Vita

As a biologist living in the tropics, I have always been interested in understanding how nature works, especially mutualistic interactions. Prior to my PhD position, I was studying plant-pollinator mutualistic relationships between flowers and hummingbirds. Now, for the PhD project I decided to extend my knowledge to the post-pollination phase, i.e., seed dispersal. Through this work I aim to understand the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on plant functional diversity, dispersal and seedrain in the tropical dry forest of southern Ecuador. Through my results I hope to contribute to the understanding of the importance of ecological processes (i.e., seed dispersal) in the sustainability and resilience of ecosystems. I work under the supervision of PD Dr. Matthias Schleuning and Dr. Eike Lena Neuschulz at the Biodiversity and Climate Research Center Senckenberg.