhouse & field experiments to test 'next-generation' questions.
Biodiversity experiments in grassland & forest ecosystems provide a powerful platform to identify mechanisms underlying biodiversity-ecosystem function and biodiversity-ecosystem stability relationships. Furthermore, the relative importance of biodiversity or its mechanisms, such as complementarity, may be altered by global change drivers. I primarily use synthesis to understand how generalisable these mechanisms are. Based on insights gained from these synthesis projects, I develop greenhouse & field experiments to test 'next-generation' questions.
Temporal shifts in functional diversity and composition in tropical secondary forests
Secondary forests dominate large areas of tropical regions and have considerable potential to mitigate climate change via carbon sequestration and to act a source of biodiversity. Therefore, it is critical to understand how biodiversity and biodiversity-dependent ecosystem functions change over time in secondary forests across tropical regions. Within the Agua Salud Project in Panama, I explore these patterns and test for changes in mechanisms underlying successional shifts in functional diversity and composition.