Plant-Animal Interactions ¶

Head: PD Dr. Anita Risch

We are studying the distribution of and interactions among producers, consumers as well as decomposers and between these communities and their environment. We focus on food webs in real world ecosystems and thus mainly sample our data during experimental field campaigns. Data collection under controlled conditions in the greenhouse or experimental garden are, however, common add-ons hereby. We are mainly interested in the functioning of natural ecosystems and often conduct research in National Parks around the world. Our main study area is, however, the Swiss National Park. While working on basic research questions, we regularly consider applied aspects that are related to protecting or conserving endangered ecosystems.

Examples of research question of our research group assesses are:

How is species loss related to ecosystem processes and functions? Which species or species groups are particularly relevant for ecosystem functioning? Which effects are expected with the loss of such important species groups? How are aboveground organisms interacting with belowground organisms? Which abiotic and biotic conditions favor diverse ecosystems? Is global change (for example eutrophication, habitat fragmentation, climate) a thread for diverse ecosystems? How can diverse ecosystems be protected?

Projects ¶

We aim to understand how above- and belowground communities (invertebrates, plants, soil microbes) interactively respond to livestock removal and how these changes affect biotic interaction networks, ecosystem functioning and services.

In this project we evaluate the effects of multiple combined perturbations on soil biodiversity and functioning. We evaluate perturbations related with climate change (drought and heat wave) and grassland management (fertiliser addition, pesticides, trampling, grazing effects, etc.). We hypothesise that combined perturbations will have synergistic effects with cascading negative effects on soil fauna and microbial communities biodiversity and functionality.

The overarching goal of this project is to assess how habitat heterogeneity caused by beaver engineering influences the diversity, strength and nature of interactions within and between aquatic and terrestrial communities, and how changes in species assemblages relate to ecosystem processes.

In the CYbER (CanopY Exploration Robots) project we study the science and technology of new multi-modal robots for comprehensive canopy exploration.

Restoration of species rich grasslands from species poor agricultural sites was successful in several projects and studies. However, the existing vegetation including the roots and the nutrient enriched topsoil had to be removed in most of the successful examples. The impact of such radical disturbances on soil organisms and soil functions has not yet been assessed. Our study aims on shedding more light into these aspects.

Staff ¶