Calcium cycling in the soil-fig-bat compartment of a neotropical rain forest on spatially heterogeneous substrate

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Marco Tschapka, since 4/2013; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Wilcke
• Subject Area: Soil Sciences
• Term: from 2009 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 152203136

Calcium supply in tropical soils is variable and frequently low. In spite of the heterogeneous Ca supply, some plant species, such as figs, maintain high Ca concentrations in their tissues. Figs are keystone species with more than proportional importance for the functioning of a tropical rain forest. High Ca concentrations in fig fruits may render them particularly attractive for frugivorous vertebrates. We propose to study the whole Ca cycling from soil through a selected fig species, Ficus insipida Willd. and frugivorous bats, their main dispersers, back to soil. The study will be conducted in Panama on sites differing in soil Ca status to assess the importance of soil Ca availability for fig fruit content and bat reproduction. We will quantify aboveground Ca fluxes for 16 trees along a gradient of Ca availability in soil. We will determine (1) Ca concentrations in soils, figs and leaves, (2) nutritional quality of fig and other bat-dispersed fruits and their importance for Ca balance in relation to reproduction of fruit-eating bats, (3) Ca fluxes with litterfall, throughfall, stemflow, bat pellets and faeces, (4) the importance of the contribution of bats to the Ca cycle of individual fig trees, and (5) the effect of fig trees on soil Ca concentrations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Professorin Dr. Elisabeth Kalko, until 4/2013 (†)