Climate and land-use change reshuffle ecological communities with unknown consequences for ecosystem stability and resilience. To quantify these consequences, we use a combination of field studies, experiments, and simulation models. Using trait-based approaches, we seek to gain a mechanistic understanding of species interactions in ecological networks and, more generally, of how biodiversity contributes to ecosystem functions and services. The concepts we develop are applicable to many groups of organisms and systems, but most of our empirical work focusses on seed-dispersal interactions in tropical ecosystems. The results of our studies are also used to develop predictive models of how biodiversity may change – and recover – under future conditions.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Schleuning
Research group leader and Professor for Functional Ecology at Philipps-Universität Marburg Speaker of Research Field ‘Biodiversity and Climate’
